MVT Inauguration photos

I am a realist and conceded I wouldn't be able to compete with other blog-o-sphere Inauguration coverage of the big day. What I have done is capture the day in the Mount Vernon Triangle (and surrounding area) in pictures. Road closures and charter bus parking aren't as interesting, but hey, my 'hood is my niche! =)

Big banner on Lux Lounge (649 New York Ave)

Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square

Military vehicle posted at 4th & K all day

MLK/Obama shirts sold behind National Portrait Gallery

Click on thumbnail image to visit the rest of the flickr set

All in all the craziness didn't spread much into the Triangle. Charter Bus parking didn't spread beyond a few street segments: 1000 block of New Jersey Ave NW , 200 block of H Street NW and the K Street overpass over I-395. While one impromptu parking lot at 4th and L was packed the big lots on K Street remained mostly empty. Vehicle Access was limited greatly below Mass and in certain segments of New York Ave. The Convention Center area had extensive use of temporary guard rails and used several double decker buses to block off access points. A row of memorabilia tents were set up on the 600 block of Mass Ave at the parking lot owned by Gould. The photos I took down by D Street in Penn Quarter is where the large frustrated crowds who wanted to be on the parade route were centered.

Pre-Inauguration roundup

Inauguration is nearly here! Below are a few links Triangle residents may find helpful.

• Downtown BID Inauguration Update
  
• WaPo Inauguration Central
  
• GoG's Inauguration Nightlife Agenda
  
• Open late for Inauguration (via Capitol Spice)
  
• Convention Center Inauguration Lockdown (MVSNA)
  
• PQLiving's Inauguration Guide
  
• Detailed Inauguration Traffic, Parking, and Pedestrian Information (The Other 35 Percent)

All the Triangle's coverage can be accessed using the Inauguration Label.

If over the course of the festivities readers have stories or photos to share please contact us.

On notice

The Triangle is in the heart of the Inauguration Charter Bus Parking Zone. Because notices have been posted throughout our streets issuing warning that idling will be subject to $500 fine. The notice states that idling will not be permitted more than 5 consecutive minutes if the temperatures are below freezing.


Notices have also been posted to declare a Prostitution Free Zone (PFZ) from 1/16/2009 to 1/25/2009. The zone spans 4th Street NW to 5th Street NW east to west and L Street NW to I Street NW north to south. The 10 day period is the maximum duration for a PFZ. The way it's been explained to me that a PFZ is tantamount to an anti-loitering law and therefore has to be targeted rather than indefinite.

Open Late for Inauguration

Props to Capital Spice for their Google Map of 213 Restaurants, Bars and Clubs with Extended Hours for Inauguration.

Click map to visit the interactive mashup

Within the Triangle it's just Busboys and Poets. Just north of NY is the Eritrean Center, Warehouse Cafe, DC Eagle and Lux Lounge and to the south many establishments in Penn Quarter.

First Peace, now Statehood

On Friday I posted Yoko's Imagine Peace ad on the Hampton Inn. Well, this morning it seems the DC Statehood cause is going quantity over quality with propaganda for the Inauguration visitors to gaze at.


There were 5 or 6 of these signs at the intersection of Mass Ave, H Street and Fourth Street.

Yoko spreads peace in the Triangle

New ad on the side of the Hampton Inn at 6th & K courtesy of Yoko Ono.


Hat tip to DC Metrocentric for spotting this first.

WaPo: Inaugural rentals begging for takers

David Nakamura of the Washington Post writes that Inaugural rentals begging for takers.

When Tim Tate heard that a neighbor had rented out his condo in the trendy Mather Studios in downtown Washington for $3,000 for inauguration week, he and his friends hatched a plan to rent out their own units and use the profits for a week-long jaunt to Morocco.

But nearly two months after listing his condo on an inaugural housing Web site (one bedroom, one bath, $2,000 for the week), Tate has gotten nary a nibble. Neither have his friends. He dropped the price twice. The only inquiry came from European parents who wanted to rent it for their daughter's semester in the District.

"We all started to list, and then the silence ensued," said Tate, a glass artist and founder of the Washington Glass Studio.

I remember shortly after the election the DC blogosphere was a flutter about opportunities for locals to rent their places on Craiglist for a one or two grand a night. My relatives in Connecticut even asked if I was doing it - so the claims of limitless rental opportunities must have made the Today Show or Oprah circuits... I thought the hype was overstated. Sure, some people likely did connect with renters but supply far exceeded demand.

The almost NYE links roundup

I'm back from hiatus with a links roundup.

• Zenith Gallery, a future tenant at 5th and Eye, will close their doors in Penn Quarter this upcoming March (hat tip: PQLiving).
  
• The Lifein MVSNA blog picks up a story from WaPo that points out MVT is in the center of Inauguration Ball ground zero. Eight of the Ten balls take place at the National Building Museum, Union Station and the Convention Center.
  
• The NYE celebration at Lux Lounge (649 NY Ave NW) will be hosted by Washington Wizards players Caron Butler, Antwan Jamison, Andray Blatche and Juan Dixon.
  
• District Chatter unveils a new feature called The Real Trannie Hookers Of MVT.
  
• District Chatter also breaks the scoop that Smart Bike is coming to the Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center metro.
  
• Prince of Petworth offers some NYE options.
  

image from District Chatter

WP: Inauguration Charter Bus Parking

The Washington Post unveils the Charter Bus Parking plan.


excerpt:

With the exception of some residential areas, all curbside parking will be set aside for buses; streets will be restricted to charter bus, transit bus and official inaugural vehicles, he said. In the downtown area, there are 11 north-south streets between 11th and 21st streets, and almost all blocks of K, L, M, N, O and P streets will be for charter bus parking. In the second area, streets bounded on the east by the Union Station railroad tracks north to Florida and New York avenues NE, west to Sixth Street NW and south to Massachusetts Avenue will be for charter buses. The charter bus restrictions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 20. Other vehicles parked on the streets after that will be towed.

The streets of the Triangle east of Sixth Street NW fall under these Charter Bus restrictions.

NYT: Washington Strains for Inauguration

The New York Times is running an article on the costs of the Inauguration for the DC City Government.

Washington Strains for Inauguration

Apparently RNC/DNC convention host cities (Denver, St Paul) received $50 million from the federal government for security for those individual events. The District is allotted just $15 million for all events for the year. Also crazy was Dan Tangherlini saying if it snowed on Inauguration it would cost the city upwards of $1 million to plow the parade route! A million bucks ain't what it used to be.