Find out more information on how to get involved.

A donation is suggested to help offset costs with putting on the festival. The event is run completely by volunteers!

$1 Rail Drinks during the event

Sponsored by Stonewall Kickball & the Urban Neighborhood Alliance

Facebook Event Page: CLICK HERE

This is a friendly reminder that our monthly meeting is coming up TUESDAY – March 12th at 7PM. The meeting will still be held at
Dupont Circle Business Incubator -
1638 R St. NW, Washington, DC 20009.
All meetings are open to the public so feel free to bring a friend or two! Our monthly meetings are the SECOND TUESDAY of every month. We look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!

4th Annual 17th Street Festival

The 4th Annual 17th Street Festival is coming up in September. We are starting to plan and are looking for volunteers who want to participate. This years festival will be bigger and better! Come to this months meeting to find out more details!

We’re busy planning our year at UNA, which will include participation in a community forum for the upcoming Council special election, a repeat of our successful community cleanup and yard sale, and the Fourth Annual 17th Street Festival!

Additionally, after several successful years with our current Board, this year we’re seeking to expand the Board and are also looking to recruit new leadership which shares our vision of a cooperative community of friends, neighbors, and businesses working together to solve problems. To fulfill our mission, “UNA brings businesses and residents together to develop innovative solutions to community challenges. We seek to create a livable and prosperous neighborhood by working to affect positive change in our dynamic downtown environment, in which we have chosen to live.” We’re looking for a diverse group of both business and residential Board members to join us.

If you’re interested in joining the Board or are just interested in learning more about UNA, we invite you to join us for an informal reception on February 12th.

When: February 12th
Time: 7PM
Where: The Dupont Circle Business Incubator-1638 R St. NW

Thank you all for you do to make our community an even better place to live, work, and visit. We’re looking forward to working with you to continue our efforts!

Lee Granados
President
Urban Neighborhood Alliance
RSVP TO THE MEET & GREET BY CLICKING HERE

DC is allowing residents to vote on the uniformed color of taxi cabs in the city.

Click HERE to vote or go to http://dctaxi.dc.gov/page/let-us-know-what-you-think-about-proposed-color-design-schemes-dc-taxicabs

The race was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy.

Fun Starts at 6PM

Race at 9PM

Location: 17th St NW: Start at R ST and Finish at Church ST

For more information go to www.highheelracedc.com

SEE YOU TONIGHT!

Wish you had an easy way to know more people in your neighborhood?

Neighborsations is here to help! Neighborsations will be matching neighbors based on common interests to meet up at the festival. Just click this link (http://bit.ly/neighborsations) to fill out some quick info and before the festival, we’ll let you know who you’re meeting and where.

Find the neighbors you want to know and start your neighborsation!

Editor’s note: The following guest column is from the president and vice president of the Urban Neighborhood Alliance (UNA), Lee Granados and Stephen Rutgers, respectively. Granados’ grandparents were Spanish immigrants, and she grew and continues to live just off the 17th Street corridor. Borderstan welcomes guest columns on variety of subjects with differing viewpoints; email us at borderstan[AT]gmail.com. Disclosure: Borderstan is a supporter of UNA.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
For those of you new to the city or who may not know the history, 17th Street was built out of the desire of early immigrants to achieve the American Dream. Through their hard work, dedication and family sacrifice, these immigrants strived to provide future generations a better life.

Name a continent and it is likely that an immigrant got their start somewhere close to the 17th Street Corridor. So popular that multiple presidents, diplomats and even the famed musician Jim Morrison used to visit often, the 17th Street corridor has been built upon people knowing and taking care of one another.

Things have, unfortunately, changed. “What’s best for the neighborhood?” has been replaced with “What’s best for me/my house?” Honest debate born of rational self-interest has been replaced with the use of leverage — no matter what the cost to the business and its employees.

As this community was built, if there was a problem, it was addressed with your neighbors through productive dialogue and debate. Fast-forward to modern-day and that dialogue has been lost at the hands of a small group seeded in irrational self-interest — no matter the collateral damage to the small business owners and the evolving communities.

