Soon after taking over the MLK Deli in Southeast Washington, Tyrone White found himself with an inviting opportunity: opening a concession stand at the new neighborhood arena where the Washington Mystics play home games.
Washington, D.C
D.C.’s poorest ward aims anger at Leonsis as Mystics eye move downtown
Now White fears he could lose the revenue generated by the concession stand — enough to help him open a second deli in another struggling area — if Ted Leonsis relocates the Washington Wizards and Capitals to Virginia and moves Mystics home games downtown to the Capital One Arena.
“I’d have to cut back on jobs and opportunity for the community,” White said the other day at his deli on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, where his menu includes “Marion Barry Salmon Cakes,” a toast to the neighborhood’s favorite former mayor. “It would be devastating.”
As Leonsis and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) touted the deal for the $65 million arena nearly a decade ago, the Mystics’ billionaire owner talked with passion about creating a new horizon for the neighborhood of Congress Heights in Ward 8, a corner of the city long defined by poverty and violent crime.
But with his announcement that he would shift Mystics games downtown to the Capital One Arena if the Wizards and Capitals relocate to Alexandria, Leonsis is seeking to remove a key attraction that D.C. officials are counting on to help fuel investment and propel the neighborhood’s renaissance.
When it agreed to the deal with the city, Leonsis’s company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, signed a 19-year lease at the Ward 8 arena, a commitment that included not only Mystics home games but also Wizards practices.
“Our expectation was what it still is — the presence of the Mystics and Monumental was going to be the excitement we were going to build around,” said Monica Ray, president of the Congress Heights Community Training and Development Corp., a nonprofit that has advocated for the redevelopment of St. Elizabeths.
“I’m angry that they think they can get up and leave the promise and potential there,” Ray said. “It feels like Ted has forgotten his commitment to Ward 8. We should not be an afterthought.”
Her disappointment is not isolated. After Leonsis’s announcement, a Ward 8 council candidate, Markus Batchelor, described the Mystics potential move as “a blow” to spurring economic growth “where it’s needed most.” Ron Moten, a veteran Anacostia-based activist, threatened to organize a boycott of Monumental sports franchises and brands unless Leonsis reversed course.
Even if Virginia officials approve Monumental’s plan, the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics would remain where they are until 2028. In addition, the Mystics would maintain their offices and still practice at the Congress Heights arena. The Capital City Go-Go, Monumental’s team in the NBA-affiliated G League, also would continue to play home games in Ward 8.
John Thompson III, senior vice president of Monumental Basketball, said the Mystics need to move downtown because Entertainment and Sports Arena’s 4,200-seat capacity is too small to accommodate the team’s growing popularity. The Mystics won the 2019 WNBA championship on their home court.
Thompson also said that Monumental would remain a pronounced presence in Ward 8, helping community organizations through financial contributions. As part of its agreement with the city, Monumental is required to make $10 million in contributions, an obligation it says it has already exceeded.
“I can’t stress enough that we’re not leaving, there’s still a commitment to the neighborhood,” Thompson said in a phone interview. He added that Monumental would work with the city to “bring other events” to Congress Heights “to help fill the void” if Mystics’ home games move. “Our commitment to the community is not going to change,” he said.
Bowser’s administration, in a statement, said that the city’s contract with Monumental “requires” that the “Mystics play their home games and the Wizards hold their practices at the Entertainment and Sports arena until 2037.
“The District honors its contracts, and we trust and expect our partners to do the same.”
Leonsis’s plan to move the Capitals and Wizards to Alexandria has prompted a wave of concern about the future of downtown Washington, where the 1997 opening of what was then known as the MCI Center spawned a thicket of new office and condominium towers and spurred the opening of bars and restaurants.
As he promoted the new Ward 8 arena in 2018, Leonsis spoke of the development that occurred around Chinatown and Penn Quarter, saying, “Let’s do in Ward 8 what we ended up doing in downtown D.C.”
But the loss of Mystic home games — about 20 in a season — is likely to shrink opportunities in Southeast, including for those who have served prison sentences and who pick up work. When the team plays in the neighborhood, for example, 37 “ambassadors,” most of whom are Ward 8 residents, earn as much as $17.50 an hour greeting fans, cleaning up and driving shuttle buses between the Congress Heights Metro station and the arena, Ray said.
Robin McKinney, 50, a D.C. government clerical worker who lives in Anacostia, makes $25 an hour plus tips driving a shuttle bus on game days — extra income she says she needs to keep up with mortgage payments and support her seven children.
“When the season comes around, you know you have a job,” said McKinney, an elected Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner. “You cannot survive in the District unless you have a full-time and a part-time job. If the Mystics don’t play over here, I’d be out of income.”
