OLYMPIC MAGIC
Georgetown resident André Matias
Throughout The Fitzgerald’s multiple dining venues, our chefs elevate breakfast, lunch, and dinner to highly anticipated daily dining experiences, allowing residents to connect with friends and family while enjoying thoughtfully planned seasonal menus. Following Forbes Travel Guide five-star standards, our associates deliver anticipatory service and create meaningful moments, one delicious meal at a time.
OFFSITE DISCOVERY CENTER 4418 MACARTHUR BLVD., NW WASHINGTON, D.C.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MONDAY - FRIDAY, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM WEEKENDS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY OPENING LATE 2024
The Fitzgerald of Palisades is currently under construction and is not licensed by the D.C. Department of Health. Upon completion of construction, The Fitzgerald of Palisades will apply to the D.C. Department of Health for a license to operate as an Assisted Living Residence. The anticipated opening for The Fitzgerald of Palisades is Late 2024.
IN THIS ISSUE
DIRECTOR
Phone: (202) 338-4833
Fax: (202) 338-4834
www.georgetowner.com
“The Newspaper Whose Influence Far Exceeds Its Size” — Pierre Cardin
The GeorGeTowner is published in print monthly with an online newsletter supplement posted twice per week — On Mondays we highlight news and on Thursdays goings on about town. The opinions of our writers and columnists do not necessarily reflect the editorial and corporate opinions of The GeorGeTowner newspaper. The GeorGeTowner accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. The GeorGeTowner reserves the right to edit, rewrite or refuse material and is not responsible for errors or omissions. Copyright 2024.
Please send submissions of opinions for consideration to:
SUBSCRIBE to our twice weekly online Georgetowner Newsletter — simply click or scan the code and enter your email address.
CALL YOUR MOTHER DELI MAY CLOSE DUE TO ZONING TECHNICALITY BY PEGGY SANDS
Call Your Mother manager Michael patrols outside the store for trash and illegally parked cars. Photo by Peggy Sands.
COFFEE WITH A COP BRINGS CITIZENS, LOCAL POLICE TOGETHER BY DAVID EDWARDS
At Coffee with a Cop on June 18: MPD Officer Daler Latif-Zade, MPD Cadet Lindsay Russell, MPD 2nd District Commander Tatjana Savoy, CAG Executive Director Brittany Sawyer and Grace Street Coffee Roasters COO Adam Hong. Courtesy CAG.
GMS VIGNETTES: ‘GEORGETOWN IS THE FABRIC OF MY LIFE’ BY HAILEY WHARRAM
David Berkebile of Georgetown Tobacco. Photo by Hailey Wharram.
FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY’S $80.5-MILLION RENOVATION BY SOPHIA HALL
The Folger Shakespeare Library’s east entrance at night, with a view of the Capitol. Photo by Alan Karchmer.
PLANET WORD: IGNITING MINDS WITH THE VERSATILITY OF LANGUAGE BY CHRISTINE AXSMITH
Planet Word on 13th Street NW.
WE HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE: SIXTY VINES NOW OPEN BY SOPHIA HALL
News Bytes
BY THE GEORGETOWNER
‘MANSION TAX’ TARGETS GEORGETOWN
The District Council passed the city’s $21-billion budget for fiscal 2025 on June 12. The new budget contains a property tax hike, introduced by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, on homes valued at more than $2.5 million.
The D.C. Policy Center wrote: “The so-called ‘mansion tax’ would separate class 1 properties into classes 1a and 1b. Properties assessed above $2.5 million would be deemed class 1b and would be subject to a $1.00 tax per every $100 of assessed value above $2.5 million, compared to the current $0.85. The tax increase would generate an additional $5.7 million in revenue for fiscal year 2025 and $23.7 over the course of the financial plan.”
The center added: “Georgetown is home to the most properties assessed above $2.5 million, at 515 properties, or 20 percent of its total properties. Of all neighborhoods in the District, Massachusetts Avenue Heights has the highest percentage of properties assessed above $2.5 million, with 50.7 percent of all
properties in the neighborhood falling into that category. Over 50 percent of the estimated increase in tax revenue will come from three neighborhoods: Georgetown, Kalorama and Massachusetts Avenue Heights.”
2 POT SHOPS ORDERED NOT TO SELL POT
The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board issued orders on July 3 to two unlicensed pot shops in Georgetown — HotBox, 1564 Wisconsin Ave. NW, and Smoke Island, 1326 Wisconsin Ave. NW — to stop selling cannabis products.
“Up until recently, all pot shops were unlicensed,” The Georgetown Metropolitan observed. “But the city made a shift towards legalizing the commercial sale of cannabis under the ambit of the medical cannabis program. It has begun issuing retailer’s licenses for this purpose. But, as anyone can see, we have a large number of shops that opened before this new regulatory regime. They operated in a gray zone with a tenuous legal status.”
Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia suffered a stroke on June 5. He underwent surgical intervention at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and has begun rehabilitation, according to the university.
Meanwhile, Provost Robert M. Groves is performing the duties of president of the university. A G.U. alumnus himself, DeGioia has been president of Georgetown University since July of 2001.
G.U. PRESIDENT SUFFERS STROKE
Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia. Courtesy G.U.
HOLY TRINITY ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS ON JUNETEENTH
Holy Trinity Parish dedicated a plaque on June 19 acknowledging its past racism and segregation. Led by Pastor Kevin Gillespie, S.J., parishioners attended a ceremony after Mass in the front of the main church, where the installed plaque reads, in part: “Hundreds of Black parishioners left Holy Trinity in the 1920s and founded Epiphany Catholic Church in Georgetown because of the ongoing segregation and discrimination they found here. O God, forgive us for these sins of racism and the pain they have caused. Guide us from repentance to reconciliation.”
In Memoriam: James Bracco
The Georgetown Business Improvement District’s former executive director, Jim Bracco, died on May 21 after a long battle with cancer.
The BID offered the following remembrance: “Jim came from a real estate property management background and led the BID during a transitional time from 2009 to 2012, shoring up Operations and enhancing the streetscape program through flower baskets and holiday decor, among other accomplishments. He was described as a steady presence who represented Georgetown well.
“Several members of our Marketing team
recall how fun it was to work with Jim on Georgetown events. Despite his title, Jim was never above whatever needed to be done and was always willing to get his hands dirty — whether that meant replenishing ice for Taste of Georgetown or enthusiastically serving as emcee for a water balloon battle at Washington Harbour. He was a firm believer that every office gathering was incomplete without a platter of shrimp cocktail, and never missed a trip to Costco to pick them up. (He was right; everyone loved them!)
“Those of us who worked with Jim will always remember him fondly.”
Pastor Kevin Gillepsie, S.J., led parishioners in the plaque ceremony at Holy Trinity. Photo by Pat Towell.
At the House of Sweden in 2012: Georgetown BID Executive Director Jim Bracco with Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Georgetowner photo.
Hot Topics at July ANC: Licensing, Transportation
BY PAULINA INGLIMA
ANC 2E, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission representing Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale, returned to Georgetown Visitation School on July 1 for its monthly meeting. Five of the eight commissioners attended in person and two via Zoom. Also participating were around eight members of the general public and several in-person presenters.
The hot topics for the summer meeting were licensing and transportation.
Most contentious: the liquor and cannabis licensing portion of the meeting, with opposition expressed to the opening of a bar called Creme at 1660 33rd St. NW. Owner Rassam Rad, who has applied for a D.C. tavern license, spoke to the commission via Zoom, saying he aims to make Creme “a warm, friendly place where people can enjoy delicious cocktails and wine.”
Several neighbors took issue with the planned “summer garden” behind the bar, claiming that patrons in the garden will be able to look directly into their windows and backyards.
