District Taco tent at the Rosslyn pit stop in 2016
V8 tent at last year’s Ballston pit stop
Ballston pit stop last year
The 2016 Ballston pit stop
Fresh Bikes tent at the Ballston pit stop last year
Revolution Cycles tent at the Rosslyn pit stop.
People wait in line for food and raffles at the Rosslyn pit stop
REI tent at the Rosslyn pit stop
Next Friday, thousands of area commuters will celebrate Bike to Work Day, including at sites across Arlington.
The free event is open to all area commuters, who are encouraged to meet up with neighbors and co-workers at one of 85 pit stops across the region and ride bicycles to work in a commuter convoy.
In Arlington, seven sites will provide food and drink, as well as nearby Capital Bikeshare stations for the easy docking of bikes. In the mornings, the pit stops will be open from 6:30-9 a.m., while those open in the afternoons will last from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Rosslyn’s morning pit stop will be hosted at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway), while in the afternoon it will be at the Heavy Seas Alehouse (1501 Wilson Blvd). Shirlington will also hold pit stops in the morning at the Shirlington Library (4200 Campbell Ave) and in the afternoon at New District Brewing (2709 S. Oakland Street).
Pit stops can also be found in the mornings at FreshBikes Bike Shop (3924 Wilson Blvd) in Ballston, Penrose Square at 2503 Columbia Pike, the East Falls Church Metro station (2001 N. Sycamore Street) and the Crystal City Water Park (1750 Crystal Drive).
Registration is required for the pit stops, which enters attendees into local and regional raffles and guarantees a free Bike To Work Day T-shirt.
The regional event is organized by Commuter Connections, a program of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that promotes bicycling to work, ridesharing and other alternatives to driving. More than 17,500 bicyclists are expected to register across the D.C. area.
“Each year, Bike to Work Day attracts commuters who choose to bike to work for the very first time, and after the event, 10 percent of them continue to bike to work an average of 1.4 days per week,” said Nicholas Ramfos, director of Commuter Connections, in a statement. “That’s an impressive conversion rate and it’s why we are committed to making every Bike to Work Day bigger and better than the one before it.”
Two Arrested After Fleeing Traffic Stop — Two suspects were arrested by Arlington County Police earlier this morning after they took off on foot following a traffic stop in Pentagon City. Army Navy Drive was closed between Fern and Eads streets while officers on the ground and the U.S. Park Police helicopter searched for the suspects. [NBC Washington, Twitter]
Barcroft Fitness Room Closing — The fitness room in the Barcroft Sport and Fitness Center is scheduled to be closed between May 15 and this fall due to planned renovations.
PreCheck RV Coming to Crystal City — A TSA PreCheck mobile enrollment station will be parked at two different locations in Crystal City during the last two full weeks in May. The RV will be open weekdays; walk-ins are welcome but reservations can be made online. [WTOP]
Closing the Achievement Gap — The head of the Civic Coalition for Minority Children says lagging standardized test scores among African-American and Latino students in Arlington Public Schools can “be traced to disparities in teaching literacy to young children.” [InsideNova]
Dog Takes ‘Snuggle Tours’ of AWLA Offices — The Animal Welfare League of Arlington on Friday posted a video of Irma, a cuddly pup who takes “snuggle tours” of the AWLA offices, seeking extra belly rubs. [Twitter]
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
As the spring turns to summer, one of many certainties in the D.C. region along with the stifling heat and humidity is the influx of interns from across the country.
And those interns, either still in college or recent graduates, typically are in need of somewhere to stay.
That’s where Capstay comes in, offering short-term rentals for interns in addition to accommodations for international students studying in the D.C. area. The company also offers short-term housing for professionals on temporary assignments, including for those in the military.
It was founded in 2015 by Dilek and Emre Yenici, and the majority of its rental apartments are in Crystal City, with some also in Fairfax.
The pair said they began the business after doing some market research and finding a lack of intern-specific housing in some states like California and the D.C. metropolitan area.
