Fire at the Natural History Museum

There is a fire at a smaller building on the grounds of the Natural History building. Probably a building that houses electrical equipment.

This incident has Constitution Avenue closed going eastbound starting at 9th Street.

The 9th Street tunnel is also closed and 7th street southbound is only open with one lane.

UPDATE: The fire is now under control.  None of the exhibits were damaged.  The streets are opening back up around the museum.  Constitution and 9th are both open now.  Madison remains closed for about another half-hour (will be open about 11 a.m.).

A great picture from twitter user @kimberlyfaye is available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlyfaye/5424416723/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Another great picture from DCist: http://dcist.com/2011/02/fire_inside_national_history_museum.php

Water Main break on 15th Street

TBD is reporting that there is a water main break on 15th Street between G and H streets.

Although unconfirmed, the rumor is that the street broke under the weight of a bus.

Traffic is stopped in both directions for now.  We have a live shot courtesy of trafficland.com of the street that should let you know when the road is open again:

Geraldine Ferraro leaves the neighborhood

The Washingtonian reports that former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro has left Penn Quarter.

She sold a two-bedroom, two-bath condo on Pennsylvania Ave with a view of the capitol for $950,000.  No word on what building she lived in, but we're guessing either Market Square or The Newseum.

Ferrarro was a congresswoman from New York, but is more famous for being Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984.

No Super Bowl plans? Watch the game in Penn Quarter!

Penn Quarter certainly has grown in the past few years in places suitable for watching the year's biggest sporting event.

We have been keeping an eye on all the local drinking holes, and none of them seem to be having any special events, except for Hooters, which is running a special: buy 10 wings and get 10 wings free.

Otherwise, there are plenty of other suggestions and we have linked to their "Events" page just in case anything pops up for Super Bowl Sunday.

In alphabetical order:

• Clyde's
• Grand Hyatt Sports Bar
• Hooters
• Iron Horse Tavern
• Penn Quarter Sports Tavern
• Presidential Sports Bar (Renaissance Hotel)
• Redline
• RFD
• Rocket Bar

The official bars for both teams are on Capitol Hill, just steps from Penn Quarter, and both bars are coincidentally neighbors.  The bar for the Packers is Hawk 'n Dove and the bar for the Steelers is the Pour House.  We expect some riots in the streets.

You can still grab tickets to the superbowl: they range from $2724 to $23,740--each--as of this writing.

January Crime Report

As we do at the beginning of every month, Penn Quarter insider has reviewed the neighborhood crime data for last month.

January 2011 saw more total crime than January 2010.  Both violent crimes and property crimes were up from a year ago.

There were two robberies with a gun in January (only one a year ago) and 11 robberies without a gun (down from 13 a year ago).

Four assaults with a gun occurred, while 7 occurred with a different deadly weapon.  There was one case of sex abuse, and no homicides.

In the property arena, there were 8 burglaries, 54 thefts from an auto, 62 other thefts, and 8 stolen vehicles.

A map of the locations of all crime incidents in January is below.

Buddha Bar names a new chef

Buddha Bar, the spacious bar/restaurant on Massachusetts Ave with an Asian atmosphere and often a European crowd, has named a new chef.

The Washington Business Journal reports that Simon Volante has been named executive chef.  He replaces Executive Chef Gregg Fortunato.

He most recently worked at Asian-fusion themed Red Restaurant & Bar in Los Angeles, but worked in D.C. 9 years ago at The Willard Room and Jeffrey's (which used to be at The Watergate).

Charlotte-based Fuel Pizza coming to Penn Quarter

Fuel Pizza in Charlotte

We have seen a lot of New York restaurants coming to Penn Quarter--such as Carmine's, Virgil's, and Hill Country BBQ, but now Fuel Pizza, based in Charlotte (with locations only in the Charlotte area) is coming to Penn Quarter.

The Washington Business Journal reports that Fuel will be opening two D.C. locations, one in Penn Quarter at 600 F Street N.W. 

This is great news for the neighborhood.  That corner is a blighted one with boarded up windows in the former bank space (and a boarded up former ATM location), in an area that has seen a lot of improvement with the introduction of Sydney Harman Hall. 