One neighbor, Dawn Crafton, whose backyard would share a fence with the summer garden, called the patio setup “an intrusion on my privacy and my way of life,” given the potential for unreasonable noise, garbage overflow and rat infestation.
The ANC will be negotiating with Rad to reach agreement on how to resolve the issues. Rad suggested adding four feet of shrubbery on top of the fences to block the view, as well as setting a maximum of 10 to 15 people and strict time limits in the garden.
Also discussed was a medical cannabis license for Capital Connect, a dispensary at 1641 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The applications by both Capital Connect and Creme have been temporarily paused while negotiations take place.
Ted Randell, a representative from the District Department of Transportation, presented a report on the state of micromobility — the use of electric and traditional bicycles
and scooters — in Georgetown. According to Randell, Georgetown is the second most popular destination in D.C. for bike and scooter riding, behind the National Mall.
Commissioners raised concerns about the frequent practice of bikes and scooters being dumped on public sidewalks.
Chair Gwendolyn Lohse, who represents 2E06, remarked that “it’s a real problem to have the sidewalks blocked,” particularly for her constituents with strollers or mobility issues.
Randell and the commission plan to organize a community panel involving the scooter and e-bike providers to discuss long-term solutions, such as more bike and scooter parking docks and incentive programs.
The commissioners briefly touched on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority’s Better Bus Plan, a restructuring of the Metrobus system that will result in significant cuts in bus service to Georgetown.
Commissioner Topher Mathews said that, if the Circulator and bus routes are cut as planned, Georgetown would see a 43-percent total reduction in service.
Lohse and Mathews stated that they would be advocating for, at minimum, one Circulator bus passing through downtown and Georgetown. Comments to DDOT on the Better Bus Plan were due by July 15.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Lohse read aloud a formal commendation to Jerry McCoy, who is retiring from his role as special
collections librarian of the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Library after 24 years of service to the neighborhood:
“When asked what Jerry has meant to this community and to them specifically, his many admirers reference similar feelings of his commitment, passion and deep knowledge, attention to all requests, lively nature and the savior of the Peabody Room post-fire.”
There will be no monthly meeting in August. The next meeting of ANC 2E will be on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Licensing and transportation were hot topics at the ANC’s July meeting. Photo by Paulina Inglima.
Scooter mess and obstruction at M and 31st Street. Photo by Bill Starrels.
The ubiquitous Lime bikes parked wherever riders want — at Wisconsin Avenue. Photo by Pauline Inglima.
Crime Report: Cameras Prove Essential
BY PAULINA INGLIMA
Cameras have proven essential in identifying suspects and capturing footage of a variety of crimes reported recently. D.C. residents are still eligible for the mayor’s Private Security Camera Rebate Program. According to the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants: “A rebate is available for the actual cost of an individual camera (up to $200) with a maximum rebate of $500 for residential properties (homes, apartments, condominiums, home offices, etc.) and $750 for all other addresses.” For details, visit ovsjg.dc.goc.
If you have information on any of the following incidents, call 202-727-9099 or “Give 5-0 the 411” by texting the Metropolitan Police Department’s Text Tip Line: 50411. Both are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Monday, June 10: On a D.C. Superior Court warrant, police arrested Darryl Lamond Quander, who was charged with 19 counts of second-degree theft for a string of retail robberies from various CVS stores in D.C. Bizarrely, the robberies, which took
place from February through April of this year, were primarily of Red Bull energy drinks. In total, he stole over $3,800 of merchandise. Red Bull does, it seems, give you wings.
Tuesday, June 11: MPD fulfilled a D.C. Superior Court custody order, arresting a 12-year-old juvenile male for a March 10 robbery on the 1400 block of Irving Street NW.
Friday, June 21: At 1:53 am, two suspects broke in through the window of a business on the 5100 block of MacArthur Boulevard NW, afterwards jumping over the counter and taking money, then fleeing the scene. Video footage from cameras inside and outside the store, provided by MPD, shows the crime being committed.
Monday, July 1: A 22-year-old Prince George’s County woman, Tiffany Taylor Gray, was arrested by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force for the April 5 stabbing and murder of Northwest D.C. resident Fasil Teklemarium. She has been charged with first-degree murder while
armed and will go through the extradition process to face charges in D.C.
Monday, July 1: At 8:25 pm, on a trail in the 3800 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, a suspect “made unwanted sexual contact with the victim,” before fleeing the scene. According to the police report, “The suspect is described as a tall Hispanic male, in his 20s with short black hair. He was last seen wearing tennis shoes, a gray sweatshirt and a black book bag.”
Wednesday, July 3: An armed robbery occurred at 1500 33rd St. NW between 1 and 2 a.m.
Thursday, July 4: Another armed robbery occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. near Wisconsin Avenue and Reservoir Road. According to the Georgetown BID Safety Update: “The subjects were seen in a white Toyota sedan with California plate 9GTD204.”
Friday, July 5: At 4:50 a.m., a suspect entered a business in the 1400 block of Park Road NW, taking a cash register filled with money before fleeing the scene.
Friday, July 5: 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers of Southeast D.C. was arrested and charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license and possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device after being shot by two U.S. Marshals he was allegedly attempting to carjack. According
to the police report: “The suspect exited a vehicle, approached one of the Marshals and pointed a handgun at him in an apparent attempt to carjack him. The Marshal drew his service weapon and fired several shots at the suspect. A second Marshal from another vehicle also responded and fired his service weapon. The suspect was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-lifethreatening injuries. No law enforcement officers were injured.”
Both Marshals are being investigated “by the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division’s Force Investigations Team, which investigates all law enforcement officer involved shootings in the District of Columbia. An image of the gun used in the carjacking is pictured below.
The gun used in a failed carjacking on July 5.
With so much uncertainty abroad and at home — whether it’s the ongoing Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, the European elections or our own heated presidential contest — we are looking forward to a three-week respite from political anxiety: the Paris Summer Olympics.
Seeing the world’s top athletes come together is exciting and hopeful. The opening ceremony on July 26 will bring enough pomp and circumstance to inspire us to keep that red, white and blue out a bit longer in support of Team USA.
In featuring on this month’s cover a Georgetown resident who will compete in Paris — Angolan rower and Georgetown Law grad André Matias (see story on page 14) — we hope to infuse our neighborhood with the spirit of internationalism, fair play and human achievement that the Olympic Games embody. If there’s one thing Olympians such as
Scooter Rudeness, E-Bike Excess, Moped Madness Keep the Olympic Spirit Alive
• In the spring of 2021, Lime scooters and bikes were released in Washington, D.C.
• D.C. was the first city to receive Lime scooters.
• Spin launched its dockless e-bike system in 2017.
• Scooters and e-bikes have had little regulation.
• This year, the District Council finally required mopeds (including scooters and, in some cases, e-bikes) to have license plates and their operators to have driving permits.
With the help of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, the District Department of Transportation has installed corrals on 31st and 28th Streets at M Street, among others. The bikes and scooters are supposed to be parked in the corrals or at bike racks. But the e-bike and scooter companies are ignoring the newly constructed corrals — evidenced by the photo of the corral at 31st and M Streets and the photo that follows of the bikes and scooters on the sidewalk at the corner and in the expanded sidewalk area.
Unfortunately, DDOT has lost control of the scooter and e-bike boom, which has overwhelmed Georgetown. The vehicles litter the sidewalks and bridges and block
Matias can teach us, it’s to keep that Olympic spirit alive between now and the next iteration of the Summer Games, in 2028 in Los Angeles. Olympic drive, passion and, yes, impartiality is something we can all use when we feel overwhelmed by global and national turmoil.