In a pavilion next door to the arena known as Sycamore & Oak, 20 Black-owned start-up businesses occupy small shops and sell art, pottery, jewelry, cosmetics and food. On game days, thousands of potential patrons pass through.
“When people are coming and going to the game, they stop here or even just look in,” said Tahneezia Hammond, the owner of Glam Station, a boutique at Sycamore & Oak. “Any exposure is good exposure. It’s good for spreading the word. We want the team to make this more of a destination.”
At the same time, there are also business owners in Congress Heights who say they have not benefited from the Mystics’ presence, nor from development at St. Elizabeths, a sprawling campus that is behind a fence and set back from the neighborhood.
Players Lounge, a bar located on Martin Luther King Jr. SE, has been a Congress Heights fixture for more than 50 years, its luncheon and dinner patrons having included Barry when he was mayor and later when he represented Ward 8 on the D.C. Council.
Steve Thompson, owner of Players, said Mystics fans rarely visit the lounge, a dimly lit joint where the menu includes half smokes, fried chicken and pig’s feet. The walls are decorated with banners celebrating Washington’s football team (before they became the Commanders), and a framed photo of Barry and funeral programs of regulars who have died.
“They drive into the Mystics games and then drive on out, they have no reason to come over here,” Thompson said. “If they left, I don’t think it would affect me. By them being inside the gate, they’re almost segregated from us.”
A ’20-year narrative’
On a September morning in 2015, as they announced plans for the new arena, Bowser and Leonsis stood on a podium on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, showering each other with praise and talking of a new horizon for Ward 8.
The neighborhood’s “welcoming embrace,” Leonsis told a crowd that included Wizards stars John Wall and Bradley Beal, “made the decision very, very easy on where we would commit and grow and really commit to a 20-year narrative in helping you and working together to make this a fantastically well-developed neighborhood.”
“You’re now a national news story,” Leonsis said as he has boasted of choosing Ward 8 to build the NBA’s “best” practice facility for the Wizards. “We’re all going to work on and we’re all in this together, creating jobs, being able now to attract other businesses to come here and they will create jobs.”
The construction of Entertainment and Sports Arena was a centerpiece of the redevelopment of St. Elizabeths East, an 180-acre campus that also is to be home to a new hospital, retail and restaurants, and nearly 1,000 units of housing, about a third of which have been completed.
Moten, who has helped arrange musical events at Sycamore & Oak, including a Go-Go Santa at Christmastime, said the arena and pavilion made it possible for Ward 8 residents and Washingtonians across the city to think of the neighborhood in new ways.
“It helps to get rid of the stigma that Southeast has been trying to get rid of for years,” he said. “When you’re a new business and you say you’re over by the arena, it gives you credibility. And when the people come, it’s icing on the cake. They see the arena and they see Sycamore & Oak — I like to call it ‘Black Wall Street.’”
Referring to Leonsis, Moten said, “You gave people hope and now you took away hope.”
White, the owner of the MLK Deli, where the walls are lined with framed photos of King, is not ready to give up. He hopes the Mystics stay where they are, and that patrons buying his steak and cheese sandwiches at the arena know his business is owned by someone who grew up in the area and “looks like them.”
“It’s super cool and it motivates other people to see they can do whatever they want,” he said. “It’s bigger than the arena. And it’s deeper than food. It’s the feeling of, ‘We can do anything.’”
Washington, D.C
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Washington, D.C
The Weekend Scene: Holiday boat parade, plus 11 can’t-miss markets in the DC area
If you have Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge, it’s time to throw them out to make way for holiday treats. We’re celebrating National Cookie Day on Thursday with a bracket to determine – once and for all – the best holiday cookie. We explain it all on Instagram and TikTok.
- Weekend weather: Storm Team4 is tracking snow chances for Friday. It won’t add up to much – just enough to get excited about. Here’s the full forecast.
