Pentagon City

Pentagon City Draws More Police Activity

By ARLnow.com

It’s been another busy few days for police in Pentagon City.

The neighborhood has been the scene of at least three armed carjackings in local parking garages over the past month, in addition to armed robberies and the usual steady flow of thefts from stores at the Pentagon City mall and other local shopping centers.

The criminal activity continued Sunday afternoon, when police arrested a man they say was breaking into parked cars in or near the Pentagon Row shopping center. More from Arlington County Police:

GRAND LARCENY (Significant), 2020-02090157, 900 block of Army Navy Drive. At approximately 3:40 p.m. on February 9, an officer on patrol observed a suspicious suspect looking into parked vehicles. The suspect allegedly attempted to enter a vehicle by pulling on the door’s handles before breaking the rear driver’s side door window and stealing a backpack in plain view. The suspect fled the scene on foot and was located by a responding officer inside the metro station. The suspect refused to comply with the officer’s lawful commands and attempted to flee the scene on foot. Upon arrival of additional units, the suspect was taken into custody without incident. Harvey Jones, 24, of Washington D.C. was arrested and charged with Possession of Burglarous Tools, Grand Larceny: Theft from Motor Vehicle, and Destruction of Property. He was also determined to be wanted out of North Carolina. He was held on no bond.

On Monday evening, meanwhile, also in the area of Pentagon Row, a woman was assaulted and robbed of her phone by a pair of young, female suspects. More from ACPD:

ROBBERY, 2020-02100201, 1300 block of S. Joyce Street. At approximately 5:42 p.m. on February 10, police were dispatched to the report of suspicious circumstances. Upon arrival, it was determined that as the victim exited a business, she passed the two female suspects, who began shouting at her. The victim continued walking, however the suspects began chasing her. The suspects assaulted the victim and stole her phone, then fled prior to police arrival. Suspect one is described as a juvenile or young adult female, approximately 14-18 years old, short, thin, with curly shoulder-length hair, wearing black pants, a black jacket and white and black shoes. Suspect Two is described as as a juvenile or young adult female, approximately 14-18 years old, approximately 5’4″-5’8″, with a chubby build, wearing jeans, a white shirt and a black and orange jacket. The investigation is ongoing.

Last night (Tuesday), an incident at the intersection of S. Joyce Street and 15th Street S., near one of the entrances to the mall’s parking garage, drew another large police response. Police said only that an “assault occurred following a dispute” and the activity was unrelated to the carjackings.

As of last week ABC 7 reported that there had been five armed robberies in the Pentagon City area so far this year, compared to 7 last year and 5 in 2018.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Bloomberg Event Prompts Protests — Dozens of gun rights protesters demonstrated in front of the Bloomberg presidential campaign office last night during an event featuring D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser. [Twitter, Twitter]

Dorsey Talks to Local TV Station — “Arlington County board member Christian Dorsey is speaking out about the ethics violation that led to his resignation from the Metro board… ‘I’m embarrassed certainly, and disappointed,’ Dorsey said.” [WJLA]

ACFD Responds to Four Alarm Blaze — “Fourteen townhomes and five buildings were destroyed in a massive blaze that tore through a five-story building in… Fairfax County Saturday morning and filled the air with black smoke that could be seen for miles.” [NBC 4, Washington Post, Twitter]

Smoke from Fairfax Fire, Seen Locally — Saturday’s massive fire in Fairfax County, south of Alexandria, could be seen from Arlington and other nearby locales. [Twitter, Twitter]

Superintendent Finalists Won’t Be Revealed — “Arlington School Board members will cloak their search for a new superintendent in as much secrecy as their predecessors have done. ‘We will not have a community-selection committee and will not share our finalists,’ School Board Chairman Tannia Talento said on Feb. 6.” [InsideNova]

Imperfect Arlington, Revisited — In the spirit of the late, lamented Imperfect Arlington: What’s up with the (supposedly) smaller scones at Northside Social? “Was told by @NorthsideSocial staff that they have ‘accidentally’ been making them too big, apparently for several years.” [Twitter]