“The Crystal City, Arlington and D.C. area is expensive for housing,” said Emre Yenici. “There are lots of interns in the area throughout the year, and they are looking for short-term housing. We are trying to provide them short-term, pre-furnished, all utilities included housing to interns.”
Tenants can either have a private or shared room, or an entire apartment. All properties are fully furnished and have a variety of amenities like laundry, cleaning services and bicycle rental. Utilities are also included in rent, which varies depending on the season.
Apartments vary in size between studio and three-bedroom, and include all the amenities of the private and shared rooms.
Emre Yenici said Capstay has been proactive in partnering with universities and other institutions like language schools, government bodies and agencies that help match up prospective interns with companies.
The diverse nature of their client base means that while summer is a busier time for Capstay, there are still plenty of customers year-round, enough to keep their residences filled.
“We are trying to fill all our gaps with different customer bases,” Emre Yenici said. “There are some interns starting their internships in different times of the year, and other small groups are interning in other different times. They need shorter-term housing, so we fill our gaps like that.”
In the summer, the Yenicis said, they expect around 100 tenants, and so expand their housing stock to take into account the higher demand.
And in the future, Emre Yenici said Capstay could expand into the District to take advantage of the need for intern housing across the Potomac River.
“About 95% of our properties are in Crystal City, but D.C. is a good market,” he said. “The next step will be D.C., and we will try to expand our business downtown.”
Updated on 3/25/22 — The attempted malicious wounding charges were dropped in this case. The defendant pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor eluding charge and received two years of probation, according to court records.
A woman tried to ram a police cruiser during a vehicle pursuit last night near Crystal City, according to Arlington County Police.
The incident happened around 11:30 p.m. Police say [redacted], 42, was driving down S. Eads Street with her headlights off when police tried to pull her over.
“The suspect continued to travel south on S. Eads Street into the dead end south of Glebe Road,” said ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “At that time, the officers attempted to block the road to conduct their stop. The suspect then conducted a multi-point turn and accelerated her vehicle directly toward one of the officers. The officer successfully reversed their vehicle to avoid the suspect’s attempted collision.”
“Officers initiated a pursuit of the suspect for Attempted Malicious Wounding on [a law enforcement officer],” Savage continued. “During the pursuit, officers attempted to stop the vehicle and twice the suspect displayed no intention of stopping and continued to operate the vehicle directly towards the officers.”
Eventually, [redacted] was taken into custody at the intersection of Eads and 23rd Street S. “without further incident.”
More below from an ACPD crime report.
ATTEMPTED MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2017-04260319, block S. 23rd Street. At approximately 11:41p.m. on April 26, officers responded to the report of a check on welfare of an individual in a vehicle. Upon arrival, the officers observed a vehicle matching the description provided by the reporting party leaving the area. The vehicle was traveling without its lights on and the officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop by engaging their emergency equipment. The driver refused to stop their vehicle and allegedly attempted to strike the officer’s marked police vehicle. Following a vehicle pursuit in which the driver operated with disregard for traffic control and again attempted to strike the police vehicles, the driver was taken into custody without further incident. [Redacted], 42, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with three counts of Attempted Malicious Wounding of Law Enforcement Officer and one count of Felony Eluding. She is being held without bond.
Nathan Saxman, campaign manager for Democratic County Board candidate Vivek Patil
Four of the five candidates for County Board
Four of the five candidates for County Board argued that county government must be easier for small businesses to navigate in order to better encourage economic growth.
With less than two weeks to go until the start of the local Democratic Party’s caucus to determine its nominee, tax relief and helping new businesses were high on the agenda at a forum hosted last night by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce at Synetic Theater in Crystal City.
Peter Fallon said county staff must be less “zealous” in enforcing rules and become more focused on customer service, while Erik Gutshall argued for a wider culture change in county government.
“When you’re that zealous, you don’t have the flexibility of thinking about what you’re trying to do,” Fallon said.
