Nelson Avenue Gang

Many years ago when library card catalogs went electronic quite a few researchers were up in arms. Their concern was that many of the things you find or learn while researching are incidental. That is, when searching the card catalog for book X you accidentally come across book Y which provides a richer and more thorough research experience. Of course as has been seen, this argument was probably as much the voicing of the fear of a new technology as it was a lamenting for the loss of card catalogs.

Why do I mention card catalogs on a blog devoted to nirvana (East Nelson Avenue)? Because last night when Googling for something completely unrelated to our little patch of Earth I came across a part of the Alexandria Library’s website titled “The Tax Assessor’s Handiwork: Alexandria’s Historic Structures Online“. Even better is that the old tax records of East Nelson Avenue are on this page.

These records are not just dry, bland accounts of how much our houses were worth at various periods (in 1971 my house was worth a whopping $8,050!). They also include photos of our houses, who the owners were in 1971 and other information. I discovered that there was a fire in my house sometime in 1977 because $6,975 was spent to repair “FIRE DAMAGE”. It must have been a lot of damage because in 1977 my house (building only) was worth $27,900. They also must have done a pretty good job of repairs because with all the renovation I have done, I have yet to see any evidence of fire damage. Although this might explain the water marks on some of the beams in the basement…

Other things I learned include that my HVAC system was installed in 1977, the small addition on the back of my house was already there in 1971, and my living room was carpeted in 1971. Probably psychedelic shag carpet… it was the 1970’s after all.

After discovering and studying these documents for a while I googled the former owners of my house (Earl W. and Edna E. Mans). There was only a single link which gave me more information on these two people - apparently Edna was Secretary of the Potomac Triumph Club in 1976 (you know, the British car that was small, fast and known for breaking down on a VERY regular basis). Now I want to go visit the library to learn more about the history of my house and Nirvana, er, East Nelson Avenue.

Perhaps you know something more about the history of our block? Or you know a former owner? It would be great to further document the history of East Nelson Avenue. Read the rest of this entry »

In his latest email newsletter Councilman Krupicka discussed the large budget shortfall our fair city is facing and the budget cuts this will require. He is encouraging everyone to attend and voice their views/opinions at the budget public hearing on Oct. 30th at 7pm in City Hall. He has also offered to meet with small groups of residents to discuss the budget, economy and the best way to work through these challenges.

If we have enough interest, I (EZ) am willing to host one of these discussions in my living room. Think of it as a fireside chat without the fireplace. I’ll even provide *real* hot chocolate (none of that icky faux powdered stuff in my house!). Voice your interest below in the comments and, like I said, if we have enough interest I’ll coordinate with Coucilman Krupicka to get this going.

Thanks!

~EZ

Hi there,
I was just wondering if we can add the FireFlies blog onto the blog listing. It is on Nelson Ave (or, I consider it to be since I live on Nelson and own the restaurant )
If so, it’s www.firefliesdelray.blogspot.com

Thanks!
As for the block party….. we actually were trying to do a street festival at FireFlies using the first part of the 400 block of Nelson.. but we got shot down by the city among others. We wanted to host a party for our neighbors…. but we couldn’t get city support. Maybe sometime though!

Neighbors of the 500-block of E. Nelson Ave. should think twice before allowing delivery/shipping companies to leave packages on their porches.

On Sept. 23 in the afternoon, I witnessed a man steal packages from a neighbor’s porch, put them into a crimson sedan with a driver, then speed away. I called the police immediately, and they came to our block quickly. The police recorded the details but, to my knowledge, did not apprehend the culprits.

Here is the case:
http://www3.alexandriava.gov/police/crime_reports/detail_viewer.php?id=2f4f32ec8ac24004b66e7c06f5b67204&hit=1&so=1

The police recommend that the surest prevention of theft would be to instruct delivery companies to not leave packages. Some of us are lucky to have shrubs that obscure views of our porches, but others have no hiding place for packages.

The police said that some men are known to follow UPS/DHL trucks around, picking up packages just about as soon as they’ve been delivered, but it had not yet become a problem (until now) in our part of Del Ray.

There is currently an armed robbery underway at the CVS (9am Sunday morning, Sept. 28). I spoke with several police on my bagel run and from what they told me and when I saw them setting up the perimeter (around 7:30am), it sounds like they think everyone is out of the store except for the robber. I have gathered from the loudspeaker they are using that the robber (if he is still in the store) speaks Spanish. That’s all I know right now.

Yes, you read it here first! Nelsonavegang.com, scooping the Alexandria Gazette, Washington Post and, that paragon of intellectualism, USA today.

Note of advice - if you have to leave the block they may not let you back in until this event is resolved. Apparently we are inside of the cordon.

Update: (10am) Well, the police cordon is being taken down and everyone can relax (I know, you were on the edge of your seat breathlessly awaiting updates). Seems the armed robber was not in the store. Better safe than not, right? Of course what this does mean is that somewhere in the area may be an armed and scared/angry/not-quite-on-an-even-keel man.