Whether you’re cheering for locals like Matias or Bethesda-born swimmer Katie Ledecky, or being floored by the performance of a “GOAT” like gymnast Simone Biles, the Olympics are a time to settle in and marvel at humanity at its best (for a change).
And Georgetown, home of a lively French Market every spring and a prized collection of French restaurants year-round (La Bonne Vache, Chez Billy Sud and Brasserie Liberté, to name a few), is the perfect place to celebrate the Games’ host city and country. Will we see you at the next table, discretely checking out an event on your phone?
Georgetown BID Letter to WMATA on Proposed Bus Route Changes
RE: Georgetown Comments on the Proposed 2025 Better Bus Network Redesign
To Board Chair Paul C. Smedberg and Members of the Board,
Georgetown is the region’s largest employment and commercial center without a metro station and the community relies solely on WMATA’s Metrobus and DDOT’s DC Circulator as our only two public transit options. We recognize that WMATA was unable to incorporate the District’s decision to eliminate the Circulator into their Proposed 2025 Better Bus Network. However, as currently proposed, Georgetown will lose 43% of its weekly bus service in the new network after Circulator service is ended. This is an unacceptable reduction in transit service to Georgetown and DDOT and WMATA must reevaluate the proposed network and incorporate new routes or modify proposed routes to replace the Circulator.
transfers – which is not an acceptable transit service. Extending the proposed D82 or A58 routes to Gallery Place will solve this problem and accomplish goal (2). The elimination of the DC Circulator system also creates large gaps in bus service to K Street and Wisconsin Avenue south of Whitehaven Street. There is no proposed bus service on K St NW which is the center of Georgetown’s 3 million square foot office market and Washington Harbour. It will also soon be home to two new hotels and large-scale office to mixed-use properties conversions. The elimination of bus service to this area will add to the challenges this office market faces. A new east-west route or changes to proposed routes should use K Street to address goal (3).
handicapped ramps throughout the neighborhood. They sometimes completely block sidewalk access. DDOT has all but conceded the sidewalk space to the scooter and e-bike companies.
The expanded sidewalks have ended up becoming storage areas for scooters and e-bikes. Frequently, there appear to be 10 times as many scooters as pedestrians in a given stretch of the expanded sidewalks.
It would be nice to see the Metropolitan Police Department spend a Saturday night in Georgetown enforcing the new rules regarding license plates. Unfortunately, the department does not seem to be actively enforcing them, even when unlicensed mopeds and scooters are sitting next to occupied MPD vehicles.
In addition to ruining the historic streetscape of Georgetown — Washington’s oldest neighborhood and a top visitor destination — the never-ending proliferation of e-bikes and scooters has made the simple act of walking on our sidewalks unsafe.
Everyone has the right to walk on the sidewalk without the clutter of scooters and e-bikes. It is time for the Council, the mayor, DDOT and MPD to get serious about this situation, and for the citizens of Georgetown to take back our sidewalks and streets.
Georgetown and the District need sufficient transit service to serve the 12.5 million annual visitors and thousands of residents, students, and employees coming to the commercial district from across the region. Modifications to proposed routes or new routes are necessary to keep Georgetown connected to the regional economy. Changes should achieve the following goals: (1) retaining frequent direct east-west connections to both Union Station and Rosslyn; (2) creating a one-seat connection to the Yellow and Green Metrorail lines; (3) continuing to serve the dense Waterfront area on K Street; and (4) retaining frequent service between downtown and upper Wisconsin Avenue.
Retaining and modifying the original and highest ridership Circulator route between Union Station and Georgetown operated by WMATA and extending it to Rosslyn would accomplish goal (1) and not duplicate other east-west bus routes. It traverses five Business Improvement Districts and connects numerous retail, office, entertainment destinations and transportation options.
As currently proposed, residents, visitors, employees and others traveling to Georgetown from destinations served by the Green and Yellow lines are required to make at least two
The Union Station-Georgetown Circulator route currently provides frequent Wisconsin Ave NW service that supplements the 31/33 Route. Without the Circulator, there will be less than 50% bus service traversing this long commercial corridor with more than a hundred small businesses. Wisconsin Ave is a steep uphill grade from K St towards Glover Park. Frequent bus service provides an important mobility and accessibility option as well as connects employees, residents, and visitors to Downtown DC. Increasing the frequency of the proposed D82 during peak and non-peak hours addresses this loss of service addressing goal (4). Lastly, WMATA should ensure the new east-west D92/D94/ D96 routes will provide similar or better service than the current G2/D2/D6.
The undersigned businesses and community organizations share strong concerns with the Proposed 2025 Better Bus Network for the Georgetown commercial district and our requests for a new east-west route, modifications to proposed routes, and changes to service frequency. We are prepared to work with DDOT and WMATA to develop a solution that serves the entire Georgetown economy and community.
— Joe Sternlieb President & CEO, Georgetown Business Improvement District
Editor’s note: This letter is co-signed by more than 119 businesses, organizations and residents — as well as this newspaper.
“Political violence in any form can never be tolerated in our American democracy — it defies our principles and diminishes the bonds of our common humanity.
“We stand with all who respect the role of the political process and join in healing the wounds of a divided nation.”
A Historic Retirement: The Peabody Room’s Jerry McCoy
BY DAVID EDWARDS
“I’ve taken better care of the Peabody Room than I think my own house.”
Jerry McCoy prefers to describe his days working as the special collections librarian in Georgetown’s Peabody Room as “play” — a substitution reflective of the joy and enthusiasm McCoy brings to the room and shares with everyone who visits.
The Peabody Room is part of the District of Columbia Public Library’s local history collections, known as the People’s Archive. Located on the third floor of DCPL’s Georgetown branch, at 3260 R St. NW, it has been McCoy’s “playground” for 24 years. His tenure, which began in 2000, will end this month upon his retirement.
Earlier, McCoy was a photographer at Children’s National Hospital. In fact, his photography skills originally put McCoy in contact with DCPL. Hired by the library’s Washingtoniana Division, he spent roughly a year printing a collection of glass plate negatives, identifying their locations by spotting background details and crossreferencing them with historical documents. During that project, McCoy says, the HR director at the time “saw the local D.C. history spark in my eyes. She said, ‘Boy — if you had a master’s in library science, we’d hire you today.’”
After leaving Children’s National, McCoy was unsure what the future held. But inspiration came from his next-door neighbor, who was completing a library science degree at Catholic University. “I was sitting at her kitchen table, bemoaning, ‘What am I going to do for the rest of my life?’ And she said, ‘Well, why don’t you go to library school? You’ve always loved history and books and reading.’” Once again, McCoy’s appreciation for history made an indelible impression on those around him, highlighting a path for him even where he did not yet see it.
Though the Peabody Room and DCPL’s
volume of the 1776 Maryland Gazette, which includes an original publication of the Declaration of Independence, and a portrait of Yarrow Mamout, “an incredibly rare portrait of an identified, formerly enslaved African American.”
In leaving the Peabody Room, McCoy is certainly not leaving behind his dedication to history. “One thing I’ll be doing in retirement
is getting things [in my home] organized. I’m also the founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society — so that’s in my basement,” which, he says, is filled with historical artifacts acquired by and for the society.
His favorite item in his in-home museum? A New Deal-era dedication plaque for the Silver Spring Post Office from 1935.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
FREE SUMMER FILM SCREENINGS AT THE KENNEDY CENTER
Every Friday from now through Aug. 30, dusk
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library have been McCoy’s home for over two decades, he will correct anyone who mistakenly believes that his was the longest career of the Peabody Room’s curators: “Mathilde Williams has me beat by four years,” he says with a gracious chuckle.
