Six Feet Apart Please

Graphic designer Savannah Walker has compiled an open-source archive of the markings and stickers that are helping New Yorkers maintain social distance in the city during the pandemic.

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Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-wW3

Image (Social Distancing at Eastern Market, DC) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Will Trump’s Hollywood Star Be Replaced?

[Updated] The West Hollywood City Council unanimously passed a resolution to permanently remove Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame star. In practice, the action would be complicated. The Walk of Fame is a project of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and the sidewalk paving is the purview of the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Trump gained his star in his role as producer of the Miss Universe telecast since they don’t give them to reality TV celebrities or authoritarian rulers.

The pavement marker in question was substantially vandalized in 2016 and again this year, but the West Hollywood resolution is based on sexist and racist Trump political policies not in keeping with WeHo neighborhood values. So whose star should replace Donald Trump’s? Well, recently West Hollywood presented the keys to the city to film star Stormy Daniels. ‘Nuff said.

Wheelchairs in the Snow

“Wheelchair users say that in the aftermath of the Jan. 23 blizzard, they were an afterthought in snow cleanup efforts, as curb cuts remains buried in snow, bus stops blocked, and alleys impassable while road crews prioritized clearing the roads.

The responsibility under D.C. law to shovel curb cuts lies with the adjacent property owner, whether a homeowner, business, or public building. With large snow banks everywhere, an open curb usually is the only way a wheelchair user can get on or off the sidewalk. But even when curbs are shoveled after the initial snows, passing plows just cover them up again with mounds of snow.

‘The curb cut issues don’t get addressed in the strategic cleanup that the city does,’ said Ian Watlington, a disability rights worker and motorized wheelchair user. ‘All I am asking, and I think most people with disabilities are asking, is to be part of the strategic…conversation of, what are we going to do once that plow passes?’”

— “Wheelchair Users Say They Are Forgotten In Blizzard Cleanup Efforts,”  Martin Di Caro, WAMU News

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Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-n8V

Photo by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht,NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Micro-Libraries

We came across a tiny library on a Capitol Hill sidewalk by chance yesterday, which is how you are meant to first encounter these free book exchanges. You can read more about them here, but the photos below show you what you need to know.

Newspaper Boxes

Q: How many newspaper vending boxes are on DC sidewalks?

A: No one knows. They spring up like toadstools.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has published a proposed rulemaking which will regulate the placement and maintenance of publisher boxes on public space. Among other things it requires registration of boxes, imposes a registration fee for them, requires their maintenance, and mandates removal of abandoned newspaper boxes.

There are no existing DC regulations for these streetscape features, and problems have been resolved by a complaint-driven ad hoc process. DDOT Public Space staffers hear about abandoned boxes from angry neighbors, and wheelchair users file ADA complaints when new boxes block the sidewalk. The proposed regs aim at creating a more pro-active situation and a better pedestrian environment. And we’ll even find out how many news vending boxes there are out there.