Of course, this was not nearly as exciting as the pig problem in New South Wales (the pig was eventually captured and rewarded for his behavior by being put out to stud).

Update: (22 Oct. 08) According to a police report I just received, yesterday (10/21) “police arrested Joshua Chevres, a 19 year-old City resident, for both robberies at 415 E. Monroe Avenue.”

A few weeks back we were subjected to another rude solicitor from Environment Virginia. Paul posted a comment about it here and two other neighbors told me about his rude and illegal behavior. You need a permit to do door to door soliciting in the fair city of Alexandria - something which no solicitor from Environment Virginia has been able to show us.

So I called Environment Virginia (434 979 9825). They put me in touch with JR who is the head of Environment Virginia. After playing phone tag a bit JR and I had a nice conversation. He apologized (again) for the rude solicitor without a permit and told me it would not happen again. I asked why I should feel reassured about this because that is what he told me the first time I called when we caught this rude miscreant on our street soliciting without a permit. He assured me (again) that he would take action and that I should send him an email.

Well, that pesky thing known as a job got in the way for a week or two but today I was able to finally write the email to JR and thought you all might like to see what I wrote:

JR,

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me a week or so ago.

On two occasions, June 10 and August 27 we have had solicitors from your organization, Environment Virginia, illegally disturb us. On both occasions the solicitors were quite rude and did not have the required permit from the City of Alexandria. On both occasions we called the police. We have been documenting things like this on our neighborhood blog and you can read about both events here:
http://www.nelsonavegang.com/?p=56
http://www.nelsonavegang.com/?p=43#comments

We would prefer that your organization (and all others except for those selling Girl Scout Cookies) not send solicitors to disturb us. I am sure you will understand why canvassers such as those who have been coming to our street are neither welcome on our street nor are they helping your organization and its cause.

I contacted you after the first incident and, from what you told me, I assumed it would not happen again. If we continue to have this problem we will begin working more closely with the City of Alexandria police department so they recognize the ongoing nature of these illegal acts and we will pursue other communication avenues to hopefully send a stronger message that we do not want solicitors on our street and especially rude ones who are breaking the law.

Thank you for your time,

EZ

Last week and this week have been banner weeks for all of the trash people leave in and around our doorsteps. Last week we received some sort of phone book which I promptly lugged to the trash can. Who needs phone books anymore? We also received (in no particular order) flyers from Tsim Yung, City Masonry, Cerro Verde Restaurant and Domino’s Pizza (I forget which branch but they all taste like cardboard). I’ve dutifully added them all to our Do Not Patronize page. Today (Monday) I also received one of the worst produced flyers yet - Ray’s Maintenance. But you have to hand it to Ray - he’s ambitious. According to his flyer he’ll do just about anything - drian snaking, gutter cleaning, house painting… you name it, he does it. But the bonus comes with how he dedicated one side of his flyer to welding. Instead of some fly-by-night guy by the name of Ray, I’d recommend you go to Flaherty Iron Works because, oh, I don’t know… they’re the best in the region?

So don’t forget to visit our Do Not Patronize page…

This evening I was out watering a few of our new trees. There are three down at the end towards Gold Crust which I’ve not been able to get anyone to water on a regular basis and they’re not so happy so I’ve been doing what I can to water them. Hopefully they’ll make it through the summer and, if they make it, they should be OK next year.

But I digress… what I am writing about is to tell you all about my favorite resident of Nelson Avenue. He may be less than three feet tall but Benjamin has been busy this summer making octagonal pavers to decorate all the new trees around his house. I have been admiring them all summer as I have trundled the watering can up and down the street. Well, this evening Benjamin presented me with my very own paver to decorate the tree out in front of *my* house. Isn’t it cool?

Benjamin (and his father) tell me that they might make pavers for the rest of the new trees on the block. I think this is an awesome idea and will be a very welcome artistic addition to our little block. What do you think?

A hord of political canvassers descended upon our fair neighborhood this evening.

OK, it wasn’t that bad as there was only one on our block but I asked to see his soliciting permit and he didn’t have one. Not sure if political canvassers need a permit, I didn’t make a big deal about it to him but I did call Alexandria’s finest. The officer on the phone commented “why do they always have to come around at dinner time?” Yes, I too wonder why - they are likely to get an even cooler reception than usual if they interrupt someone’s dinner.

Officer Johnson responded and asked the young man to perhaps go canvas a different area of Del Ray since he clearly was not welcome on our little piece of paradise. After the young man went away Officer Johnson commented to me that there is a whole lot of them in the area this evening - that perhaps they brought a bus out or something like that. Officer Johnson did not cite the youth because he is not sure if political solicitors need a permit or not. I checked the city code and, sadly, as best as I can tell political solicitors do not need a permit - see Section 9-10-21 3(c).

But, of course, there is the question of why the DC Democrats feel the need to come ‘a knockin’ on our doors. I don’t think there can be more than one or two non-Democrats on our block and, Alexandria as a whole is about as blue as you can get. Democrat solicitors coming around here is like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo.