Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
County Board member Libby Garvey at the celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Celebration of Vera Punke’s 108th birthday at The Jefferson in Ballston (staff photo)
Vera Punke moved to Arlington at the ripe old age of 95 to be closer to her daughter. That was 13 years ago.
Punke, who turned 108 on Tuesday, has lived through 19 presidential administrations.
She was honored by the county for becoming a centenarian during the Obama administration. Her first grandson married during the Clinton administration, five years after she married her late fourth husband, Chester Punke.
Wilson Blvd, which can be seen from her home at The Jefferson in Ballston, was named after the president who was in office when she was born.
A first-generation Italian who is described — accurately — as a “spunky lady” by staff at The Jefferson, Punke proudly dresses “to the nines,” owns more than 40 pairs of shoes, and has all the social energy of someone a fifth of her age.
Punke was delighted by the packed house and the line of well-wishers at her birthday celebration Wednesday afternoon. Among those in attendance were elected officials like Del. Patrick Hope and Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey, as well as multiple TV stations and other members of the media.
Poster board displays around the event space at The Jefferson recounted key moments in Punke’s life and U.S. history from the 1910s to today. Flapper dresses adorned a few Jefferson staff members in honor of Punke’s childhood and adolescence during the Roaring 20s, a century ago.
Inevitably, she was asked about her secret to longevity.
“My secret is to look ahead,” she told gathered reporters. “Because if you look back, you’ll think of all the bad things.”
“Also I was a good organizer getting people together — when you do that and think of other people, you forget your problems,” she added.
Permits at 4250 Fairfax Drive, the former Cosi location (staff photo)
Permits at 4250 Fairfax Drive, the former Cosi location (staff photo)
A Panera Bread appears to be moving into the old Cosi location in Ballston, according to online permit records.
The permit, filed with Arlington County, describes the work as “interior alterations for new tenant fitout for restaurant Panera Bread.”
The restaurant will take up 3,426 square feet of space at the former Cosi outpost at the base of an office building at 4250 N. Fairfax Drive, near the Ballston Metro station.
A call and an email to Panera Bread were not returned before deadline.
Despite multiple locations within close proximity in D.C., Arlington is home to only one Panera outpost, in Rosslyn. Others ring around the county in Falls Church, Bailey’s Crossroads and Alexandria.
Cosi, the fast-casual restaurant chain built on flatbread sandwiches, closed up shop in Ballston in December 2019. Its locations in Crystal City and Virginia Square followed suit in early January of 2020.
The closures occured as the company filed for bankruptcy protection. A Rosslyn location continued operating as the sole D.C. area outpost on this side of the Potomac River until closing in early 2021.
Crash involving overturned vehicle on N. Glebe Road
(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Both directions of N. Glebe Road were closed near the I-66 ramps north of Washington Blvd, in the Ballston area, due to a crash.
The crash happened around 1 p.m. in the southbound lanes of Glebe and involved a pickup truck and a sedan.
Traffic camera video shows the truck merging into the car’s lane suddenly and without signalling, running into its side and causing it to flip on its roof.
Passersby and other motorists could be seen rushing to help the driver immediately after the crash. She was helped out of the overturned car and loaded into a waiting ambulance.
The pickup driver drove across Glebe to the I-66 ramp after the crash but then stayed on scene.
“Both drivers remained on scene,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Alli Shorb confirmed to ARLnow. “Officers remain on scene investigating the crash and as part of the ongoing investigation, will determine if charges will be sought.”
The northbound and southbound lanes of Glebe have since partially reopened as of 1:50 p.m.
Video of the crash and the emergency response is below.
Carbonara, soon to open in the Ballston/Virginia Square area (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
As we move through the dog days of August, several highly anticipated local restaurants are looking ahead to openings in the coming late summer or early fall.
Coco B’s is finally set to open on the roof of Clarendon’s B Live next week, pending permits, co-owner Christal Bramson confirmed to ARLnow. Besides the roof, the “tropical glam bar” consists of nearly 4,000 square feet of bars, dining rooms, and a back patio. Coco B’s has been in the works for a year and was originally supposed to open this past spring. This comes as B Live continues to revamp, including shifting away from hosting original acts and debuting a new beach bar concept this weekend.
Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington was also finally hoping for an opening this month, but that’s being pushed back at least a few weeks. While no exact timetable has been set for the two-level bar and coffee shop, a spokesperson confirmed a debut is likely coming next month. So, it will be a bit before its donut robot starts its world takeover, one pastry at a time.
Peruvian Brothers is aiming for a “soft opening” at Amazon HQ2 as soon as later this month, co-owner Giuseppe Lanzone told ARLnow. A grand opening is scheduled for September in Pentagon City, he said. It was July 2022 when the fast-casual Peruvian restaurant announced it was moving into 1400 S. Eads Street. The initial hope was to open earlier in the summer, but permitting is again the culprit.
Westover Taco also had planned to start serving this month, but that’s been pushed back. Co-owner Scott Parker told ARLnow that the new spot in Westover will “for sure” open this year but couldn’t provide an exact timetable yet. It was almost exactly a year ago when ARLnow first reported that Parker, along with owners of Lost Dog Cafe, was taking over the space once home to Forest Inn.
Carbonara, the self-described “old school” Italian restaurant in the Ballston area, is now aiming for a November debut, a spokesperson told ARLnow. The Italian eatery and wine bar is moving into the former home of Next Day Blinds on Wilson Blvd and was originally supposed to open this summer. But “difficulty with [the] mechanical system” and permitting hang-ups has pushed it to later in the fall.
Wagamama in Clarendon is coming along. While the British restaurant chain has announced several timelines for opening, none have proven to be the case. Construction does appear underway, but a spokesperson declined to give ARLnow any substantial information. “There are no updates to share regarding the opening timeline for Wagamama Arlington,” they wrote in an email.
Several other notable restaurants are also looking to open later in 2024, including Kirby Club in Clarendon and Yunnan By Potomac in Pentagon City. They are both aiming to open in the spring.
The Filling Station in Ballston is opening this weekend (photo courtesy of Mykl Wu)
The Filling Station in Ballston is opening this weekend (photo courtesy of Mykl Wu)
Live music venue The Filling Station is opening in Ballston (staff photo)
A new live music and events venue is opening in Ballston this weekend.
The small, 50-seat Filling Station at 4201 Wilson Blvd is opening its doors on Friday night. It’s owned by brothers Ian and Eric Hilton, who also own the adjacent restaurant El Rey.
The venue will focus on hosting live music, comedy, and private events, per its website.
“Filling Station is an intimate venue with an elevated stage that will be host, with no cover charge, to a rotating schedule of musicians, bands and comedians,” says a press release.
“Set with community-style and small group tables, the rustic interior harkens to mid-century culture with the walls filled with that era’s album and magazine covers and music posters,” the press release continues. “Large screen TVs and mounted televisions will show NFL football games and sports this fall.”
Friday night’s inaugural show will feature Cowpoke, a country rock and folk band from Leesburg. Saturday’s show will feature Arlington-based funk-rock band Skip House.
Food will be available from the next-door El Rey, including quesadillas, nachos, torta sandwiches, fries, wings and 17 beers on tap.
ARLnow first reported last month that Filling Station’s opening was imminent, though signs had been up dating back to August 2022.
The venue is part of the Hilton brothers’ burgeoning local restaurant empire. Cafe Coline on Langston Blvd was named one of Washingtonian’s Top 100 restaurants earlier this year. El Rey in Ballston opened in late 2021 as a second location of the popular D.C.-based taqueria.
Arlington’s live music scene has seen some changes in recent months.
B Live opened in May 2022 as a music venue and restaurant in the former Whitlow’s space in Clarendon. But this summer, the venue announced it was shifting to featuring more live karaoke and becoming a “beach bar,” at least temporarily.
The Renegade in Clarendon, which opened in 2019, also features live music.
Leaf blowers in use in the Truist Bank parking lot in Ballston (courtesy anonymous)
Worker using leaf blowers in Truist Bank parking lot in Ballston (courtesy anonymous)
The Truist Bank parking lot in Ballston, where workers have been seen using leaf blowers (photo by Hallie LeTendre)
Sidewalk area surrounding Truist Bank during early morning construction work (photo by Hallie LeTendre)
The Jefferson, next to the parking lot where workers using leaf blowers have been seen (photo by Hallie LeTendre)
In Ballston, regardless of the season, workers have been spotted wielding leaf blowers.
Exactly who pays for this work, however, continues to be a mystery.
At least anecdotally, the continued popularity of remote work after Covid has had at least one downside for some residents: more exposure to the sound of leaf blowers. Former opinion columnist Jane Green noted the nuisance in a widely read piece two years ago, rallying 43% of respondents to the cause of banning gas-powered leaf blowers in Arlington, according to an ARLnow poll.
Then last month, a Ballston resident tipped us off to the noise, and in an ensuing unscientific poll a plurality — 41% — said the Ballston leaf blower issue was the most valid noise complaint among two others received by ARLnow.
In a follow-up interview, the anonymous resident, who lives near Welburn Square, says he has heard the leaf blowers ever since moving to his apartment three years ago. He has typically observed the activity around 8 a.m. near the parking lot for Truist Bank (920 N. Taylor Street).
“I frequently hear two leaf blowers running at the same time. I will look out my window and can see the workers wandering around the block spraying with the machines,” he said. “This occurs when there are no leaves and year-round.”
ARLnow scoped out the parking lot and a bank employee confirmed hearing the leaf blowers sometimes.
The bank branch manager stepped in and told ARLnow that the bank does not employ landscapers who use leaf blowers. He said he has never heard noise from leaf blowers nor, to his knowledge, have customers complained about them.
Next door, at the The Jefferson senior living facility, a concierge and two other employees said they have never heard residents or coworkers complain about noises from leaf blowers.
The concierge told ARLnow that he has only occasionally seen landscape workers blowing leaves and debris in The Jefferson courtyard area.
“They are just doing their job. The ones I have seen have only been within our property and do their work pretty quickly,” he said. “It’s also never early in the morning, I could see if this was happening early on in the day, but when I’ve seen them it has been in the afternoon.”
The Ballston Business Improvement District did not respond to questions about whether it had any insights into the mystery of the leafless leaf blowing.
While the hiring organization and the reason behind year-round leaf blowing in Ballston remains unknown, others, like Green, may sympathize. The former columnist wrote in 2021 that she heard leaf blowers daily while working from her apartment.
“Leaf blowers are a drain on quality of life. Their piercing noise shatters concentration or the enjoyment of the outdoors. They spew noxious gas into the air. They can destroy insect habitats,” Green said in her piece, which became the site’s second most-read article in 2021.
She encouraged residents to sign a petition to help put an end to the excessive noise. The petition is shy of its 2,000 signatures and short of its goal of 2,500 signatures. It was created by Quiet Clean NOVA, which advocates for regulations on gas-powered yard equipment.
For now, the mystery remains.
“It seems like a waste of money that generates noise and air pollution for no reason. It seems to make no sense to me,” the Ballston resident said. “I understand if this was happening in the fall when there are leaves everywhere, but this happens year-round. It’ll be the middle of the winter with snow on the ground.”
The reporter, Hallie LeTendre, is a summer intern. Today is her last day at ARLnow.
Advanced Towing tow truck outside the company’s lot in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated at 8:45 a.m. on 7/4/23) Arlington County says it is enforcing some wayward fencing and gates in a public alley abutting Advanced Towing and American Service Center.
It all started because of complaints about tow trucks for the Ballston company parking in front of “the most famous fire hydrant in Arlington County,” so named by public safety watchdog Dave Statter.
Over the last year, an anonymous Twitter account dedicated to the hydrant has made Freedom of Information Act requests to ascertain the alley’s ownership and highlight the county’s responsibility for overseeing how it is used. This inquiry sparked several complaints about illegal parking last fall.
This week, the information requests unearthed an update: the county said it owns the 5th Road N. alley, off N. Quincy Street in Ballston. It said it is working with Advanced Towing to remove a fence and American Service Center, which operates the Mercedes-Benz dealership, to remove the gates.
The owner of the “Advanced Towing Fire Hydrant” Twitter account, says highlighting the zoning code issues was not because of an ax to grind with the towing company. Instead, it was to highlight the degree to which enforcement decisions lie with the Office of the County Manager.
“You shouldn’t have to crowdsource outrage on Twitter to get the government to enforce existing parking regulations,” the account owner, who wants to remain anonymous, told ARLnow.
— Advanced Towing Fire Hydrant (@AdvTowHydrant) July 31, 2023
In a statement, county spokesman Ryan Hudson confirmed the enforcement would begin and traced the move back to citizen complaints.
“Zoning started enforcement due to the fact that these two businesses are encroaching on public land,” he says. “The genesis was a complaint about illegally parked cars in front of the fire hydrant. That led us to become aware the fence didn’t meet the clearance of 3 feet and didn’t have Zoning approval.”
The fire hydrant account posted about the wayward fence earlier this year.
A spokesperson for Advanced Towing confirmed the company is complying with the request.
“We have been in touch with the County and our fence will be open tomorrow,” an Advanced Towing spokesperson said in an email, adding that the company never put the fence up and it has been there for well over 20 years.
Arlington County approved a certificate of occupancy for the tow company but that did not amount to permission to occupy the alley, according to a copy provided to the Advanced Towing Fire Hydrant Twitter account.
While the company can occupy the alley, Hudson says the fence has to be moved back because it is encroaching into a 10-foot wide public alley. Fences on private property are allowed with proper approval — just not in a public alleyway.
“The County, not adjacent property owners or tenants, will determine how to operate and maintain the public alley,” the county spokesman said.
The alley adjacent to the American Service Center property, meanwhile, is a public alley not owned by the auto repair company.
“Gates need to remain open because they are obstructing public use of and access to the public alley,” Hudson said.
A spokeswoman for American Service Center told ARLnow she was directed “not to discuss anything with anyone.”
A sneak peek into construction at the site of a future First National Bank branch in Ballston (staff photo)
First National Bank signs at its forthcoming Ballston branch (staff photo)
Signs for a new First National Bank (FNB) location are posted across the street from Ballston Quarter.
This new location, at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Stuart Street, is set to open in 2024. The Ballston branch is part of the bank’s plans to expand its presence in Northern Virginia, a spokesperson for the bank told ARLnow.
The bank currently has two ATMs in Arlington at Giant grocery stores at 3450 Washington Blvd and 3115 Langston Blvd and two branch locations in Fairfax County.
“This location is ideal to serve residents and businesses in Arlington while also adding convenience for our customers in nearby communities,” the spokesperson said. “The planned Arlington office will be a full-service branch that will leverage our modern layout and innovative technology to facilitate a convenient and consultative banking experience for customers and businesses.”
When it opens, the Ballston branch will also have interactive ATMs that “allow clients to use video chat technology to conduct transactions with a teller during extended hours, including into the evening and on weekends,” the spokesperson said.
Last July, the company announced its plans to expand in the D.C. area with additional branches and at least 11 offices that will serve the D.C. area before 2024, as well as a loan origination center in Richmond.
“Our goal with expansion is to continue adding resources for the markets we serve in D.C., Virginia and throughout our multistate footprint,” bank CEO and President Vincent Delie Jr. said in the release.
A petition filed by a Union Kitchen employee is calling for the end to its relationship with its labor union, but the union is dismissing the effort as a ploy by management.
It was announced on Friday that a Union Kitchen employee has filed a petition with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) to end its relationship with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400. The petition has reportedly been signed by a number of Union Kitchen employees, including those who work at the Ballston location
This would effectively end UFCW Local 400’s ability to bargain and support unionized employees at Union Kitchen.
“Employees of five Union Kitchen Grocery locations in the Washington, DC, metro area have filed a petition seeking to end United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400’s monopoly bargaining power over workers,” reads a press release. “The employees submitted their decertification petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 5 with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.”
But a UFCW Local 400 spokesperson insisted that this effort isn’t legit, accusing Union Kitchen management of being involved in the petition and using potentially illegal tactics, like intimidating employees, to sign the petition.
“Our take is that it’s basically bullshit,” Travis Acton said. “We knew this was coming. This is not a surprise. The only thing, honestly, that caught me by surprise is how blatantly illegal they’re going about it.”
It was just over a year ago when employees at five Union Kitchens voted in favor of forming a union, including the one in Ballston on Wilson Blvd. That came after a long-running effort that was delayed due to challenged ballots and charges of unfair labor practices. It has continued to be a contentious relationship ever since.
In November, the NLRB determined that Union Kitchen management violated 26 counts of labor law including union-busting tactics and wrongfully terminating employees. In March of this year, the union filed a wage theft lawsuit against management. And just last month, the union called for a boycott of all Union Kitchen locations.
The boycott remains ongoing, Acton said.
The employees who are calling for the decertification are being provided “free legal aid” by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to “eliminate coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses.”
In the press release sent out by National Right to Work, the organization said that a single employee submitted the petition but it has been supported “by the vast majority of her coworkers.” The employee claimed in a letter sent to Union Kitchen CEO Cullen Gilchrist that close to 90% of workers signed the petition, as reported by the Washington Business Journal.
Acton said that those numbers might be misleading. He told ARLnow that in recent months the company has significantly added to the list of employees that are eligible to be represented by the union. Acton claims that a number of those added employees are actually people in management roles, those who own brands sold at the store, and those who might have personal relationships with Gilchrist.
“Nobody’s ever seen them work in the store or work an actual shift in the store,” he said.
Plus, Acton claimed, that he’s heard from employees who felt like they were forced to sign the petition or they would get fired.
“Based on our experience over the last six months to a year of them firing anybody who comes to the bargaining table, who supports the union, I believe them,” he said.