11 can’t-miss holiday markets in the DC area
- Christmas Markt: The Heurich House Museum’s castle-like building is a fairy tale setting for this German-style Christmas market. Thurs. to Sun., Dupont Circle, $14 (adult)/$2 (kids 2-15)
- Native Art Market: Indigenous artists from across this half of the globe will sell handcrafted works from jewelry to pottery and beyond at this National Mall museum (just a 5-minute walk from the U.S. Botanic Garden and its holiday display)! Sat. and Sun., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., National Museum of the American Indian
- Norwegian Festival: Find Norwegian foods and coffee, linens, books and sweaters at this unique indoor market. It’s free, but reservations are recommended to shop inside. Outside, enjoy a Norwegian cafe, games and other cultural activities. Fri. to Sun., Norway House in Fairfax
- Holiday Gift & Craft Show, plus Children’s Holiday Shop: Do your children need to pick out gifts? With the help of trained volunteers, kids can pick out gifts priced under $6 for all their families and friends on Saturday (make sure to bring cash). Adults can also shop while little ones stay busy at the kids’ corner. Sat., 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Sun., 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Community Center in Falls Church
- Friends of the National Arboretum’s Winter Festival: Get your Christmas tree or winter greenery at the Arboretum’s Grove parking lot, then head to the visitor center for a family-friendly festival with a holiday train ride and a Gift Vendor Village. Sat., Northeast D.C.
- The Lodge: This ski-inspired winter festival features a covered holiday market and live entertainment underneath a tent. Bring kids for train rides, face painting and crafts or your dog for special treats. Sat., 1-7 p.m., Metropolitan Park in Arlington, free entry
- Bethesda’s Winter Wonderland: Live ice sculpting and music, Santa Claus and crafts level up this URBNmarket featuring more than 50 artisans (they’re also hosting a Clarendon pop-up this weekend). Sat., noon to 4 p.m., Norfolk and Cordell Avenues
- Holiday Her-Story Market: The shop at Hotel Zena aims to highlight the area’s “most visionary female artisans, makers, and entrepreneurs.” Sat., 1-5 p.m., Northwest D.C.
- HCC Holiday Market: How about holiday shopping in a historic cemetery? Drop in for unique gifts, handcrafted goods, sweet treats – and a great story for your giftee. Leashed dogs are welcome, too! Sun., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Congressional Cemetery in Southeast D.C.
- Del Ray Artisans 30th Annual Fine Art & Fine Craft Holiday Market: It’s Del Ray Artisans’ 30th year doing this market featuring fine art and crafts from local artists, and you’ll find different sellers each weekend. First three weekends in December, 2704 Mount Vernon Ave. in Alexandria
More weekend highlights
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Free & family-friendly
Holiday Boat Parade
Saturday, The Wharf in D.C. and Old Town Alexandria
Captains have decked the hulls of dozens of boats to show whimsical and over-the-top holiday scenes for the annual parade setting sail on the Potomac and Washington Channel.
You’ll find numerous good viewing locations from The Wharf in D.C. and the waterfront in Alexandria, Virginia, and both locations will have plenty of extra festivities and views of the fireworks finale at 8 p.m.
The Wharf kicks things off at 5 p.m. with D.C.’s own Too Much Talent Band on the Transit Pier. The Transit Pier will host the main party with My Hero Zero, a bar and views of the boat parade emcee’d by our own Tommy McFly (full disclosure: He’s hired to host the event). Or, explore the entire waterfront to find holiday karaoke, s’mores roasting, ornament decorating, photo opportunities and more (here’s a map).
Want to watch from Alexandria? The boat parade kicks off about 5:30 p.m. at the Old Town Waterfront, where you’ll also find dockside festivities from 2-8 p.m. – including Santa arriving by fireboat at the Alexandria City Marina at 3:30 p.m.
Find good watch locations and find tips on beating crowds and other locations on this map.
Landlubbers, head out early to partake in more activities for Alexandria’s Biggest Holiday Weekend, including the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade.
Family-friendly
Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show
Dec. 5 to 21, Arena Stage, $49+
🔗 Details
“The world’s first holiday show highlighting the African American tradition of stepping” is returning to Arena Stage to sweep up audiences with a blast of holiday music and nonstop cheer.
Check this page to find available discounts for families, those under 35, educators and others.
Other holiday shows worth checking out in D.C. include “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre and Washington Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” at Warner Theatre.
Free pick
Room Service – Holiday Edition
Fri. to Sun., plus Dec. 12-14, 1345 4th Street NE, free
🔗 Details
A former motel near Union Market has been transformed into a festive design showcase. D.C. designers and creatives put their mark on several rooms you can explore before hitting up the Hot Lotty pop-up bar with mulled wine and firepits.
Family-friendly
Santa Fly-In and holiday celebration
Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., College Park Aviation Museum, $10 for residents or $13 for nonresidents
🔗 Details
Santa is scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. and depart at 3 p.m., weather permitting. So, check the forecast and the event’s page before you go!
Family-friendly
Lea Salonga concert
Sat., 8 p.m., The Music Center at Strathmore, $28 to $108
🔗 Details
The Tony Award-winner is also known as the singing voice for Disney’s Mulan and Princess Jasmine from “Aladdin.” She’ll perform Disney songs, pop songs, Broadway hits and more.