“The culture of ‘get to yes’ doesn’t exist because it doesn’t have a champion,” said Gutshall. “And I want to be that champion.”
Independent Audrey Clement, on the campaign trail ahead of November’s general election in the race to replace retiring Board chair Jay Fisette, said the best way to help small business is to cut taxes.
She criticized the recent 1.5-cent hike in property taxes, and accused the County Board of “basically hoarding money” by keeping tens of millions of dollars in cash reserves.
Clement added that the Board was “bamboozled” on raising taxes by County Manager Mark Schwartz, who was directed to provide a series of budget cuts to halve his proposed tax rate increase from two cents to one.
The cuts to a variety of neighborhood and other programs brought out droves of local residents to oppose them, and the County Board backed off.
Kim Klingler, a Democratic candidate, said putting those 24 projects on the table for cuts was a mistake given their direct impacts on the community.
“That makes it really hard when you have 24 lightning-rods on the table, and then have to talk about cutting taxes,” she said.
Candidates also said that the County Board should do a better job of ensuring residents’ concerns about development are heard, and that decisions on new projects are not, as Gutshall put it, “baked in.”
“If residents are going to participate in the ‘Arlington Way,’ we need to make sure they are heard, and they have clear expectations set for them,” said Klingler.
In Vivek Patil’s absence, his campaign manager Nathan Saxman read a prepared statement arguing for a “green and clean tech economy” focused on innovation and new industries.
“This is an economic model that places Arlington at the epicenter of job creation in the commonwealth,” said Saxman.
The four Democratic candidates will debate next Wednesday at the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s monthly meeting, ahead of May’s caucus.
The county will be using a design-build approach to keep costs down, according to a press release. Contractors bidding on the project will be able to propose designs incorporating some portion of a “menu” of desired features, provided that the bid stay within budget and retain a number of core elements.
“The new facility will include the core programs that have been the mainstay of the planned aquatics facility and surrounding park improvements,” the county said. “A menu of potential options recommended by the Long Bridge Park Advisory Committee… include advanced energy efficiency, a therapy pool, a 10-meter dive tower and more spectator seats, among other enhancements.”
“We’ve selected design/build as the best way to fulfill the vision for this unique park in the most cost-effective manner,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said in a press release. “We are eager to move forward and develop conceptual designs that the public will have an opportunity to weigh-in on this fall.”
Through its design competition, the County plans to narrow the field of firms competing for the contract to three or four finalists. Each will be paid a stipend to submit a proposed concept for the park and facility. The concepts then will be evaluated against the County’s requirements. The public will be able to review the concepts and share feedback. The County Board will approve the final concept.
The budget for the total Phase 2 project, as approved by the County Board in the FY 2017-2026 Capital Improvement Plan, is $63 to $67 million, the amount of funding originally approved in 2012. The final total will depend on decisions made during the design process. The budget includes, in addition to the aquatics facility, an extension of the esplanade, rain gardens, public gathering spaces, parking, public art and additional environmental remediation.
The next step is for the County to give firms the opportunity to submit their technical qualifications, which will be evaluated against established criteria. Firms that qualify will be invited to submit a proposal this summer. Three or four firms who submit design concepts will be invited to participate in the design competition. The public will review the concepts in November 2017, with the Board then selecting the final design. Construction is expected to begin in late 2018.
The first phase of Long Bridge Park was completed in 2011. The park is located at 475 Long Bridge Drive, just north of Crystal City.
Option 1 is the closest option to the current platform (image via VRE)
Option 2 would place the 700-foot platform south of the water park (image via VRE)
For option 3 the platform would be an island between the tracks (image via VRE)
Among the options for pedestrians are a tunnel and overpass (image via VRE)
The Crystal City station in the Virginia Railway Express system is set for a major facelift, including a new entrance and a longer platform to add ridership capacity.
The station, one of the busiest in the VRE commuter rail system and the destination of around 18 percent of riders, will eventually be fitted with a 700-foot island platform. Currently, Crystal City’s station has a 400-foot platform beside its three tracks.