Nearby: Skyline Offices to Become Housing? — “Fresh off acquiring the aging Skyline office park in Baileys Crossroads, a team of developers is sketching out plans to convert three buildings there into… a total of 764 residential units. Somera, out of New York, bought the 6.4-acre property on Leesburg Pike for $215 million back in November, pledging to bring residential and retail uses to the 1970s-era office buildings there.” [Washington Business Journal]

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

EFC Metro Closing This Weekend — The Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church Metro stations will be closed this weekend, “due to preparation for the Summer Platform Improvement Project.” Per Metro: “Customers on Ballston-bound Orange Line trains who are continuing on to West Falls Church should exit the train at Virginia Square for a same platform transfer.” [WMATA]

Pentagon City Armed Robbery Spike — “So far in 2020, there have been five total armed robberies in Pentagon City. Last year, there were seven for the entire year.” In response to the recent string of parking garage carjackings, Pentagon City mall says “we have increased our security presence to ensure a safe and secure environment.” [WJLA]

Arlington’s Ultra-Low Unemployment Rate — “How low can it go? That may be the question for Arlington’s unemployment rate. The jobless figure squeezed down to 1.6 percent in December, ending the year at its lowest rate of 2019 and – for the umpteenth month and year in a row – lowest in the commonwealth.” [InsideNova]

NFL Star Returns to Arlington — “M. J. Stewart, @Buccaneers Cornerback and Arlington native stopped by his alma mater @APSVirginia!” [Twitter]

Arlington Dems Want Record Turnout — “The Arlington County Democratic Committee is aiming to increase the community’s  2020 voter-participation rate nearly 10 percent from 2016’s presidential race, building on past efforts and launching new initiatives to get there. ‘We’re pulling out all the stops,’ party chair Jill Caiazzo said on Feb. 5.” [InsideNova]

Arlington’s Pupatella Coming to D.C. — “The rumors are true: Pupatella will bring its wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas to Dupont Circle, occupying the prime indoor/outdoor space that housed Rosemary’s Thyme for nearly 18 years. Owner and Naples native Enzo Algarme says his team is angling for a spring opening.” [Washingtonian, PoPville]

D.C. Mayor to Campaign for Bloomberg in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/6

Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is ramping up in Arlington.

Tonight the campaign is holding an official opening celebration for its new office at Pentagon Row, located between DSW and Planet Fitness.

This weekend the office will be hosting a leg of the campaign’s Gun Violence Prevention Bus Tour, featuring D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the mother featured in Bloomberg’s gun violence-focused Super Bowl commercial.

More from the campaign:

On Sunday, February 9, two national surrogates for Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and senior Bloomberg advisor Debbie Weir, will travel to Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Arlington as part of a multi-state bus tour highlighting the urgent need to prevent gun violence in America.

Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a mother from Texas whose son, George Kemp Jr., was shot and killed is featured in the ad that aired during the Super Bowl, and her husband George Kemp, will participate in the tour. Simpson Kemp is an active member of Moms Demand Action, the grassroots movement fighting for public safety measures to protect Americans from gun violence.

Joining the Kemp family will be two Virginians who were highlighted in Bloomberg’s recent digital ads. Colin Goddard was shot and injured in the mass shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, in which 32 classmates and faculty were killed. Brenda Moss’ 34 year-old son, Shawn, was killed on August 26th, 2014 in Lynchburg, VA. He was shot 17 times in a senseless act of gun violence. Brenda has become an outspoken advocate for gun violence prevention and an active member of Moms Demand Action.

Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg LP, plans to double his campaign’s already prodigious ad spending in the wake of the chaotic conclusion to the Iowa caucuses. Once considered a long-shot to capture the Democratic nomination, Bloomberg’s poll numbers have been rising — tied for third with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in a recent national poll.

One Arrested After Assault and Robbery in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

A Pentagon City resident was attacked and robbed while walking back to his apartment early Saturday morning.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. Saturday, on the 400 block of 12th Street S. — which is home to a pair of high rise residential buildings and is a block away from Amazon’s future, under-construction HQ2.

Police say the victim had just exited a vehicle and was walking back to his building “when he was approached from behind by three male suspects.”

“The suspects assaulted the victim and stole his phone and personal belongings, then fled on foot prior to police arrival,” Arlington County Police said in a crime report today. “Responding officers located the suspects and attempted to make contact with them, however, they fled on foot. Following a brief foot pursuit, one suspect was taken into custody. Two suspects remain outstanding.”

