At Cafe Asia in Rosslyn, Penn spoke to a young professionals event about the importance of the upcoming presidential election.
“The stakes in this election are extremely high and none of us want to see the country move backwards,” Penn said. “Obviously Virginia is a battleground state, so there are a lot of resources on both sides of the aisle being poured in here.”
The project consists of two 390-foot towers — one office tower, one residential tower — both built across from the Rosslyn Metro station, between N. Lynn Street and N. Moore Street. JBG is asking the Board for the option to build the residential tower first, even though the developer’s original site plan called for the office tower to be built first.
The Board is expected to consider a site plan amendment on Saturday that would transfer the community benefits timed to coincide with the office tower construction — including the construction of a public plaza between the two planned buildings, a $3.5 million contribution for the construction of a new Rosslyn Metro entrance, and $5.4 million to the county’s affordable housing fund — to the timeline for the residential tower’s construction, presuming the residential tower is built before the office tower.
Penn — famous for roles in movies like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, and TV shows like House and How I Met Your Mother — will first drop by a young professionals event at Café Asia (1550 Wilson Blvd) in Rosslyn at 6:00 p.m. He’s expected to talk about why he supports President Obama and why Virginia is an especially important state in the re-election effort.
At 7:30 p.m., Penn will greet phone bank volunteers at the Obama campaign’s Arlington office (2408 Columbia Pike).
Rosslyn Outdoor Movies Start Tonight — The season of weekly, political-themed outdoor movies in Rosslyn starts tonight with the 1999 Matthew Broderick/Reese Witherspoon flick “Election.” The movie is scheduled to start at dusk.
Anti-Harassment Ads at Metro Stations — WMATA has placed anti-sexual harassment public service announcements in 28 Metro stations. In Arlington, the ads can be found in the Ballston and Clarendon Metro stations. [Stop Street Harassment]
The photo on the left shows the Hot Shoppes location at 1325 Lee Highway in Rosslyn, during the 1930s. It was part of the chain started locally by J. Willard Marriott in 1927.
Marriott and his wife, Alice, moved to the D.C. area from Utah. He launched a restaurant based on his affinity for American Southwest foods such as spicy BBQ, chili and tamales. The name came from his desire for a restaurant that would provide hot food to warm the D.C. residents during the wet chill of an Eastern winter.
The concerts all begin this week and will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and and Thursdays from 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Tuesday concerts, held at Freedom Park (17th Street over Lynn Street and Wilson Blvd), will run through July 31. Wednesday concerts are held at CentralSpace (Wilson Blvd and N. Moore Street), and will continue through August 29. There will be no concert on Wednesday, July 4. Thursday concerts take place at the Farmers Market (Wilson Blvd and N. Moore Street), and will have a longer season, running through October 25.
The incident happened last night (May 31) around 10:45 p.m. on the 1500 block of N. Key Boulevard.
Police say the suspect was cleaning his .40 caliber Sig Sauer handgun when it accidentally discharged. The bullet went through the suspect’s TV, through a window, and across the street in the direction of an office building. Officers searched for the bullet but were ultimately unable to locate it.
Citing “challenges” posed by the 100 or so food trucks and carts licensed in Arlington, the BID says the county should work to create a “level playing field” between mobile vendors and restaurants. Among the BID’s recommendations are regulating the “location and schedule of food trucks, trash, parking and access to restroom facilities.”
We reported exclusively last week that the BID was in the process of formulating a set of recommended county regulations for food trucks, at least in part to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants against the onslaught of competition from food trucks, which don’t make the same kind of long-term investments in a neighborhood as restaurant owners.
In November, Ray’s Hell Burger Too was transformed into a restaurant that only served steak and cheese sandwiches (and tater tots). A month later, the restaurant was quietly re-re-branded as Ray’s Hell Burger Too.
Yesterday (May 30) the Michael Landrum-owned eatery at 1713 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn changed identities again — to “Nice ‘N’ Greasy Steak ‘N’ Cheesy.” Nothing about the interior has changed, except the menu.
The Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) is in the process of forming a set of recommendations for the Arlington County Board regarding the regulation of food trucks, according to an internal document obtained by ARLnow.com. The BID, which is funded by the property owners who rent space to the neighborhood’s 59 restaurants, delis and cafes, says in the document that “the number, location and type of operation” of food trucks and carts is “inadequately regulated by Arlington County.”
Even during the “off season” winter months, between 3 and 9 food trucks flock to N. Lynn Street alone to serve hungry Rosslyn lunch-goers, according to the BID. But while residents and workers may appreciate the variety and convenience of food trucks, the restaurants that pay rent in Rosslyn have been complaining.
The picture on the left is the area formerly known as Rosslyn Circle, taken around 1925. Records indicate the businesses shown were on Agnew Avenue, which is now Lynn Street. They stood at the base of the newly finished Key Bridge, which replaced the Aqueduct Bridge in 1923.
Rosslyn, and this section in particular, used to be considered a rough area. After the Civil War ended, many soldiers stayed behind. They drove out the farmers who previously owned the land in Rosslyn, and set up saloons, gambling houses and houses of prostitution. Thievery and murder were a regular occurrence, and locals knew not to walk there at night, if at all.
Update at 11:05 a.m. — A record 12,700 people in the D.C. area biked to work today, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Hundreds of bicyclists — from the young to the old, bike novice to expert — gathered at Gateway Park in Rosslyn this morning for the D.C. area’s annual Bike to Work Day.