The unfortunate reality within our community is that as small businesses eye moving in they are forced with choosing either potential financial hardship, at the hands of a small minority, or they simply choose not to come to the 17th Street area at all, given the considerations.

For example, Hank’s Oyster Bar has been forced to spend in excess of $50,000 in legal fees, and other businesses on the street have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting similar small groups. We have elected officials in our local ANC 2B that represent our community and the voice of the people. When our elected representatives take up these issues and make a decision, we should respect that.

Many employees in these small businesses reside in and around the neighborhood, and they are doing jobs that many take for granted. These people work hard and work to better their lives through promotion, skill and/or opportunities afforded them at local businesses. Here are some hard facts regarding Hank’s: 12 to 15 employees reside in the neighborhood, eight to 10 more employees live in the city and 80% are long-term employees.

Voluntary Agreements (V.A.’s) between businesses and/or residents and local groupsdo not discuss the loss of revenue to the business, to the owner, and their employees. That is not only a shame but furthers the perception of people acting purely out of self-interest.

For every day an owner is fighting a VA they are losing thousands upon thousands of dollars of revenue and time needed to focus on developing their business. And their employees, when affected, lose income to pay their bills.

These are the things that should be talked about and considered, and why VAs are now an archaic concept of the past. This is the time for the community to voice their support and to respect small businesses and our local elected officials.

If there is an issue with a decision — take it up with your elected officials, not the small business striving for the American Dream.

7PM – Century 21 Redwood Realty – 1701 Q St. NW, Washington, DC 20009. All meetings are open to the public and we encourage everyone in the community to attend.

Dear Invested Urban Residents,

On behalf of the Urban Neighborhood Alliance, we ask for your help in supporting Hank’s Oyster Bar. On Friday, the ABC Board investigators closed down half of their outdoor patio space pending the decision by the ABC Board on the termination of their Voluntary Agreement with 5 neighborhood residents. UNA believes that the voice of a few should not destroy an award winning small business and one that is the staple of the 17th Street neighborhood. When small businesses are attacked in this manner it hurts our neighborhoods, our real estate values and our city’s revenue. Hank’s owner and Chef Jamie Leeds has asked for community support– and we stand by her whole heartedly. We have three ways you can help support Hank’s.

1) Email ABRA Head Fred Moosally, Councilmember Jack Evans, Councilmember Jim Graham, and Mayor Vincent Gray. Ask for a swift resolution to the ABC Board’s work regarding Hank’s Oyster Bar. Here they are:
ABRA: fred.moosally@dc.gov
Councilmember: Jack Evans: jevans@dccouncil.us
Councilmember Jim Graham: jgraham@dccouncil.us
Mayor Vincent Gray: eom@dc.gov

2) Sign up and show up to testify on Wednesday at 4:00 pm at the ABC Board hearing on Hank’s. The hearing will take place at – 2000 14th Street, NW, Suite 400S, Washington, DC 20009. You can call the ABRA office at (202) 442-4423 for more information.

3) Please go to Hank’s and patronize the establishment ASAP to help recover some lost revenue and to pay for continuing legal fees. For more information on Hank’s visit their website at www.hanksoysterbar.com.

It is time for both businesses and residents to stand up together and support Hank’s and abolish archaic laws that no longer apply to our growing development in DC. This absurd reaction by a small few shows the continued failure of those in power to find more collaborative ways to work towards compromise between business and residents. When small businesses are attacked in this manner we hurt our neighborhoods and our city’s revenue. Please stand tall and firm and use YOUR voice today! Lastly, many thanks to each and every person that has already reached out to their networks on behalf of Jamie Leeds and Hank’s. Keep the momentum going!

Sincerely,

Lee Granados | President
Stephen Rutgers | Vice President
Jack Jacobson | Secretary
Jon Caley | Treasurer
Celina Gerbic | At Large
Wes Mosser | At Large
Brandt Ricca | Communications

Urban Neighborhood Alliance | www.unadc.org