Washington, D.C
DDOT rolls out new fees for DC streateries
The D.C. Department of Transportation is rolling out a new set of regulations and new costs for restaurants that want to hold on to their outdoor space.
Streateries were once a critical lifeline, helping restaurants stay afloat during the pandemic. Five years later, many remain fixtures in their neighborhoods and still generate much-needed revenue.
“They’re going to charge us extra for that, and we can’t afford it,” said Raja Shaukat, who owns La Grotta in Adams Morgan.
Shaukat says restaurants are already struggling to make ends meet. When News4 visited, his dining room was empty, and he says business has been slow.
Under the updated streatery rules, restaurants would face a new $260 permit fee plus $20 per square foot, and they’d be responsible for buying their own jersey barriers.
“We absolutely said no to them because there’s no point in having a streatery out,” Shaukat said. “[…] Plus, with the economy and what we are going through right now in D.C., we can’t afford it.”
DDOT says the changes are meant to make outdoor dining more uniform, while improving safety, accessibility and overall aesthetics. But some News4 spoke with say they’re disappointed by the stricter rules.
“I think it’s a real shame,” said Gwendolyn Reece, an Adams Morgan resident. “This has been such a boon to the neighborhood and to D.C generally. It’s about the only good thing to have actually come out of the pandemic.”
“It’s really added to the public ambiance of spaces where people can come and sit even if they’re patrons of businesses or not,” said Adams Morgan ANC Commissioner Peter Wood. “It’s changed the dynamics of who’s using the public space and for what reasons.”
But others say they won’t miss them. Nadi Saleh, who owns Queen’s Cafe Hookah, says the outdoor seating was fine in the summer months, but overall, the streateries haven’t helped his business.
“Having parking places for the people, it’s going to help our business a lot,” Saleh said. “I’ve been 21 years in business. Since they started to do this, business is going down a little bit.”
Even though temporary streatery permits expired on Sunday in the District, DDOT says it won’t begin enforcing rules on non-compliant streatery structures until early 2026.
Jaemi Theatre Company, a new AAPI-led theater company based in Washington, DC, officially launches this spring with its inaugural project, BAAL, a staged reading at the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival on Friday, March 6, at 7:30 PM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
Founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh, Jaemi Theatre was born out of a recognition that DC, one of the largest theater markets in the United States, had no company dedicated to centering Asian stories or led by Asian artists. The name “Jaemi” comes from a Korean word meaning “fun,” and in its Sino-Korean form, 在美, means both “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.”
“I kept hearing from companies that it was hard to find Asian actors, and I heard it so often that I started to believe it myself,” said Youri Kim. “But through building community with other AAPI theater artists in the area, I realized the talent was always here. What was missing was the infrastructure to connect us. Jaemi is that infrastructure.”
BAAL, an original work written by Youri Kim (not to be confused with Bertolt Brecht’s 1918 play of the same name), is a body horror drama set in a dystopian city where the air is toxic and birth is outlawed. In the city of Baal, citizens are forced into an impossible choice: terminate or sacrifice a family member. The play uses the language of biological mutation and bodily control to examine how systems of power decide who gets to exist and on what terms, questions that resonate deeply within AAPI and immigrant communities navigating structures that seek to define, contain, and assimilate them. The staged reading features a cast of seven and an original sound design.
BAAL plays as a staged reading Friday, March 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM in Lab Theatre II at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). Tickets ($29.75) are available online.
Looking ahead, Jaemi Theatre plans to host a founding party and fundraiser this fall, and will launch an Asian Writer Play Submission program in the second half of 2026. The program will pair playwrights from selected Asian countries with Asian playwrights based in DC for a workshop development process, building a pipeline that connects diasporic voices across borders.
For more information, visit yourikimdirector.com or follow @jaemitheatre on Instagram.
About Jaemi Theatre Company
Jaemi Theatre is a newly formed AAPI-led performance initiative based in Washington, DC, co-founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh. “Jaemi” is Korean for “fun” and, in its Sino-Korean form, means “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.” The company creates interdisciplinary performance rooted in diasporic imagination and radical storytelling. Jaemi is a home for the unfinished and the unassimilated, where performance holds contradiction without needing to resolve it.
Sunday, March 1, 2026 6:36AM
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The San Francisco Ballet board has voted to cancel its upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center.
The company is scheduled for a four-day run in Washington D.C. in May.
Petition urges SF Ballet to cancel Kennedy Center tour stop as company opens 2026 season
Last year, Pres. Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board, including naming himself the chairman.
That led several artists to cancel scheduled performances.
A statement from SF Ballet says the group “looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
At 97, Veteran Harley Wero wasn’t up for a trip to the nation’s capital, so volunteers from the Western North Dakota honor flight brought the trip to him. Wero, his wife Muriel and their daughter Jennifer got to experience Washington, DC, without ever leaving their home.
Web Editor : Sydney Ross
Posted
Police searching for information after fatal assault in Denver
Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over $20 Necklace – SPD Blotter
Here are the 9 San Diego County communities that set or tied heat records
Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side
Drama mars finish of half-marathon national championships in Atlanta
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms
Dems’ potential 2028 hopefuls come out against US strikes on Iran
At least nine killed after Iranian strike on Israel’s Beit Shemesh
Mass shooting at Austin, Texas bar leaves at least 3 dead, 14 wounded, authorities say
Mamdani’s response to Trump’s Iran strike sparks conservative backlash: ‘Rooting for the ayatollah’
-
World4 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts4 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Montana1 week ago2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
-
Denver, CO4 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana7 days agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Technology1 week agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Technology1 week agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making
-
Politics1 week agoOpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT