Washington, D.C

Residents of Navy Yard apartment building raise concerns over elevator access

Published

2 years ago

August 26, 2024

Residents of Navy Yard apartment building raise concerns over elevator access

Residents of a D.C. 14-story high-rise are raising concerns about their lack of consistent elevator access.

The three elevators at the Onyx on First apartments in Navy Yard have been mostly out of service since Thursday, residents say.

Residents tell News4 it’s more than just an inconvenience — it’s a major safety and accessibility matter.

It’s one of the first things you notice when you walk inside the building: Three elevators, all of them with “Out of Order” signs.

“It’s not fair,” said Carolette Sweatt, a resident of the building. “It’s not realistic. It’s a real slap in the face.”

“We have to really think about every time we leave, is it worth it?” said Teagan Mountcastle, another resident.

“I ain’t got no choice,” said another resident, Ousmane Ba. “I have to take my time. Take the steps until I get to the tenth floor.”

News4 reached out to Greystar, the property management company for the apartments. A member of their communications team referred our request for comment to the owner of the building. They told us:

“Last week, a sprinkler head was activated in a resident’s apartment, which unfortunately resulted in the shutdown of all three elevators in the building. The elevator service provider has been manually operating one elevator for four hours each day, with plans to extend this operation until the repairs are made. All the stairwells remain fully accessible for use during this period. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate patience as we work to restore full service.”

But for some like Sweatt, one elevator working for four hours a day is not nearly enough time, especially for residents who are elderly or disabled.

“It’s sort of like, sorta how dare you dictate to us, the tenants, how we should go through our days?” Sweatt said. “It’s not our fault.”

The residents we spoke with say they still haven’t received a timeline for when the issues could be resolved. In the meantime, some residents are banding together to help those most in need.

“We’re lucky enough where we can kind of just go up and down, and be able to do it,” said resident Mark McNamara. “But a lot of people, they can’t. There’s people on the facebook group that are reaching out to help other people get up and down the stairs.”

And others say these issues change their long-term plans for living there.

“Me, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know I’m not going to stay here,” Ba said. “I’m going to move. It’s not good.”

News4 also reached out to the elevator contractor for comment on the situation – but we have yet to hear back. We also checked in with D.C. Fire and EMS and D.C. Police to see if they had responded to any emergency calls at the apartment complex related to the elevator issues. Neither agency has responded as of Sunday night.

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Related Topics:Featured housing Navy Yard Southeast DC

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Washington, D.C

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Published

5 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

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.

Jaemi Theatre Company co-founder and playwright Youri Kim

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.

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Washington, D.C

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Published

18 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Sunday, March 1, 2026 6:36AM

SF Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

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.”

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Washington, D.C

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

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 2026-02-28T15:57:08-0500 – Updated 2026-02-28T15:59:05-0500

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