The victim reportedly suffered minor injuries. The suspect arrested is a juvenile and is now facing robbery charges, police said, adding that “the investigation is outgoing.”

Photo via Google Maps

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Cristol Reacts to Lawmaker’s Arlington Suggestion — After another Republican state Senator suggested, jokingly, that Arlington and Alexandria go back to being part of D.C., Arlington’s state lawmakers and County Board member Katie Cristol were not amused. Cristol tweeted: “Hmmm, is it possible their grievance is that my diverse, progressive constituents are EXACTLY what it means to be a ‘Real Virginian’ in 2020?” [Twitter, Blue Virginia]

More on Planned Pentagon City Study — “County staff have been overwhelmed by a flood of new development applications in the area since Amazon announced its intentions to set up its second headquarters. And the sizes of some of those projects have been so large that staff have begun urging developers to be patient and wait for a revision of the area’s planning documents before pursuing them.” [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Man Struck, Killed by Driver — “A 29-year-old man from Arlington, Virginia, died early Saturday morning after being hit by a dark-colored SUV on Industrial Road near Backlick Road in Springfield. David Velasquez was walking in the right lane of Industrial Road at about 1 a.m. when he was hit by the driver, who did not stop, Fairfax County police.” [WTOP]

‘We Will Buy Your Tech Business’ Signs — “There are mysterious signs all over Ballston saying ‘We will buy your tech business…’ [A person who returned our call] said they’re just interested in talking to people looking to sell their business and are not interested in being the subject of a news story.” [Twitter]

W-L, Yorktown Face Off on Hard Court — “There was a double feature of nail-biting thrillers the evening of Jan. 30 in a packed and loud Washington-Liberty High School gymnasium. That’s where the Yorktown Patriots and Washington-Liberty Generals met in all-Arlington girls and boys varsity basketball games with close finishes. The Yorktown girls won in overtime, 53-50. Then, in the nightcap, the W-L boys won, 65-63, on a last second-shot in the Liberty District high-school contests.” [InsideNova]

Minor Apartment Fire — Arlington County firefighters responded to a small cooking fire in an apartment near Courthouse on Saturday. No one was hurt and only minor damage was reported, although the apartment did fill with smoke. [Twitter]

Gymboree at Pentagon City Mall — “A popular children’s clothing retailer that closed all of its stores a year ago is taking steps to re-enter the marketplace. Officials with Gymboree this week announced plans to relaunch the brand at more than 200 Children’s Place locations nationwide,” including at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. [Patch]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Public-Private Partnership for Pentagon City Planning — “County Board members on Jan. 25 approved a memorandum of understanding with the coalition of property owners in [Pentagon City], which will guide planning efforts and allocate $1.5 million – about two-thirds of it from the county government, the rest from landowners – to complete it. County Board Chairman Libby Garvey said the aim was a coordinated strategy for redevelopment of the target area, which totals about 85 acres.” [InsideNova]

APS Investigating Swastika Incident — “School officials launched an investigation this week after a student drew a swastika on a piece of paper and handed it to a classmate at a Northern Virginia middle school. The incident took place Tuesday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington, according to a letter that Principal Keisha Boggan sent parents Wednesday. The hate symbol was later reported to Arlington County police.” [Washington Post]

Industry Supporting Glass Drop-Off Program — “Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) members are partnering to create a circular economy for high quality recycled glass in Northern Virginia. O-I Glass, Inc. (O-I Glass) and Strategic Materials are teaming up to create strong markets for glass in the region through a new glass recycling drop-off program.” [Press Release]

Thanks, Arlington — Thank you to everyone who came out to our 10th anniversary party at Bronson Bierhall in Ballston last night. It was a packed house and we are incredibly grateful to have that kind of support from members of the community, local institutions like the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, local government, and our advertisers — who help support ARLnow and keep our local news free for all. We also met a few commenters and a few soon-to-be commenters last night (you know who you are). Finally, a big thank you to our current and former employees, whose tireless work has helped us reach this anniversary while growing to serve other communities in Northern Virginia.