Nonetheless, the current Peabody Room is nearly all McCoy’s doing. After a 2007 fire that destroyed the original location on the library’s second floor — miraculously leaving many artifacts intact enough for restoration — McCoy had a veritable blank slate while rebuilding.
The original room, according to McCoy, was “about one quarter the square footage of what you see here now.” The new room has allowed McCoy to foreground art and other eye-catching items in the collection.
“I think most people like to look at things. That’s certainly how you engage them in conversation, because they’ll see something and say, ‘Well, what’s this?’”
For McCoy, being a librarian and a historian is just as much about the present and the people who fill it as it is about the past. Under his supervision, the Peabody Room exudes the sense of historical significance and careful stewardship that a good archive does without feeling intimidating, thus encouraging questions and curiosity.
“I’ve always felt like I was a born entertainer, and I think the best way to educate people about anything is to make it fun and lively,” says McCoy, who estimates that about 50 percent of the people who stop by the Peabody Room are tourists. “I’ve met people from all over the world — it’s just been amazing. I always try to have them leave here with one fact about Georgetown in their brains, and usually it’s that Georgetown is the oldest neighborhood in D.C., 1751.”
McCoy’s favorite item in the Peabody Room’s collection is actually two: a bound
Millenium Stage will continue hosting free outdoor movie screenings of films such as A River Runs Through It (July 19), School of Rock (July 26), Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (Aug. 2), Rear Window (Aug. 9), Free Solo (Aug. 16), Lincoln (Aug. 23), and Chocolat (Aug. 30) until the end of the summer. All movies start at dusk. Grab a picnic blanket and enjoy!
DANCING ON THE WATERFRONT: SUMMER SERIES
Tues. July 23, 6-9 p.m. and Tues. July 30, 6-9 p.m.
There are still two more chances to partake in free outdoor dance classes at the Georgetown Waterfront! Head to the 3200 K St NW on July 23 for Latin and African Dance Night taught by Stephen Jackson and on July 30 for an evening of square dancing with DC Lambda Square.
THOMAS JEFFERSON AND GEORGE III: AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARIES AT CITY TAVERN
July 24, 6-7 p.m.
On 3206 M Street NW, Georgetown’s historic City Tavern will be hosting a discussion led by Dr. Jim Ambuske on the beginnings of the American Revolutionary War. $10 tickets can be purchased at https://www. eventbrite.com/e/thomas-jefferson-andgeorge-iii-american-revolutionariestickets-914616983017.
THE NATIONALS SUMMER CONCERT SERIES: CARLY RAE JEPSEN
Fri., July 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
After the Washington Nationals play the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park, stick around for a post-game concert featuring the “Call Me Maybe” singer. Your ticket to the post-game concert is included with the original price of your ticket.
HOME RULE MUSIC FESTIVAL - PART 2 AT ALETHIA TANNER PARK Sat. July 20, gates open at 12 p.m.
At 227 Harry Thomas Way NE, join artists such as The Experience Band & Show and Bella Donna for an afternoon of free musical entertainment.
GARDEN SOIREE AT THE EMBASSY OF FRANCE LA MAISON FRANCAISE
Sat. July 20, 7-10 p.m.
Though Bastille Day has now passed, that doesn’t mean the French festivities have to end! At 4101 Reservoir Road Northwest, the French Embassy will be hosting a garden party of French wine, cuisine, and music. Tickets can be purchased here. Visit palisadesdc.org.
MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN
Dates: Sat. July 27 - Sun. Aug. 4
Calling all tennis lovers! The DC Open— ‘the only combined ATP-WTA 500 level tennis tournament in the world”—will be returning to the District at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Stadium at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center this summer. Get your tickets now to see five Grand Slam champions and nine of the top 20 tennis players in the world, including renowned players such as Aryna Sabalenka, Grigor Dimitrov, Frances Tiafoe, and Ben Shelton.
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON WITH ZOOEY DESCHANEL AND ZACHARY LEVI AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Date: Tues., July 30, 5-6 p.m.
Join stars Zachary Levi and Zooey Deschanel in conversation about their upcoming film adaptation of the beloved 1955 children’s book Harold and The Purple Crayon prior to the film’s release on Aug. 2. This event will take place in the Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium on 10 1st Street SE.
JAPANESE WHISKY TASTING FEATURING CHICHIBU DISTILLERY
Date: Wed. July 31, 7-9 p.m.
Join Kyojin Sushi and Kayo’s Lab at 3315 Cady’s Alley NW for a Japanese Whisky tasting featuring the finest spirits from the Chichibu Distillery.
Jerry McCoy, Special Collections Librarian, in the Peabody Room. Photo by Robert Devaney.
INS & OUTS
IN: THE RIVER CLUB RETURNS TO K
An old Georgetown restaurant name is back on K Street. The River Club — by David Nammour and Farid Azouri of Dupont Circle’s Residents Café & Bar — opened on July 6 at Washington Harbour, 3000 K St. NW.
“We’ve been eyeing this neighborhood, so when the Bangkok Joe’s space became available, we snatched it up immediately,” Nammour told the Washington Business Journal. The new, cool spot has indoor seating for 106 and outside dining for 34.
Nammour’s father, Bechara Nammour of Capital Restaurants Concepts, which owned Georgetown restaurants, oversaw the River
COMING: GEORGETOWN PANTRY
A store called Georgetown Pantry is coming to 1515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, having applied for a license to sell beer and wine. Topher Mathews reported: “I have absolutely no idea what Georgetown Pantry is, unfortunately. There appears to be a brand of luxury food items out of Seattle called Georgetown Pantry Supplies.”
COMING: TILLEY’S PET SUPPLIES
Tilley’s Pet Supplies, owned by Drew and Megan Robitaille, is expected to open at 3216 O St. NW in September. The O Street spot — “continuing the tradition of quality food and products that dedicated pet owners expect to find in an independent pet supply store” — will be the second location for Tilley’s, which launched in Middleburg, Virginia, in 2023. A corgi, Tilley is one the Robitailles’ four dogs.
Club at 3223 K St. NW in the 1980s and ’90s. The new place pays homage to the old nightclub, Nammour says.
IN: TATTE FOR KAFFEE UND KUCHEN
Tatte Bakery & Café opened on July 3 in the former Capital One Bank building, 1545 Wisconsin Ave. NW, a space empty since May of 2022. The American-Mediterranean gourmet fast-casual bakery and café, with 35 locations, was founded in 2007 by Israeli-born Tzurit Or. On the Q Street corner, the café has received top marks from Kaffee und Kuchen devotees, who have made it their new favorite hangout in Georgetown — and appreciate that it’s open past 4 p.m.
IN (NYT): YELLOW’S (NOT) PIZZA
Congrats to Yellow cafe’s (not) pizza, recognized by the New York Times last month as one of “22 of the Best Pizza Places in the United States.” The eatery at 1524 Wisconsin Ave. NW offers its (not) pizza menu Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. Yellow’s owner, Michael Rafidi, won the nationwide 2024 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef for his Navy Yard restaurant, the Michelin-starred Albi.
IN (REALLY?): AUG. 21 IS NEW B&N OPENING DATE
Gone from Georgetown since 2011, Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookstore chain, will return to its original location at 3040 M St. NW, having signed a 33,754-square-foot lease for the same three floors last year, as previously reported. The serially postponed
reopening date is now Aug. 21. As expected, the store will sell books, newspapers, magazines, music and gifts — and contain a café.
