Washington, D.C

Residents clash over plan to convert building into homeless shelter in Ward 2

Published

1 year ago

June 22, 2023

Residents clash over plan to convert building into homeless shelter in Ward 2

A plan to turn George Washington University’s Aston Hall into a shelter for those experiencing homelessness is causing controversy in that community.

On Wednesday, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2a held a special meeting to discuss the District’s plan to acquire Aston Hall from George Washington University. DHS would convert the building on New Hampshire Avenue into a non-congregate shelter for the medically vulnerable and those who can’t stay in other shelters.

The D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) said it would be the only shelter in Ward 2, and the first of its kind in the District. The building is in an area of Foggy Bottom-West End that’s home to at least four upscale hotels.

“This is an opportunity to serve folks that we have not been able to serve previously in our system, adult families. I have a 20-year-old daughter, but if I had a 20-year-old son and we experienced homelessness, there currently would not be an opportunity for us to come into a shelter together. We would have to be separated, and right now, this is really an opportunity to fill that gap,” DHS Interim Director Rachel Pierre said.

Residents had differing opinions.

“Are we going to be part of the problem, or are we going to be part of the solution?” one asked. “And this is one of the best solutions I have heard in decades.”

Others brought up safety concerns.

“Prostitutes or drug addicts or drug dealers around there, you have to call the police. So if that starts happening, it’s going to start looking like the Chinatown Metro station,” a member of the public said.

ANC Commissioner Joel Causey said he “seriously [questioned] the choosing of this location, based on the fact that it sits across the street from Michelin star restaurant. It’s got another Michelin star restaurant around the corner, and another around the corner from that.”

A resident retorted: “Eating at a Michelin star restaurant is not a human right. Housing, on the other hand, is.”

District Hospital CEO Nayan Patel asked “what safeguards is the shelter proposing in terms of making sure that those restaurants and hotels nearby are protected?”

“I’ve had a hotel where we had mentally ill people come in and set fire in the women’s bathroom and defecate in the lobby furniture,” he continued.

DHS said it would take about eight weeks to convert Aston Hall once the sale goes through. The shelter would have a capacity for 190 residents and officials said medical services and meals would be available to those who need it.

Under the agreement, the city would buy the building for $27.5 million, with $19 million coming from the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the American Rescue Plan.

“There is a process that will take place where people will be admitted to this facility that largely revolves around medical need,” DHS Chief of Staff David Ross said.

If everything goes as planned, DHS would like to have people move in by October or November of this year.

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Washington, D.C

Neighbors concerned about violence after double shooting in Alexandria

Published

5 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Neighbors concerned about violence after double shooting in Alexandria – NBC4 Washington

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Washington, D.C

World Record pupusa in Washington, D.C.

Published

13 hours ago

September 28, 2024

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WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – One for the record books in Washington, D.C. as 40 chefs broke the Guinness World Record for largest pupusa.

Pupusas are a traditional dish from El Salvador. The previous world record was an 18-foot pupusa in El Salvador.

The chefs undertook the challenge during Fiesta DC — a street fair celebrating latin food and culture.

The prep and cooking process for the 20-foot dish took several hours.

Chef Ben Velasquez said there is an official process for certifying the giant pupusa.

“There is an inspector for Guinness World Record certifying that we are using first, all of the international ways of sanitary conditions, the way the food is, safe to eat, etcetera,” Velasquez said.

Velasquez said their final product can serve more than 2000 people.

The project took more than 3 months of planning.

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Washington, D.C

Suspect indicted in DC park ‘bias-motivated’ pepper spray attacks acquitted on all charges – WTOP News

Published

21 hours ago

September 28, 2024

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Suspect indicted in DC park ‘bias-motivated’ pepper spray attacks acquitted on all charges – WTOP News

A former Prince George’s County, Maryland, elementary school teacher who was arrested on assault charges in Virginia and indicted for…

A former Prince George’s County, Maryland, elementary school teacher who was arrested on assault charges in Virginia and indicted for allegedly attacking people with pepper spray in a D.C. park was found not guilty.

Years after Michael Thomas Pruden, 50, was hit with seven federal assault charges related to “bias-motivated assaults” on men from 2018 to 2021 in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, a jury of his peers in Washington D.C. acquitted him of all charges.

Initially, prosecutors argued before a grand jury that Pruden attacked victims because of their perceived sexual orientation, targeting a park known for cruising, or “a meeting place for men seeking consensual sex with other men,” according to charging documents.

The indictment identified a total of five victims who were assaulted during evening activities at the park in D.C., claiming Pruden pretended to be a member of law enforcement and attacked unsuspecting men.

“Before spraying the men, Pruden pretended to be a Park Police officer, shined a flashlight in the victims’ faces and gave the victims police-style directives,” the department said in a July 2022 press release.

Prosecutors also brought forth digital evidence from Pruden — “text or social media messages or profiles that reference ‘cruising,’ Meridian Hill Park or Malcolm X Park,” and social media activity on platforms like Jack’d and Grindr ahead of this week’s jury trial. Jurors began deliberation Thursday and reached their decision Friday afternoon.

Pruden’s acquittal comes more than two years after his arrest in Norfolk, Virginia, due in part to significant delays in the trial. Notable issues included changes in representation and motions to bifurcate the trial — separating the question of whether Pruden committed the offenses charged from deliberation on the reason being the victims’ espoused or assumed sexual orientation.

The jury’s decision also followed charges for attacks on two people at Daingerfield Island in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2021. The Alexandria case also concluded with Pruden being found not guilty verdict in both incidents.

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