VRE staff said the shorter platform creates an “operational bottleneck,” and lengthening it would allow more — and longer — trains to pass through. It would also enable VRE to be used by more local residents as a commuter rail service to Union Station, near Capitol Hill.
Any plans to add a second track within the station’s current footprint would also be coordinated with a future track being designed by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s proposed high-speed line between D.C. and Richmond.
As well as adding a longer platform, the station’s entrance would be altered for better connections for pedestrians and bicyclists as well as other transportation options like Metro, the Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway, local buses and shuttles and taxis.
VRE staff are currently considering three initial locations for the new platform and either a tunnel or overpass connecting that platform to the rest of Crystal City.
At the County Board’s meeting on Tuesday, vice chair Katie Cristol, who serves on VRE’s operations board, said the agency’s staff presented the criteria to analyze those three options to the public for feedback. In June, staff will return to present their analysis of the three options against the criteria while continuing to receive public comment.
Cristol said that an initial concept design and cost projections would be expected in the summer under that timeline. County Board chairman Jay Fisette said Arlington is looking to schedule a date for a future work session to weigh in on the subject and select its preferred choice.
In what is a first for the annual event, Artomatic will combine performance art with a wedding ceremony tomorrow in Crystal City.
The ceremony is for Teddy Grant and Che Monique Young, who met at the arts showcase in 2015 when it was hosted in Hyattsville, Md., where Young was exhibiting burlesque art.
The pair have planned a ceremony that will include the traditional exchange of vows, cake cutting and bouquet tossing and a wide variety of music and dance, with a string quartet, jazz singer, African drummer and a belly dancer.
The 10 bridesmaids will also be wearing dresses made by local designers.
“There is something magical about Artomatic and all of the community around it,” said Young, the bride-to-be. “I met Teddy in 2015 at Artomatic. Many of our first dates involved him helping me with my exhibit so it feels like going back to the first time we met. To me it’s all about celebrating with the community, and we welcome everyone to join our families and partake in the celebration — I can’t wait to have the first Artomatic wedding, MY WEDDING!”
The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. on the sixth-floor stage at 1800 S. Bell Street and is open to the public.
It promises to be a busy few months for local nonprofit Phoenix Bikes as it celebrates 10 years since its founding.
The organization — which lists its mission as promoting bicycling, building community and educating young people — marks its 10-year anniversary today.
It will celebrate on Thursday night from 6:30 p.m. with its Makers’ Ball at 1750 Crystal Drive. The evening will include music, food, drink, an auction of art and other hand-made craft, a bicycle showcase and more.
Later this year, Phoenix Bikes will take center stage once again as it hosts this year’s Youth Bike Summit on October 6-8 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.
The summit is geared toward youth, bikes, education, advocacy and leadership, and it features a number of workshops and seminars as well as keynote speakers and networking.
“By creating a space where voices of all bicyclists can be heard, the Youth Bike Summit fosters an inclusive national dialogue that addresses the issues, rights, and concerns of all bicyclists,” Phoenix Bikes posted on its website.
Phoenix Bikes currently is located in Barcroft Park, where it provides its community bike shop to help recycle, mend and repurpose used bicycles. But before the end of the year, the organization will relocate to the ground floor of the Arlington Mill Community Center. Such a move has supporters very excited.
“It is an exciting step for Phoenix Bikes, the youth they serve and our Arlington community,” County Board member Libby Garvey, also a Phoenix Bikes board member, wrote in an email to supporters.
Arlington will again be alive with the sound of thousands of pedaling cyclists, as the Armed Forces Cycling Classic returns in June.
Previously known as the Air Force Association Cycling Classic, the event will celebrate its 20th anniversary when it takes place on June 10 and 11.
Presented by The Boeing Company, the event benefits members of the U.S. armed forces.
“For two decades, the Cycling Classic has paid tribute to the men and women in uniform who serve courageously to protect America at home and around the world,” said Boeing chairman, president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg in a statement. “Throughout our 100-year history, Boeing has a proud tradition of partnering with the U.S. military, and we’re honored to support this year’s event, which benefits active-duty and retired veterans and their families.”