Intimidation of this nature is potentially illegal, according to federal law.
As expected, Union Kitchen CEO Cullen Gilchrist supports the petition to end the company’s employees’ relationship with the union and specifically noted the ongoing boycott as the reason for his support in the following email to ARLnow.
The proposed location of an east entrance to the Crystal City Metro station (via Google Maps)
The intersection of N. Vermont Street and N. Fairfax Drive in Ballston (via Google Maps)
A long-planned-for second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station is set to hit a milestone during the Arlington County Board meeting tomorrow.
The Board on Saturday is set to approve a $117.2 million contract with JBG Smith and Clark Construction, which intend to design and build an east entrance to the station on the northwest corner of 18th Street S. and Crystal Drive.
This May, JBG Smith and Clark submitted 30% complete designs and the $117.2 million price tag. Since then, county staff and the developers have been negotiating the terms of the contract, which would hold the developers responsible for budget overages.
Project costs have increased by a few million dollars since 2022, when JBG Smith and the county agreed to tweak the project to save $13 million from the then-estimated total of $126 million.
In a report, the county says this entrance project is targeting one of Arlington’s most heavily used Metro stations in an area expected to grow even more in the near future.
“The Metrorail station serves high-density residential buildings, office buildings, and retail development,” the report said. “The station is also a major transfer point for Metrorail, commuter bus and rail, and premium bus service.”
The new entrance will provide a direct route accessible to people with disabilities and forge a better connection to the Virginia Railway Express station to the east.
When the Board reconvenes in September, members are expected to consider a separate agreement with WMATA, the county report said. It will outline the county’s role overseeing design and construction and how it will coordinate with WMATA.
Location of proposed second Crystal City Metro entrance (via Arlington County)
But this is not the only second Metro entrance project taking a step forward on Saturday.
Next up, in Ballston, the Board is slated to accept $4.5 million in Northern Virginia Transportation Commission I-66 Commuter Choice Program Funds for a long-envisionedwestern entrance at the intersection of N. Fairfax Drive and N. Vermont Street.
The county has pooled together a hodge-podge of funding sources, including an $80 million from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, approved last summer. NVTA helped cover the cost to develop design costs in 2016 but denied a 2019 request for $33.5 million.
Despite these funding wins, costs continue rising: a county report now estimates a price tag of $150 million, up from $140 million in 2021 and $130 million in 2019.
The county expects to have a final estimate after WMATA finishes reviewing the 35% complete plans. Then, Arlington County will seek out a company to finish the designs and build the project.
“A second station entrance will improve access from the Glebe Road area and growing development in the western part of Ballston. The project will also improve egress in the event of an emergency incident requiring evacuation from the station and train platforms.”
There will be two street-level elevators and either escalators or stairs to an underground passageway and a new mezzanine with stairs and elevators to the train platform. The new entrance will have fare gates, fare vending machines and a station manager kiosk.
The project will come with improved street-level transit connections.
Map showing potential location of new Ballston Metro entrance (via Google Maps)
Live music venue The Filling Station is opening in Ballston (staff photo)
A new “live music and event venue” is coming to Ballston, posting up right next to El Rey.
The Filling Station is set to open soon on Wilson Blvd in Ballston, per an Instagram post last week. It aims to be a “great new spot for live music, comedy and more,” reads the post
The Filling Station will be adjacent to El Rey at 4201 Wilson Blvd and, like El Rey, owned by brothers Ian and Eric Hilton.
The brothers’ growing list of bars and restaurants include Cafe Coline on Langston Blvd, which was named one of Washingtonian’s Top 100 Restaurants earlier this year. Originally on U Street NW in the District, taco spot El Rey opened its second location in Ballston in late 2021.
The new venue is set to host a variety of events including stand-up comedy, live music, private parties, salsa brunches and podcast recordings, a spokesperson told ARLnow. A link on El Rey’s website has a sample menu that includes typical pub fare, like nachos, chicken wings, loaded fries, and 17 beers on tap.
It’s not immediately clear when The Filling Station might open, with the website noting only that it’s “coming soon.” ARLnow reached out to a restaurant spokesperson who replied that they were still “ironing out exact details” and more information be available in the future.
Signs have been up for The Filling Station since at least August 2022, but the business has faced delays related to its live entertainment permit application, ARLnow was told last year.
There’s been a bit of a shifting in Arlington’s live music scene. B Live opened last year, looking to fill the void left by Iota Club’s closing in 2017. But last month, the venue announced it was moving away from original acts to host more karaoke. The Renegade in Clarendon remains open with a full live music calendar, though.