Free & family-friendly
Holiday Walk of Lights at Neabsco Regional Park
Select dates through Dec. 4-28, Woodbridge, free
🔗 Details
One of our favorite free holiday lights displays is back, and Neabsco Regional Park’s is extra special because it sits on a boardwalk. It will be open Thursday to Sunday, 5-9 p.m. this week. Make sure to check the page for exact dates and information on parking and shuttles.
Concerts this weekend
They Are Gutting a Body of Water, 7 p.m. Thursday, Black Cat, $24.40
Stunning, skull-rattling Philly band gets an easy shoegaze label for its My Bloody Valentine reverent, ear-bleeding guitar feedback. But its visceral, emotional sound recalls slowcore, electronics, and the dark and lonely post rock of Slint as well. On fourth LP “Lotto,” the band sounds as raw and experimental as ever. Details.
Model/Actriz, 8 p.m. Friday, Black Cat, $29.90
After years of perfecting their craft, the queercore dance-punks became a sudden indie juggernaut with debut LP “Dogsbody” in 2023. This year’s “Pirouette” finds the band turning down the noise and turning up the beat for a roomier sound – dark, dance floor bangers perfect for provocative frontman Cole Haden’s vocals. Opening up, prolific singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Asher White’s deconstructed pop gets more adventurous. Whether sparse or raucous, folk or indie pop, her unique ear speaks when she introduces styles and instruments that seem like they should clash but harmonize instead for unexpected thrills. Oh man, Friday’s gonna be such a twisted fun night. Details.
J Roddy Walston, 10 p.m. Saturday, Pearl Street Warehouse, $38
For a few years, just a few more years back, J Roddy fronted the most exciting live band on the road — The Business. Hard rock ‘n’ roll with boogie led by a gravelly, piano-bashing wildman — and glam gradually introduced to the diet (and more central to his next band, Palm Palm). The Christmas to the Bone Tour has become Walston’s holiday tradition, his offering for rockin’ ‘round the Christmas tree. Details.
Steve Gunn, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, DC9, $31.93 (advance)/$38.11 (day of)
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter is a guitar virtuoso first. A folk revivalist at his core, Gunn’s style varies from country to indie to world music. A beautiful, nimble player with a gift for improvisation who knows when to fill out a song and when to let it breathe. Details.
White Hills and Pink Mountaintops, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Pie Shop, $21.44 (advance)/$27.11 (day of)
For about two decades White Hills has delivered dense, heavy psychedelic rock to rattle a stoner sober. In more recent years, the New York band has played around in quieter, gauzy territory, as well. Not quite so psychedelic is Stephen McBean’s project Pink Mountaintops. The frontman of the heavy stoner rock band Black Mountain pursues folk, indie rock, alt-country and pop interests here. Opening up, MFers JMB & Co. play instrumental improv featuring Geologist of experimental band Animal Collective on hurdy gurdy. He has an album due out early next year. Details.
More to do in D.C.
Ongoing winter favorites
“A Christmas Carol”: Through Dec. 31, Ford’s Theatre, $42+
“The Nutcracker” by The Washington Ballet: Through Dec. 29, Warner Theatre, $63.50+
Sculpture Garden Ice Rink returns: Daily through winter, National Gallery of Art, $12-$15 admission and $7 skate rental
Light Yards: Through Jan. 2, The Yards Park, free
Season’s Greenings: Dino-Mite!: Through Jan . 4., U.S. Botanic Garden, free
Downtown Holiday Market: Through Dec. 23, F Street NW (between 7th and 9th streets), free
Winter Wonderfest: Through Dec. 30, Nationals Park, $29.50
ZooLights: Through Jan. 3, National Zoo, $9
Frosted at Franklin Park: Through Jan. 7, downtown D.C., free
Theater – “ho ho ho ha ha ha ha” with Julia Masli: Through Dec. 21, Woolly Mammoth, $49
Weekend happenings
Comedy – Adam Conover: Thurs., 7 p.m., The Lincoln Theatre, $45.30
Christmas Markt: Thurs. to Sun., Heurich House Museum, $14 (adult)/$2 (kids 2-15)
Room Service – Holiday Edition: Dec. 5-7 and 12-14, 1345 4th Street NE, free
FONA’s Winter Festival: Sat., National Arboretum, Visitor Center, free
Holiday Her-Story Market: Sat., 1-5 p.m., Hotel Zena, free
Georgetown Jingle: Sat., 1-4 p.m., throughout Georgetown, free
Jingle Block Rock: Sat., 4:30-6:30 p.m., Southwest Duck Pond, free
More to do in Maryland
Gingerbread House Contest & Show: Opens Fri., Darnall’s Chance House Museum, $2 (free for kids 4 and under)
Jingle Jubilee & Tree Lighting: Fri., 6:30-8:30 p.m., Gaithersburg Concert Pavilion, free
