Breakfast links: Fundamental rights

by David Alpert • March 4, 2011 8:14 am

Image from the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition.

ACLU will sue over bag searches: The ACLU is planning to sue Metro over the bag search program. They're looking for potential plaintiffs who've been searched. But winning the case might not be easy. (NBC, MoCo Civil Rights, WAMU)

Federal cost cutting hurts regional transit: MARC, MTA, DASH and WMATA stand to lose various security and capital funding if House's austerity measures pass the Senate. Don't worry, Lisa Farbstein says, Metro's bag searches aren't in danger! (Post)

Delaware gets more train service; what about Maryland: Local trains from Delaware to Philadelphia currently run Saturdays, and will now run Sundays as well. (Wilmington News Journal) Shouldn't MARC and VRE? Or even midday? ACT recently launched a campaign to add midday trains service to the two MARC lines that lack it. (Ben Ross)

New Anacostia library an architectural success: Architecture critics are praising the new Anacostia library, concluding that its use of space and light clearly "communicates the intended message: come, meet, and read." (Architectural Record)

Who's running in Arlington: Arlington County Board member and WMATA Board member Mary Hynes will run for reelection; she says Arlington could have done better planning at East Falls Church but still supports development (Sun Gazette) ... Her colleague Barbara Favola will run for the state senate, while Jay Fisette will not. Incumbent Mary Whipple is not running for reelection.

NYC rethinking rethinking 34th Street: New York has halted plans for a plaza on 34th Street in Midtown, and may revise the accompanying transitway. The original drew criticism from drivers, though they are the distinct minority of users of the street. Despite opposition to any change, 34th Street once looked very different. (NYT, Streetsblog)

And...: DDOT will design 12 segments of bike lanes this spring (TheWashCycle) ... Bike racks were installed incorrectly at Francis Recreation Center (RPUS) ... Sekou Biddle challenged his own signature on Bryan Weaver's nominating petitions (Loose Lips)

A roar on Arora: Off our usual subjects, many others, I'm disappointed that Delegate Sam Arora, whom I endorsed, is was suddenly backing away from earlier promises to support marriage equality in the Maryland House. (TBD, Metro Weekly) ... DC's similar law is now one year old. (WAMU) Update: Arora has decided to vote for the bill but seems to be hoping it gets overturned in a referendum.

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17 comments

Tags: Anacostia, Arlington, bag searches, bicycling, bike lanes, bike parking, bus priority, civil liberties, commuter rail, Congress, DASH, DC, DC Council, DDOT, Delaware, law, libraries, links, MARC, Maryland legislature, Metro, MTA, New York, Pennsylvania, politics, public spaces, Sam Arora, same-sex marriage, security, Sekou Biddle, Virginia, VRE, WMATA

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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If only Marc trains ran on the Brunswick line during the weekends. You could go out to Beautiful Western Maryland and stay in one of those lovely towns for a weekend getaway instead of driving the highways. To quote Charle Sheen, "winning!"

by Thayer-D on Mar 4, 2011 9:04 am

Thayer-D,

You can take Amtrak's Capitol Limited, which runs daily.

by Eric Fidler on Mar 4, 2011 9:33 am

does anyone know off the bat what percentage of NYC workers commute via bike (the same ACS data)?

by charlie on Mar 4, 2011 9:43 am

@charlie

It's less than in DC - in Manhattan it's about 1%.

by MLD on Mar 4, 2011 10:06 am

Thanks Eric. I checked,and you can get to Haroer's Ferry leaving DC at 4:30pm on Saturdays. Hopefully they can make it like a commuter train with cheaper fares and where one can hop on Saturday and come back Sunday. I can see this area like the Berkshires is to Boston if they can get their marketing down.

by Thayer-D on Mar 4, 2011 10:12 am

Yes- the problem with MARC is that it does not run on weekends- and it SHOULD..as DC and Baltimore are the centers of what is basically the # 4 largest metro area in the USA. If these cities were in Europe there would be high speed rail service 24-7.

As for the new Anacostia Library- it is nice to see some new investment there- but the thing looks like it could be a subway station in Crystal City or in some Brave New World setting - to me it has zero charm. There is no reference to the beautiful local Anacostia buildings that have so much intrinsic charm. Not that it has to mimic this historic look- but it could be a better neighbor. To me, personally, a lot of "modernism" is extremely lifeless and sterile - it has no room for architectural sculpture or ornament, and it is very dull as far as color is concerned. When Modernists try to apply color in their buildings, it comes off as ultra chaotic - looking or inappropriate- like Frank Geary's super over rated idiotic cartoon buildings.

by w on Mar 4, 2011 10:46 am

w - agree with you on the Anacostia library.
Not sure it reads "...come, meet, and read." Then again, it's Architectural Record, the magazine of record for all things modernist.