They are also opening a location downtown at 16th and K Street, and hope to open three locations a year here in D.C.

Street Closures for Chinese New Year

This Sunday, February 6, the Chinese New Year parade will cause many Penn Quarter streets to be shut down.  There is also a Caps game that night, which will add to the havoc.

From 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. H Street N.W. will be closed between 6th and 7th Streets.

From 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. additional streets will be closed.  They are:

• I Street NW between 5th and 7th Streets N.W.
• 7th Street NW between I and G Streets N.W.
• G Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets N.W.
• 8th Street NW between G and H Street N.W.
• H Street NW between 8th and 6th Streets N.W.
• 6th Street NW between Massachusetts Avenue and G Street N.W.

Be mindful that the Caps game is at 12:30 p.m.  So while traffic to the game may not be a problem, getting out of the game might. 

Hopefully it's a good game so everyone stays until the very end.

Meat-Free week means free ZPizza

D.C. Vegan is celebrating Meat Free Week February 7th-14th.

In celebration, ZPizza will be offering $5 off any vegan or vegetarian pizza on Sunday, February 13th.  Delivery included.

Yum!

The Grey Market is alive and well in D.C.

Kushi Izakaya & Sushi at City Vista has made quite a splash since opening -- and now it's making a new one by hosting the Grey Market.

The Grey Market is a lot like the black market, though it's legal (if you sign a waiver). 

Because D.C. laws do not allow someone to sell food unless they have had a commercial-grade kitchen inspected, many people can't get businesses off the ground without substantial investment.  But as Jamie Hardin of the Washington Examiner reports, there is a loophole--those purchasing the products can simply sign a waiver.

Sunday at Kushi, the Grey Market was open.  Participants signed up through GreyDC.com, signed the waiver, paid $2, and they were ready to buy all sorts of local and organic food.

Hardin reports it was a raging success: "the crowd was steady and shopping."

Future Grey Markets are available on GreyDC.com, but one hasn't been scheduled yet.

Penn Quarter red light cameras

The Metropolitan Police Department publishes a list of the locations of every red light camera in the city.

To help all our loyal readers, we have compiled a list of those that you are likely to encounter in and near Penn Quarter:

• 12th Street Northbound & Constitution Avenue, NW
• 14th Street Northbound & K Street, NW
• 3rd Street Southbound & New York Avenue, NW
• Constitution Avenue Westbound & 15th Street, NW
• New York Avenue Westbound & 4th Street, NW
• New York Avenue Westbound & New Jersey Avenue, NW
• North Capitol Avenue Southbound & H Street, NW

Stop at the yellow lights!

Federal Triangle, Smithsonian metro stations to be closed President's Day Weekend

You may have experienced the mess over the Martin Luther King Holiday as Metro closed the Foggy Bottom Metro Station, sending waves throughout the whole system, particularly on the Orange and Blue Lines.

Well you might be affected even more over President's Day Weekend, as Metro will be closing two stops.  And two closer to home.  Both the Federal Triangle and the Smithsonian stations will be closed for that entire weekend.

The stations will close at 9 p.m. on Friday, February 18th and remain closed through Monday, February 21st -- with normal service resuming the morning of Tuesday, February 22nd.

If you have to work that Monday, you might want to consider calling in sick.

Metro will be replacing four track switches, which was part of the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations to WMATA (so we can't complain too much).

Metro recommends allowing 40 extra minutes if your commute passes through either of those stops.  PQ Insider recommends avoiding the Orange and Blue lines at all costs.

Penn Quarter hot (?) job

Gawker found this Craigslist posting by a "syndicated Washington, D.C." columnist in Penn Quarter looking for an assistant.

And we don't use the word "assistant" lightly.

The ad is just under 1,000 words and has a list of duties for this person to do at $15 per hour.

A sample of responsibilities includes:

• Cleaning
• Web design
• Business plan writing
• Dance instruction
• Auto body work
• Wardrobe selection
• Basic interior design
• Completing artwork

And the list goes on and on.

No idea who this syndicated columnist is (email us if you have any ideas), but it looks like she is starting a new business venture or two.