IN (GOOD SHAPE): SKIMS
Skims opened its first permanent location at 3300 M St. NW on June 13. Co-founded by Kim Kardashian, the store sells loungewear, undergarments and other clothes, for men as well as women. “Skims drew crowds to its recently opened Georgetown location. Despite the heat, shoppers formed a line outside down the street to get into the store on Saturday,” WUSA9 News reported, adding: “While there was no grand opening celebration, the store has drawn crowds of shoppers eager to get their hands on shapewear … in the brand’s signature neutral color scheme.”
IN: 7TH STREET BURGER
With locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Hoboken (one is even on 7th Street), 7th Street Burger opened on June 17 in the former Mono Diner location at 1424 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The menu features burgers — some Impossible — along with fries and, to drink, Mexican Coke and Sprite.
COMING: FARM RIO BRAZILIAN CLOTHING
A Mexican restaurant has given way to colorful Brazilian clothing for women at 3057 M St. NW. The building was also home, for years, to Miss Saigon Restaurant. “We are a group of creatives from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,” the clothing company tells us. “Farm Rio’s story began when two friends, Kátia Barros and Marcello Bastos, opened a small booth in an independent market.”
OUT (LIKE A LIGHT): SLEEP NUMBER
Sleep Number, the store that sold beds, foundations and bedding accessories at 1239 Wisconsin Ave. NW, has left town. The Minneapolis-based company employs 5,515 people nationwide and has 546 other locations.
(UP AND) OUT: UPWEST ON M
UpWest, a hip seller of comfy clothing owned by the company Express, closed up shop at 3110 M St. NW, part of the Canal Square retail complex. Meanwhile, check out the UpWest website: “All Items 70% Off! We’re going out of business.” All sales final, indeed.
The River Club at Washington Harbour, 3000 K St. NW. Courtesy River Club.
Tatte Bakery & Café opened July 3 at 1545 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Photo by Peggy Sands.
The once and future Barnes & Noble at 3040 M St. NW. Georgetowner photo.
BY ROBERT DEVANEY
Welcome to the new Verstandig Pavilion at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital where you’ll find:
• 31 state-of-the-art operating rooms
• Expanded and modernized new emergency department with 32 private rooms
• Access to the most advanced treatment technologies
• 156 private patient rooms with natural, healing light
Georgetown Rower to Compete at
BY PEGGY SANDS
Almost any morning during the past threeplus years, around 5:30 a.m., you could spot Georgetown resident André Matias, 35, rowing on the Potomac River next to Key Bridge. On July 18, Matias will leave for Paris to compete in the Olympic Games, which open on July 26.
Matias has lived in Georgetown since 2016, when he started at Georgetown Law School. He graduated in 2019 and last year opened his own law practice here. Meanwhile, he began to train at the Potomac Boat Club for the 2024 Games. That meant rowing at least three times a day for about an hour and a half each, plus spending another hour or more lifting weights and cycling. In between, Matias consumes the 5,500 calories or so he requires just to replace the ones he burned.
In May of 2023, Matias traveled to Tunisia to compete in the regional Olympic trials for
rowers. Securing one of the last qualifying spots as a single scull rower at the 2024 Games, he will row in Paris for the country of his birth, the Republic of Angola.
While Matias is perhaps “old” for the average Olympian, this won’t be his first rodeo, so to speak. In 2016, he competed as a lightweight men’s double sculler in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (where he was especially comfortable speaking his native language of Portuguese). He was introduced to rowing at his boarding high school in New Jersey, going on to college-level competition at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
In Rio, Matias was not only with the best rowers in the world, but with the best athletes in all Olympic sports. “One time in the cafeteria I realized [gymnast] Simone Biles was sitting across from me at the next table. I
PARIS O LY M P I C S
met so many others. It was just magical!”
Matias took the next four years off from rowing to earn a law degree and start his business, Altius Immigration Law (Altius, which means “superior” in Latin, is part of the Olympic motto). But he couldn’t let his Olympic dreams go. Watching the rowers on the Potomac, he decided, despite his age and the four-year lapse, to try again.
“It’s unusual to get back to Olympic level in any sport after a yearslong break,” said Peter Schmidt, his friend, coach and fellow competitor. “André is so dedicated and disciplined — though we’d like to get him to eat more.”
“Peter is so modest,” responded Matias.
“He is a champion rower who has won several World Cups.”
Coaching Matias on the Potomac in front of the club, Schmidt calls out suggestions and critiques on a bullhorn from a small motor boat that he steers behind Matias’s single scull, or sometimes from his own single alongside.
“The Georgetown Rowing Club and Foundation has been crucial in helping me these past years,” Matias said. Founded in 1869, the club, housed in a historic boathouse at 3530 Water St. NW, has supported several Olympic rowers, while serving countless others of every age and skill level. “I look forward to giving back,” he added.
Raised in Angola and Portugal, Matias,
Photos by Kim Johnson.
who speaks four languages, has lived on three continents. But the U.S. and Georgetown are now his home. As do most Olympians, he credits his family’s support for his athletic accomplishments. Matias’s grandfather rowed in Portugal as a young man; perhaps that is the source of his grandson’s talent and discipline.
Matias will be staying in the official Olympic Village, north of the center of Paris,
where all the athletes live while competing (most leave once their competitions are over). The rowing events will be held in a brand-new aquatic center at Villiers-sur-Marne, in Paris’s eastern suburbs.
While rowers almost always compete in boats supplied by the venues where they race, the one “comfort factor” is that with few exceptions they bring their own oars. Each
2024 OLYMPICS BY THE NUMBERS
$8.2B+
Estimated cost of hosting the Paris Olympics.
200%
Increase in Paris hotel prices for opening night, July 26
$3.2B
Estimated infrastructure investments were made to the Paris urban area
rower has secret criteria which make that oar personally essential.
The competitors are not alone in feeling the magic of the Olympics. As a director of the Olympic Village for rowers and other aquatic sports at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, this reporter also experienced it. After two years on an irrevocable deadline to accomplish all the minute organizational and security details
for the Games, suddenly the athletes arrived. Everything changed. It was indeed magic. The dedication of the young athletes to their sports and their excitement to be a part of the Games (in ancient Greece, a time of truce) were contagious. You might even say that the Olympic magic resides in the Olympians themselves, such as Georgetown’s André Matias.
40K
45K
16
Runners in the 26-mile “Marathon for All” on Aug. 10 at 9 p.m. (taking heat issues into consideration)
Number of security personnel who will work the Paris Games
Age of the youngest members of Team USA. Gym`nast Hezly Rivera is the youngest of three 16-year-olds
100
Number of years since Paris last hosted the Summer Olympics.
Right on the Potomac River, next to Key Bridge, the Potomac Boat Club is an active rowing club, established in 1869. Photos by Kim Johnson.
ARTS
‘Brilliant Exiles’ at the Portrait Gallery
BY RICHARD SELDEN
Both the Paris Métro and the world’s tallest Ferris wheel made their debut at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. With the fair as its starting point, the National Portrait Gallery’s “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939,” curated by the NPG’s Robyn Asleson, is something of a Ferris wheel itself. One encounters some 60 fascinating “exiles” — as self-exiles, they would typically be labeled “expatriates” — only a few household names.
Reflecting the Art Nouveau style of the Exposition and Gustav Klimt’s glittering portraits, the exhibition’s showpiece is a triptych of 10-foot-high murals, three of the seven Edward Steichen painted between 1910 and 1913 for the New York residence of newlyweds Agnes Ernst and Eugene Meyer. (Steichen, who soon gave up painting to focus on photography, was to become MoMA’s first director of photography.)