It would be nice for once to see the kind of buildings that dominate their ad space to be featured on their covers, but they live in an elite and alternate universe where all americans love living in glass and steel boxes.

by Thayer-D on Mar 4, 2011 11:10 am

Amtrak used to have a morning train to Martinsburg and an evening train back to DC. Day trips to Harpers Ferry were possible. More recently, MARC had a reverse commute morning train to Brunswick with an evening train back DC until shortly after a disaster in Silver Sprng. The six-mile hike from Brunswick to Harpers Ferry is a bit long and MARC only allows folding bikes, but if that reverse commute train is ever brought back, it would be a good candidate for a relaxed MARC-bike policy since the train would have empty cars for bike storage.

by JimT on Mar 4, 2011 11:12 am

Agree on the comments about the Anacostia Library. When architects design buildings for the oggling of other architects, the public loses.

by Fritz on Mar 4, 2011 11:19 am

when Architects stopped associating with Artists and began to see themselves as somehow above Art and more into designing "spaces" they really lost it. For 5000 years of recorded human history Architects have been the flagship of the Arts- and as such- they had large stables of allied Artists to do the multiple jobs that humanized their creations even further. Now days- these "modernists" have no alliegence to any "art" outside of what they do- and as a result sculptures are no longer an integral part of the structure of a building- same- with mosaic painting and fresco artworks- all of which are "afterthoughts" in any "modernist" building designs. Modernism at it's very best is an architcture of emptiness, apathy, institutional dominance, and extreme boredom. When the architects start to hang out with real Painters and Sculptors and start using their works again- we will know that the tide has turned back toward a more healthy and sustainable and more beautiful business.

by w on Mar 4, 2011 11:45 am

I don't really understand the hate-on for new buildings that always comes out on this blog. This building is interesting and functional. I don't see it as "empty" or "apathetic" or "boring," the pictures of the inside make it look like a bright inviting place to read.

I suppose you would all prefer that all new buildings be rehashes of neoclassical, Italian renaissance, Georgian, neo-Gothic, etc? Personally I find a mix of styles more interesting.

by MLD on Mar 4, 2011 12:10 pm

While I'm glad that someone is standing up to Metro regarding the bag checks, I am annoyed that the ACLU plans to sue but doesn't have a plaintiff or a case yet. I hate that people in this country are so sue-happy that they think "I'm planning on suing you... I just don't know why yet."

ACLU: When someone comes forward and says they've been wronged, THEN represent them and sue.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go sue McDonald's. Anyone have any ideas as to why I can sue them?

by SB on Mar 4, 2011 12:22 pm

MLD,
The "hate-on" for many of these new buildings comes from the fact that of all the last 20 new libraries built, not one is one of the many styles you outlined...in fact, they are all neo-modernist. So much for the mix of styles.

As for these other styles being "rehashes" of previous styles, what would you call neo-modernism...original?
If that's the case, I've got a neo-gothic bridge to sell you

by Thayer-D on Mar 4, 2011 12:29 pm

@SB:

Is it really the case here that the ACLU doesn't know why they'll be filing suit?

by oboe on Mar 4, 2011 12:34 pm

@SB; you, umm, kinda need a plaintiff in these cases to show standing. ACLU isn't suing them, it is going to getting lawyers on a case. And good luck with damages.

Personally the security cuts they outlined for WMATA sound OK. Actually, if you take DHS and, well, I don't know, cut it down by half it would be a start. Defunding TSA would also be nice.

by charlie on Mar 4, 2011 12:38 pm

A building does not have to have an identifable "style' to be beautiful. Maybe this Modernist library is indeed "functional" and "light-filled" but to me it is damn boring. I am sick of the newfangled steel girder look that so many of these new libraries and Adams Morgan condo buildings have- with that 1950's pseudo- FL Wright erector set look to them- and those abhorrent over bearing , lean- to style rooftops that stick out . The Modernists cannot design a good rooftop if their life depended on it- and they have little real foresight of how ugly some of these things look when they go up on the street. Modernism is popular because it is extremely cheap to build and so developers have stuck with it. I would prefer a building with beautiful Caryatids flanking a doorway and a beautiful tile roof over any re-hashed Malibu transplanted beach house condo construction or fake "loft style" apartments that are simply ugly and will not age well at all. A well made building with architectural sculpture and ornament always ages well and even in decay is lovely.

by w on Mar 4, 2011 12:48 pm

I'm with you, MLD. I like the new Anacostia Library a lot. That green just screams joy!

by Matt on Mar 4, 2011 3:30 pm