NEW: Crystal City BID is Changing Its Name to ‘National Landing BID’

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) The name “National Landing” is becoming official.

The Board of Directors of the Crystal City Business Improvement District voted yesterday to change the organization’s name to the National Landing Business Improvement District. The new name will now be voted on by the BID’s general membership and the Arlington County Board.

The name change follows the September approval of the BID’s boundary expansion to serve portions of the Pentagon City and Potomac Yard neighborhoods.

Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director of the to-be-renamed BID, emphasized in a statement (below) that National Landing is an umbrella term and that the names of the individual neighborhoods are not changing.

We are pleased to report that on January 23 our Board of Directors approved a resolution to change our organizational name to the National Landing Business Improvement District. The Board opted for the new name in recognition of the BID’s upcoming geographic expansion and as a reflection of the increasingly interconnected character of the Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard communities. This resolution marks the culmination of a robust public process in which the BID sought and received broad support from area residents and local civic organizations.

Pending approval by the Arlington County Board and a formal vote by the BID’s full members at our Annual Meeting this spring, the National Landing name will be utilized as an umbrella term for Virginia’s most vibrant and largest walkable downtown. It will not replace the existing neighborhood names of Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, which each maintain their own unique identities and distinct characteristics.

The BID is also seeking to change the term those in economic development and commercial real estate use to refer to the area — from the “Jefferson Davis Corridor,” after the former name of Route 1, to National Landing. Gabriel said the Confederate president’s name “did not represent a desirable monicker for the area.”

In an phone interview with ARLnow this morning, Gabriel acknowledged that the initial rollout of the National Landing name — when Amazon arbitrarily announced that HQ2 was coming to “National Landing” before members of the public had heard of the name — was “not ideal.” She noted, however, that the name was actually created by Arlington and Alexandria officials as part of the local governments’ joint effort to woo Amazon and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

The BID, meanwhile, has been working to change its name since before Amazon’s announcement.

“We’ve been thinking about finding a collective name for our downtown since 2018, even before the arrival of Amazon and the expansion of the BID,” Gabriel said. “With the expansion of the BID we’ve had a renewed effort to have a public conversation about the name.”

“Since the name has come out, we’ve done extensive public outreach. We put out 18,000 flyers, 16,000 of which were mailed to all of the households in the 22202 zip code,” she noted. Other outreach included “numerous open houses about the vision for the neighborhood, as well as focus groups and open office hours.”

There were other possible names floated, we’re told, but none garnered more public support than National Landing. Among the alternative names considered were “Future Cities,” “Lower Arlington” and “Penn-Crystal.”

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Pentagon City Redevelopment on Pause — “Brookfield Properties has suspended plans to launch a major redevelopment of the Transportation Security Administration’s headquarters in Pentagon City once the federal agency moves to its new home in Springfield in mid- to late 2020… it’s a reflection of the new reality that Amazon’s HQ2 has created in the neighborhood.” [Washington Business Journal]

Vote on Add’l Speeding Fine This Weekend — “Currently, a ticket for going 10 mph over the speed limit in a residential zone is about $80. The additional fine would bring that ticket to $280. ‘People drive like maniacs around here. It’s about time they got some punishment,’ Arlington resident Jack Feegel said.” [NBC 4]

Arlington Resident Helps Return Lost Dog — “A lost dog was reunited with its owner thanks to a passing motorist, who noticed something unusual on their way to work, and a fellow driver farther along the road. Dashcam footage shows the unnamed motorist, from Arlington, Virginia, driving to their workplace in Silver Spring, Maryland, on January 13.” [Daily Mail]

ACFD Responds to Calls in Maryland — It’s rare for the Arlington County Fire Department to respond as mutual aid to an incident in Maryland, but it happened Wednesday morning, with several units dispatched to Prince George’s County. [Twitter, Twitter]

Arlington Tourism Tax May Be Made Permanent — “The Arlington County government looks ready to get a major present from the new Democratic majority in the General Assembly. The state Senate has passed and sent to the House of Delegates a measure that removes the sunset provision on Arlington’s authority to impose a 0.25-percent surcharge on hotel taxes to support tourism promotion.” [InsideNova]

Nearby: No Streetcar in Georgetown — “Plans to extend the DC Streetcar to Georgetown have been effectively scrapped. The District Department of Transportation is halting all work on the project ‘for the foreseeable future,’ according to documents submitted to the D.C. Council.” [WTOP]

Flickr pool photo by Rex Block

Mike Bloomberg Has a Campaign Office in Pentagon Row

By Vernon Miles
1/7

Former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg recently opened a campaign office in Pentagon Row (1301 S. Joyce Street) amid an unprecedented blitz of campaign spending.