Each of the “In Exaltation of Flowers” murals pairs a visitor to Steichen’s villa in Voulangis, east of Paris, with flowering plants: painter Katharine Nash Rhodes with “RoseGeranium,” painter Marion H. Beckett (likely Steichen’s lover) with “Petunia-CaladiumBudleya” and Spanish singer Mercedes de Cordoba Carles, who had recently married painter Arthur B. Carles, with “GoldenBanded Lily-Violets.” A 1909 Steichen photograph of Agnes Meyer and a 1915 Alfred Stieglitz photograph of Rhodes are nearby.
Perhaps the most famous “brilliant exile” is modernist author Gertrude Stein.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has lent Picasso’s 1905-6 portrait of Stein, which hints at the Cubism to come. The work presides over the section The Stein Effect as La Grande Gertrude presided over the art-filled salon she hosted with Alice B. Toklas in their rue de Fleurus home. Also on view: a terracotta bust of Stein from 1922-23 by Jo Davidson.
Like Stein a lesbian writer with family money, Natalie Barney, raised in Washington, D.C., started up her long-running Paris salon in 1909. Lesbianism, known in France as Saphisme (Greek poet Sappho was from the island of Lesbos), had something of a golden age
before and after 1900. Two striking paintings by Romaine Brooks — “Chasseresse” of 1920, a portrait of Art Deco furniture designer Eyre de Lanux (born Elizabeth Eyre), and Brooks’s 1923 self-portrait — are on view; both de Lanux and Brooks were among Barney’s lovers.
In the Refashioning Modern Women section, we find Peggy Guggenheim, the niece of Solomon, founder of the New York museum. In a 1924 photograph by Man Ray, Guggenheim, dressed in a gold lamé gown, a gold headdress and Egyptian earrings, poses with a long cigarette holder.
The 1920s and the 1930s, the decade of the Great Depression, were the years of what the exhibition calls Harlem’s Renaissance in Paris. Black American women (and men, such as Langston Hughes) had another reason to self-exile: to live in a society where they weren’t second-class citizens.
Along with two photos of scarcely clothed stage sensation Josephine Baker is a glorious 1936 lithograph by Michel Gyarmathy, “Josephine Baker est aux Folies-Bergère,” in which the Nefertiti of Paris appears in flamingo feathers.
In a signature song, “J’ai deux amours” — written in 1930 by Vincent Scotto, with lyrics by Géo Koger and Henri Varna — Baker sings (in English translation): “I have two loves, my country and Paris.” Though many of the “brilliant exiles,” including Baker, who became a French citizen in 1937, felt little love for a country that held them back, most would endorse Ernest Hemingway’s description of the French capital as a “moveable feast.”
‘BRILLIANT EXILES: AMERICAN WOMEN IN PARIS, 1900-1939’ Through Feb. 23, 2025
National Portrait Gallery 8th and G Streets NW npg.si.edu | 202-633-8300
In Exaltation of Flowers: Rose-Geranium; Petunia-Caladium-Budleya; and Golden-Banded Lily-Violets by Edward Steichen (1879–1973) / Tempera and gold leaf on canvas, 1910–13 / Art Bridges
Schedule a meeting at our leasing gallery today. ASSISTED LIVING | MEMORY CARE
Your Best Life Begins Here.
Each and every detail of Inspīr Embassy Row has been thoughtfully designed to offer residents an unparalleled lifestyle. From immersive experiences and intellectual programming, to nutritious culinary offerings and an entire floor dedicated to wellness, Inspīr creates the perfect landscape for residents to thrive on every level. Not to mention, we’re located just blocks from the nation’s best theatres, restaurants, monuments, and museums. 1417 22 nd Street NW | Washington, DC 20037 www.InspirSeniorLiving.com | 2100 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 | 202.293.2100
*InspĪr Embassy Row is currently under construction and is not licensed by the D.C. Department of Health. Upon completion of construction, InspĪr Embassy Row will apply to the D.C. Department of Health for a license to operate as an Assisted Living Residence. The anticipated opening for Inspir Embassy Row is in winter 2024.
Cocktail of the Month
BY JODY KURASH
Sipping on a gin and tonic by the pool … a perfect summer ritual. Both are cool, refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable.
The ease of a two-ingredient highball makes the G&T an effortless choice for a poolside soirée. Plus, with gin available in a wide range of flavor profiles, the drink can be mixed to suit your palate. You can choose from a variety of styles, including a citrus-forward spirit, something earthy with herbal notes, a delicate
Magical G&T
flowery elixir or a classic London dry gin.
What a typical G&T doesn’t offer is a visual “wow” factor. You can dress it up with edible flowers, a fancy fruit garnish or fresh botanicals, but next to brightly hued party tipples it will still tend to fade into the background. Vivid drinks — like a Blue Hawaiian or the slew of Barbiepink cocktails that ruled last summer — are the attention-grabbers.
The latest trend in gin is putting an end to that.
Color-changing gins — with shades ranging from cool purples and dreamy blues to hot pinks — have been going viral on TikTok for the past two years. Transforming the tint of your drink with each ingredient added, they’re a mixology magic trick. Though it sounds like a gimmick, there’s some science behind the enchanting illusion.
The secret to this alchemy is the butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea), native to Southeast Asia. When this flower is steeped in water or alcohol, it becomes a rich, dark indigo. Due to the presence of pH-sensitive pigments called anthocyanins, however, when an acidic mixer like tonic or citrus is added, a dramatic color transformation occurs, shifting the shade to a rosy fuchsia or cheery lavender.
According to bottleraiders.com, the acid causes a reaction in the anthocyanins, changing
THE LATEST DISH
Sizzling Summer Openings, Reopenings
BY LINDA ROTH
Ch-Ch-Changes: Duke’s Grocery has arisen at 1513 17th St. NW in the Dupont Circle ’hood with a new draft beer system, a bigger kitchen, new HVAC, wood and steel support beams and floors that no longer shake. What’s the same? Burgers made from Creekstone Farms patties. Neighborhood Restaurant Group launches Mallard, featuring Southern fare, at 1337 14th St. NW, where Birch & Barley used to be, with chef Hamilton Johnson at the helm. Hamilton previewed Mallard’s menu at Gravitas in Ivy City and at Le Mont Royal in Adams Morgan. Before that, he had opened Honeysuckle in the former Vidalia space, where he cooked under chef Jeff Buben. NRG’s beverage team (Greg Engert, Nick Farrell, Erin Dudley) will orchestrate the beer, cocktail and wine offerings. An opening late in the third quarter is targeted.
Quick Hits in Adams Morgan: College Park restaurateur Lisa Nash plans to open The Jerk Pit at 2436 18th St. NW, where Baja Tap used to be (and Mellow Mushroom before that), early in the third quarter … Cana – Brazilian Caipirinha Bar is targeting the middle of the third quarter to open at 2412 18th St. NW … By the end of the third quarter, former GM Kelly
their molecular structure and altering how they absorb and reflect light. Hence, the color change. If my high school chemistry class had had experiments like this, I surely would have paid more attention.
Claiming to be the first to create these gins, two companies, Sharish and Ink, released commercial versions in 2015. But these fascinating spirits didn’t catch on until recently.
One producer, Pink Marmalade, says its color-changing gin was developed for an “Alice In Wonderland”-themed party. The company built a drink fountain for the event where guests could watch their drink being poured, then see it spellbindingly change color when the tonic went in.
Another leading brand, Empress Gin, calls the development a “happy accident” that occurred in the tea room of the Empress Hotel on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Colombia.
Peter Hunt, head distiller and president of Victoria Distillers, led a collaboration to develop a recipe for a new gin using the hotel’s signature tea blends. One of the blends happened to contain the blue pea flower, and Empress 1908 Indigo Gin was born. Amy Glynn of Paste Magazine called the gin “eye-catching, dramatic and fun.”