“Elf” with live accompaniment by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Fri., 7:30 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore, $29+
Santa Fly-In and holiday celebration: Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., College Park Aviation Museum, $10 for residents or $13 for nonresidents (Santa arrives at 11 a.m. and departs at 3 p.m., weather permitting)
Bethesda’s Winter Wonderland: Sat., noon to 4 p.m., Norfolk and Cordell Avenues, free entry
Winter’s Eve: Sat., 3-6 p.m., Glen Echo Park, free
Light Up the Lakefront: Sat., 4-7 p.m., rio in Gaithersburg, free entry
National Harbor Christmas Market and Holiday Craft Show: Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 21, free entry
Concert – Lea Salonga: Sat., 8 p.m., The Music Center at Strathmore, $28 to $108
Concert – Rare Essence: Sun., BlackRock Center for the Arts, $45
Concert – Monaleo: Sun., The Fillmore Silver Spring, $67+
Luminocity’s Wonder Journey holiday lights festival: Through Jan. 1, Montgomery County Fairgrounds, $33.47 (child)/$40.23 (adult)
More to do in Virginia
Ice & Lights – The Winter Village at Cameron Run: Through Feb. 28, Alexandria, $9-$24
Rosslyn Cheer tree lighting, yappy hour and holiday market: Thurs. to Sun., free
Concert – Johnnyswim: Fri. and Sat., The Barns at Wolf Trap, $60+
McLean Holiday Art & Crafts Festival: Fri. Sat and Sun., McLean Community Center, $5 entry (free for kids 12 and under)
PCRS WinterFest: Sat., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hal and Berni Hanson Regional Park, free
Alexandria Scottish Christmas Walk Parade: Sat., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Old Town Alexandria, free
Fairfax Holiday Market: Dec. 5-7 and Dec. 12-14, Old Town Square in Fairfax, free entry
Bull Run Festival of Lights: Daily through Jan. 4, Centreville, $32.45
Winter Lantern Festival: Through Jan. 18, Lerner Town Square at Tysons II, $18.99-$25.99
Meadowlark’s Winter Walk of Lights: Through Jan. 4, Vienna, $20.85
9th Annual Old Town TUBACHRISTMAS: Sun., 3 p.m., Market Square, free
Want to know what’s up for your weekend? Sign up for The Weekend Scene, our newsletter about events, experiences and adventures for you and for your family around the DMV.
Washington, D.C
We’ve done it, DC! We’re in the top 10 … for terrible traffic
It’s no surprise that the D.C. area has some terrible traffic around here. The crammed, crowded roads have put us on a list that we really don’t want to be on — the worst congestion in the country.
We’ve done it, everybody. We are in the top 10 for worst traffic congestion in the country — #9, as a matter of fact. It’s probably not breaking news to you, if you are out and about on roads such as the Capital Beltway.
But when you talk to the experts about all of this, they say if we don’t do anything about it, nothing is ever going to change.
Our traffic is so bad that some commuters, like Ivan Johnson, are resigned to their fate.
“I’ve been here so long that I’m used to it’s, so it’s no big deal […] I’m numb,” he said.
According to a new report from traffic-tracking company INRIX, many roads around here are rough. The D.C. region ranks 19th for traffic congestion worldwide, and 9th for most congestion in the U.S.
Drivers here waste 70 hours per year stuck in traffic, and that costs each driver $1,289 per year in wasted time and fuel.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me, because as Americans, we know we love cars,” Dr Rashmi Sadana of George Mason University said.
Sadana has written a book called “The Moving City,” which is about smarter ways to get around. She says our region will have to come to grips with the fact that we need more affordable housing closer to and inside the Beltway to make a difference with congestion.
“Part of it is really about the economics and the way this region has really grown — which is a positive thing,” she said. “But it hasn’t grown with the idea of how are people going to be able to afford to live here and to not have these long commutes.”
And she says we actually commute many, many times per day.
“People I talk to — what are you doing after work? You’re driving your kids to all their different activities right?” she said. “You’re driving to the grocery store; you’re driving to your gym.”
One positive trend noted in this report: People are choosing more options known as micro-mobility, getting around without a car and instead using methods such as e-bikes, scooters and rideshare.
This report says our busiest corridor is DC-295.
New York City took the top spot for worst traffic in the U.S.
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