The weekend begins with the Clarendon Cup, in the heart of Clarendon. The following day, the Challenge Ride offers a closed course to cycling enthusiasts of all abilities in and around the Pentagon, Crystal City and the Air Force Memorial.
The race for the Crystal Cup follows on Sunday in Crystal City, pitting professional and amateur racers from around the world in a series of races. Free races for children aged 9 and under also will be held both days, in addition to the lifestyle and sponsor expo.
“We’re proud to celebrate our involvement with the Armed Forces Cycling Classic,” said Angela Fox, president and CEO of the Crystal City Business Improvement District, in a statement. “Over the past decade, we’ve watched both the professional races and community Challenge Rides grow while providing an exciting and transformative experience for participants and spectators alike.”
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
But from its new Crystal City headquarters, Trustify is looking to challenge those perceptions. Open since March 2015, it has now moved into a new space in Arlington, where it matches up private investigators with customers.
Trustify co-founder Jen Mellon said the company’s diverse staff — more than half are women — has helped make it more accessible to more people.
“There’s a lot of brand debt,” Mellon said. “We’ve worked hard to change the face of the industry. I think a lot of our success is because our team looks like their consumer.”
Trustify allows anyone to run background checks, investigate fraud, locate missing children, check for infidelity and more from their web browser or the phone app. A consultation with a private investigator takes place over Trustify’s chat application, then investigators choose whether to pursue a case.
Company co-founder Danny Boice said that while about half of investigators’ work is done using standard surveillance techniques, much of it now is done through investigations of someone’s online presence and on the dark web.
“The internet makes a great accelerator for dishonesty,” he said. “For all the things it provides exponential growth, it also provides the perfect catalyst for puffing up your Facebook profile or LinkedIn or lying about not being in a relationship when you’re on Tinder, all those things.”
Mellon said Trustify recruits a lot among ex-law enforcement officers, including police and those retiring from agencies like the FBI and CIA. She said that the company conducts its own vetting of applicants to ensure their credentials and experience stack up, and that there are no black marks on their record.
Once someone is employed at Trustify, they step into an office culture that aims to make everyone feel comfortable. Employees have a designated space on the walls for photographs, while behind hidden doors are rooms for nursing mothers and other relaxation spaces.
Mellon said it was imperative to make employees feel valued internally, while externally, being surrounded by other technology firms and startups adds value too.
“We wanted a space not only to support our team, but support the work that we do,” Mellon said. “It’s nice to be a part of that technology community. It’s so conducive to the work we’re doing. We don’t have a lot of time to go somewhere else, so it’s nice to be in this concentrated technology corridor that we’re proud to be a part of.”
Trustify employed architecture firm Wingate Hughes to design its new office space, a process that took about eight weeks before another 12 weeks of construction.
Gavin Daniels, co-founding principal at Wingate Hughes, said the firm wanted Trustify employees to feel comfortable in their new space, while at the same time making it unique.
“I wanted something for them that was badass,” Daniels said. “I wanted someone to walk in and have that visceral reaction of, ‘Holy s–t. This is an office building? I can’t believe I’m standing here in an office building.’ I wanted people to get their breath taken away, smile and feel something.”
With the use of technology in a welcoming office environment, Boice said they are working hard to change how people view private investigation.
“We analyzed the market and found it’s an old industry that’s white male dominated, it’s a 1 percenter service,” he said. “We saw that if you changed how it could be consumed and made it accessible to everyone, then it could be this very large, new industry.”
More photos of Trustify’s new Crystal City office:
The view of D.C. from Trustify’s Crystal City office
The Trustify sales and marketing office
Employees can put up personal photographs in a designated area
Trustify’s private investigators sit in another section
Behind hidden doors are relaxation rooms and space for nursing mothers
The office’s open-plan kitchen provides an atrium to the space