What’s more, the brilliant color schemes are all naturally occurring; no artificial dyes are involved. The exact color of your cocktail will depend on what’s added. A highly acidic mixer, like lemon juice, will lean more magenta, while a more neutral mixer, like tonic, will turn the drink a light purple or blue.
The rainbow effects can be enhanced with
other ingredients, but it’s important not to get too caught up in the wizardry. All of the abovementioned gins are highly rated and don’t require a lot of spicing up to make a tasty tipple.
A simple gin and tonic will elicit some “oohs” and “aahs,” especially if you mix a batch in front of your guests. To stick with the color theme, garnish each with a slice of pink grapefruit or blood orange. Providing lemon and lime wedges for them to add will further heighten the experience.
This no-sweat “party trick” is sure to upgrade your mixology game and add a dash of dazzle to your summer shindig.
MAGICAL COLORCHANGING GIN AND TONIC
INGREDIENTS
• 2 OZ. COLOR-CHANGING GIN (EMPRESS, PINK MARMALADE, INK)
• 4 OZ. TONIC WATER
• CITRUS WEDGES
INSTRUCTIONS
To serve a group, arrange a tray of highball glasses with ice cubes. Add 2 oz. gin to each glass. Just before serving, pour tonic in each glass and garnish with a citrus wedge. Then watch the transformation!
Laczko plans to reopen 18th & U Duplex Diner at 2004 18th St. NW with a new name.
More Quick Hits: Alam Méndez and Elisa Reyna (formerly of Maïz 64) plan to open Apapacho Taqueria at 1280 4th St. NE, where Las Gemelas used to be, in the third quarter … Around the end of the third quarter, owners Pete Sitcov and Emily Cipes will open Compliments
Only, a sandwich shop that made its debut in Logan Circle, at 526 8th St. SE, on Barracks Row … Keith McNally’s Greenwich Village-based Minetta Tavern is coming to Union Market at 1287 4th St. NE in the fourth quarter … Also in the fourth quarter, a D.C. location of U.K.-based F1 Arcade — featuring a Formula 1 theme and a big bar open late — is due to cross the finish line at 440 Penn St. NE ... Chai Pani, based in Asheville, North Carolina, is looking to open in the second quarter of 2025 at 1325 5th St. NE, in the new Gables Union Market apartment complex.
Chef Update: Scott Han has been appointed sous chef for Wren at The Watermark Hotel in Tysons. Han was featured in the Washington Post’s “Ultimate Guide to Ramen” for Kizuna.
Linda Roth is the founder and CEO of Linda Roth Associates, a D.C.-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the
food service and hospitality industries. Follow her at: @LindaRothPR, #LindaRothPR or lindarothpr.com.
Scott Han, sous chef at Wren.
Auction Block
BY KATE OCZYPOK
Two highlights of this month’s auction report: Despite a hole and discoloration, a Christian Dior newspaper print dress sold for over $23,000; and a sapphire and diamond ring soared more than $300,000 above its estimate.
Part of a maps and atlases collection, this item from Marseille is from 1615. The illuminated manuscript portolan chart on vellum includes red, blue, green and sepia inks. There is an inscription in the upper left-hand corner that
DOYLE
Signed Sketch of Dress Worn by Grace Kelly in “To Catch a Thief”
ESTIMATE: $5,000-$8,000
SOLD: $12,800
This original sketch features a sketch of a dress worn by actress Grace Kelly in the movie “To Catch a Thief.” The design was for Paramount Pictures, circa 1955. The sketch is done with gouache, pencil and ink on paper with added white. It’s signed “Edith Head,” and identified as “for Grace Kelly” in ink at lower left. There are also pencil notes that read “#8, test? Add cape?” too.
FREEMANS | HINDMAN
Oliva, Joan: Portolan Chart of the Mediterranean
ESTIMATE: $20,000-$30,000
SOLD: $152,400
reads: “Joannes Oliva fecit in Civitate Marsilier ano domini 1615.” This rare chart of the Mediterranean is only one of four extant works from Joan Oliva. It is also the only one from this time period still in private ownership.
THE POTOMACK COMPANY
“Pueblo Woman” by Catharine Carter Critcher
ESTIMATE:
$30,000-$50,000
SOLD: $105,000
Two National Park posters sold for over $1,000. One features Bryce Canyon National Park, circa 1935 and the other says Far West National Parks, USA and Canada, Travel Poster, 1934. Their overall condition was good to fair, and both are lithograph on paper and framed.
BONHAMS
Two National Park Posters
SOLD: $1,408
Two National Park posters sold for over $1,000. One features Bryce Canyon National Park, circa 1935 and the other says Far West National Parks, USA and Canada, Travel Poster, 1934. Their overall condition was good to fair, and both are lithograph on paper and framed.
CHRISTIE’S
Ruby and Diamond Ring
ESTIMATE: $20,000-$30,000
SOLD: $37,800
This ruby and diamond ring includes a 5.17 carat cushion mixed-cut ruby. The diamonds measure approximately 66 round and two tapered with round and tapered pentagonshaped diamonds and platinum. Diamond weight is approximately 1.25 to 1.50 carats.
APRIL 2024 REAL ESTATE SALES
Welcome to Georgetown, Sir William!
BY THE GEORGETOWNER
On May 23, new Washington Post Publisher and CEO Will Lewis — that’s Sir William John Lewis to you — and his wife Rebecca purchased a home in Georgetown for $7.2 million.
Built in 1900, the four-story Colonial Revival house was remodeled in 2005. Apart from the landscaped yard, the total living area of 5,254 square feet includes six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, an eat-in kitchen, a lower-level rec room and media area and plenty of closets and storage. The listing, reported Axios, also specifies “garage parking for three cars,” a coveted Georgetown feature.
Previously CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Lewis, 55, earlier worked in London for the Telegraph, then for Rupert Murdoch’s News International. Since he arrived at the Post in January, there has been a persistent questioning murmur. Or should we say buzz, as in Sally Buzbee, the Post’s executive editor, who abruptly resigned last month rather than accept a reduced role in a restructured newsroom. Also in the mix: Lewis’s alleged attempt to kill a Post story about his possibly discreditable involvement in the investigation of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Most recently, Lewis’s choice for Buzbee’s
post-election replacement, Robert Winnett, withdrew after unfavorable attention to the ethics — apparently looser in the U.K. than stateside — of his and Lewis’s journalistic practices at British publications.
FURNISHED APTARTMENT AVAILABLE
CHEVY CHASE FLOOR WAXING SERVICE
Polishing, buffing, and waxing to preserve and protect your wood floors. Family owned and operated for 30 years. Licensed Bonded Insured 301-656-9274, Chevy Chase, MD
MARCUS MOORE RESTORATION
specialists inside and outside. Family owned and operated for over 30 years. 301-656-WASH Chevy Chase, MD
also offer glass, screen, and sash cord repair service • Ask about our no damage, low pressure Powerwashing.
Estimates Call: (717) 368-0283 mmooreplasterrestore.com
Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis and his wife Rebecca’s six-bedroom, eightbathroom home in Georgetown.
Bill Maher’s ‘What This Comedian Said Will Shock You’
BY KITTY KELLEY
This is a smart book with a dumb title.
Bill Maher dedicates “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You” to “the writers,” and well he should. For he and his writers hit their marks on every page of this book, Maher’s fifth, which, hats in the air, is laugh-out-loud funny. Money-back guarantee.
Half Irish (his father) and half Jewish (his mother), Maher has comedy genes, which he’s polished to a high gloss by traveling the country doing stand-up and performing every week on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.” He holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win, having been nominated on 22 occasions. Always a bridesmaid. (And never a groom. This serial sybarite refuses to marry and procreate.)