The new office for the largely self-funded candidate is located between the DSW shoe store and Planet Fitness, on the ground floor of the shopping center.

As of Tuesday afternoon, staff at the campaign outpost were making phone calls to voters to talk about Bloomberg’s gun control plans, which have been a centerpiece of the billionaire businessman’s campaign. The office is also scheduled to phone bank from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Thursday.

Bloomberg has not made any public appearances in Arlington so far, but did hold a campaign event in Alexandria last month.

Other 2020 candidates also have active campaigns in Arlington.

Donald Trump has his secondary reelection campaign office in Rosslyn. While Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren don’t seem to have official campaign offices in Arlington, Sanders-supporting group Our Revolution is active in Arlington and the Elizabeth Warren campaign has phone banked from local residences. Pete Buttigieg, endorsed by local Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), held a campaign fundraiser in an Arlington backyard this past summer.

While Sen. Amy Klobuchar does not currently have any campaign events listed in Arlington, she does reportedly rent a house here.

H/T to @CartChaos22202

New Bill Would Compel Arlington Businesses to Collect Abandoned Shopping Carts

By Vernon Miles

If state Sen. Scott Surovell’s (D-36) bill passes the Virginia legislature, businesses in Arlington could be on the line for recovering shopping carts people have taken but not returned.

Senate Bill 631 would make it so that the cost of removal, including disposal, of an abandoned shopping cart will be charged to the cart’s owner. The ordinance originally applied just to Fairfax County, but Surovell said Arlington and Alexandria asked to be included in the new legislation.

Surovell told the state Senate’s Local Government Committee that his frustration was borne out of years of personally pulling shopping carts out of a creek in Fairfax.

“These carts often end up in drainage ditches and when it rains they end up going in the creek,” Surovell said. “I’ve taken 230 shopping carts out of the creek myself.”

Abandoned shopping carts have been a plague on areas of Arlington, particularly the Pentagon City area, so prevalent they inspired Twitter accounts that have obsessively documented abandoned scooters around the area for the past several years.

The bill was reported from the Local Government Committee on a narrow 8-7 vote, where it faced pushback both on the dais and from public speakers. Parker Slaybaugh, executive director of the very newly formed nonprofit Virginia Food Industry Association, said the bill would make shopping carts the only stolen property where the victim of the theft is charged for its recovery.

That criticism was a recurring theme of opposition to the bill.

“If somebody steals your property, then abandon that, I don’t think you should be charged to have to go retrieve that property,” said State Sen. Bill DeSteph (R-82th District). “Businesses already paid to purchase it, [then] somebody stole it. The right thing to do would be to charge someone who stole it.”

DeSteph compared the proposal to requiring someone whose vehicle is stolen to retrieve the vehicle or pay for it to be recovered.

“It’s one of the points people raise every year and it’s totally wrong,” Surovell fired back. “To prove someone guilty of petty larceny [you] have to show intent to permanently deprive someone of something. The reason you don’t see these people charged with crimes is because it’s not a crime.”

Surovell said the legislation included a section that would allow localities to make it a civil infraction to take the carts from the business owner, though a police officer speaking at the meeting who claimed to have arrested someone for stealing a shopping cart disagreed with Surovell’s statement that it wasn’t a crime.

Sarah Taylor, Alexandria’s legislative director, said the city had asked to join the ordinance to give them another “tool in a toolbox” to encourage businesses to better manage their carts, such as geofencing.

Surovell also noted that at ALDI, customers put a quarter in to get the cart, get a quarter back when it is returned.

“It’s not about punishing the victim,” Surovell argued. “Retailers could take steps to keep this from happening, they just choose not to do it.”

https://twitter.com/CartChaos22202/status/1160961457388949505

Photo (top) via Scott Surovell/Twitter

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