Critics might feel compelled to add a warning label: “Caution: This book multiplies by seven George Carlin’s ‘Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.’” For here, Maher takes Carlin’s seven profanities and, like the Bible’s five loaves and two fishes, transforms them into nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and gerunds.
Let’s not forget that the comedian graduated from Cornell University (Class of 1978) with a degree in English and history, while selling pot on every corner. Now, at age 68, Maher defines himself as a dope-smoking libertarian who derides fat people, such as the morbidly obese Donald Trump, whom he labels “Donnie Dorko.”
Maher says he understands the temptation to pick a celebrity for public office. “After all, Trump started with a big advantage, because he was a household name, like Preparation H … and no one has to tell Joe Biden what’s in the Constitution. Because he was in the room when it was written.”
There are no chapters in this book — just rata-tat segments with clever titles: “By the Time I Get to Phonics,” “Prude Awakening” (on the claims that Marjorie Taylor Greene was into polyamorous tantric sex), “Love Factually,” “Charlatan’s Web” and “Vladdy Issues,” which pillories Republicans for becoming the party of Putin. “You know how many Syrian refugees Russia has taken in? Two. Martin Sheen has more refugees in his pool house.”
Punching above his weight, Maher wallops Democrats (“they are to political courage what Velveeta is to cheese”) and rips Republicans, including the revered Ronald Reagan, who “sold weapons to Iran, the country rightwingers all want to bomb now, in brazen defiance of American law, and instead of being impeached, he was elevated to sainthood and now rides horses in heaven with Jesus.”
Maher eviscerates the Washington Post for plummeting from Watergate glory into blubbertweeting. “If someone named Deep Throat called the paper today and wanted to meet in a parking garage, this crew of emotional hemophiliacs would have an anxiety attack and report to HR that they didn’t ‘feel safe.’”
Gleefully riding the third rail of politics, sex and religion, Maher pulverizes the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United for allowing campaign spending without limits, lambasting Justice Anthony Kennedy, “writing for the majority from his tower in Whoville.”
The comedian chides Democrats for threatening to “pack the court,” saying “it’s already packed — with Catholics: Chief Justice Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett are all Catholics, plus Neil Gorsuch, who’s really one too since he was raised Catholic and is now Episcopalian, which is just a Catholic who flunked Latin.”
Maher pillories Cardinal Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2013 “shocked the world by telling Vatican Radio — you know, Vatican Radio, playing the hits from the eighth century, the ninth century and today — that he was going to resign, because the Church needed a fresh, young face. Somewhere other than on a priest’s lap.” He writes that Benedict, “the spare parts pope, the only one ever to collect a pension,” wrote a letter to the faithful claiming that “because of the ‘Revolution of 68’ — whatever that was — ‘pedophilia was then … diagnosed as allowed and appropriate.’”
Here Maher, an atheist, advises: “[B]efore anyone at the Vatican starts calling anyone else a pedophile, you might want to check the color of your kettle, because we traced the call, and it’s coming from inside the belfry.”
In the “Heathen Sent” segment, the comic demands equal time for people like him — atheists and agnostics — including
“an intellectual president like Obama, who admits to being a ‘secular humanist’ (wink, wink — atheist) [while having] to pretend to be religious.” Maher calls that “holy ghosting.” Regarding bizarro beliefs, he applauds the star of “Top Gun: Maverick.” “It was fun and nostalgic, and Tom Cruise has been such an ageless, reliably entertaining movie star for so long it sometimes makes me think, ‘Maybe there is something to Scientology.’”
Having whomped the Supremes, vilified the Vatican and beatified Tom Cruise, Maher pounces on the police by asking: “When did punching someone in the head become a law enforcement technique? The cops need to make up their minds; they do a Riverdance on your skull and then when they’re putting you in the car they say: ‘Watch your head.’” The comedian maintains “the police attract bullies like the priesthood attracts pedophiles. Like carnivals attract meth addicts.”
It’s not just the snappy one-liners that make this book catnip. Maher gives a rationale for his opinions as he confronts tough issues such as racial injustice. In “Beige Against the Machine,” he writes: “I can’t tell who is more annoying: the type of conservative who doesn’t care about anyone who isn’t white, or the liberals who hate themselves because they are white. There’s got to be a sweet spot somewhere between the PC police and the Memphis police.”
Despite its inane title, this book hits that sweet spot.
Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley has written several number-one New York Times best-sellers, including “The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty.” Her most recent books include “Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys” and “Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.” She serves on the board of BIO (Biographers International Organization) and Washington Independent Review of Books, where this review originally appeared.
THE ‘REAL TIME’ HOST WRITES HIS BEST BOOK TO DATE.
JACOB COLLIER•SAMARA JOY•DNICE•STANLEY CLARKE N 4EVER
RON CARTER TRIO•KENNY BARRON TRIO•DIANNE REEVES•GALACTIC
BOBBY SANABRIA MULTIVERSE BIG BAND•TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON
CIMAFUNK•CARMEN LUNDY•BILL FRISELL•DAVID MURRAY QUARTET
LAKECIA BENJAMIN•JAMES MORRISON•EMMET COHEN TRIO
FT. HOUSTON PERSON•NICHOLAS PAYTON•CHUCK BROWN BAND•GENERATIONS
GEORGETOWN
$15,995,000
3508 Prospect St. NW, Washington, DC
Kim Gibson 202-256-3628
Eileen McGrath 202-253-2226
PHILLIPS PARK
$5,595,000
4410 Meadow Rd. NW, Washington, DC
Cailin Monahan 804-874-1847
The NTB Group
GEORGETOWN/BURLEITH
$2,495,000
3721 Reservoir Rd. NW, Washington, DC
Lenore G. Rubino 202-262-1261
DUPONT CIRCLE $1,849,000
2031 O St. NW, Washington, DC
Nancy Itteilag 202-905-7762
Chris Itteilag 301-633-8182
GEORGETOWN
$7,500,000 1314 28th St. NW, Washington, DC
Jean Hanan 202-494-8157
GEORGETOWN
$2,685,000
3253 P St. NW, Washington, DC
Nancy Itteilag 202-905-7762
Chris Itteilag 301-633-8182
GEORGETOWN $2,295,000 2813 N St. NW, Washington, DC
Nancy Taylor Bubes 202-386-7813 The NTB Group
GEORGETOWN
$1,349,000 1305-1315 30th St. NW #102 Washington, DC
Nate Guggenheim 202-333-5905
HRL Partners 202-243-1620
WESLEY HEIGHTS
$6,740,000 3001 Foxhall Rd. NW, Washington, DC
Tammy Gale 202-297-0169
Andrea Hatfield 202-487-4294
GEORGETOWN $2,675,000
3604 Winfield Ln. NW, Washington, DC
Nancy Itteilag 202-905-7762
Chris Itteilag 301-633-8182
CLEVELAND PARK $2,050,000 2739 Macomb St. NW, Washington, DC
Anne Hatfield Weir 202-255-2490
Craig Davitian 202-333-2225
WEST END $1,299,000 2501 M St. NW #206, Washington, DC
Cailin Monahan 804-874-1847 The NTB Group
GEORGETOWN $5,750,000 3043 P St. NW, Washington, DC Ben Roth 202-465-9636 The Roth Team
GEORGETOWN $2,495,000 1653 34th St. NW, Washington, DC W. Ted Gossett 703-625-5656
GEORGETOWN $1,900,000 1319 34th St. NW, Washington, DC Jamie Peva 202-258-5050
GEORGETOWN $895,000 3251 Prospect St. #409, Washington, DC
Anne Hatfield Weir 202-255-2490
Craig Davitian 202-333-2225