June 18, 2008
Small Victory for Comet Ping Pong at ANC Meeting
Monday night, a large crowd gathered at the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3F monthly meeting to ponder a series of proposals from Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis. The crux of the matter: a request by Alefantis to lift a voluntary agreement between his business and the commission regarding the operation of his restaurant.
But the larger than usual crowd was a sign of things to come (or a sign of what had already passed), and what started out as a community meeting quickly devolved into a flurry of blind accusations, threats of censure, and many an unkind word toward those involved.
The voluntary agreement in question was created two years ago, when Alefantis approached the ANC about opening Comet. Notably, the agreement requires Comet to close at 12 a.m. and bans live entertainment (other than "soft background music").
Photo by jim_darling
Alefantis and his legal representative, Andrew Kline, outlined a proposal to, at a minimum, lift the agreement so that Alefantis may apply for a new agreement with the D.C. ABC Board. This all requires the blessing of the ANC 3F to go forward. A draft list of proposed changes includes: extending Comet's hours to 2 or 3 a.m., outdoor seating until 12 a.m., and live music. Alefantis hopes for open mic nights, private parties, and a partnership with Politics and Prose, among others. According to Alefantis, he and his patrons view Comet as a "community center."
The complaints against Alefantis and Comet started early. Amid chuckles, groans, and rolling eyes from the crowd, Commissioner Karen Lee Perry rattled off a list of evidence including reviews on washingtonpost.com, a YouTube clip of a performance by The Apes in the restaurant, and online ads for live music shows that took place at Comet over the past year, all of which proved that the restaurant has been regularly violating the voluntary agreement in place. She also said that Comet has shown a disregard for the 12 a.m. closing time and, despite the presence of a large crowd, scolded Alefantis not giving enough public notice or doing enough placarding for that night's proposal announcement. In response, Alefantis said, "A restaurant is an organic entity. The nature of a business is determined by the community; it changes on a daily, hourly basis."
But it wasn't until Commissioner Frank Winstead's interjections that members from both sides became really riled. Winstead, whose stance was already widely known from his investigative YouTube video of Comet's formerly outdoor ping pong table, accused Alefantis of, "trying to turn this area into Adams Morgan with the murders and rapes," and, "filling up his fat wallet." He also made assertions that the restaurant wasn't up to D.C. health codes and directly asked Alefantis if he had ever spit in a customer's food.
Much of the spite continued on to the end. One attendee chastised the crowd behind her for never bothering to show up to any other community meetings, while another had several less than polite words to share about Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher, who has lambasted the ANC and Winstead for hampering local businesses.
In the end, the commission voted 4-3 to lift the voluntary agreement, but stopped short of approving any other provisions until another meeting with proper advance notice given to the community. Despite the minimal win, the meeting ended in cheers and a celebration at Comet.
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Dang and all I did last night was stay at home and watch deadliest catch. Should of went up to ANC meeting and watch the hair fly.
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"Winstead, whose stance was already widely known from his investigative YouTube video of Comet's formerly outdoor ping pong table, accused Alefantis of, 'trying to turn this area into Adams Morgan with the murders and rapes,' and, 'filling up his fat wallet.'"
Dayum! Go on Winzilla! We must fight the murderers and rapists in Adams Morgan so we don't have to fight them here! If Comet is allowed to stay open until 2:00 AM, the terrorists have won!
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I don't know about you guys, but I refuse to get my rape on until I've had some salty pizza and played pingpong. I mean, it's right there in the book they give you, "How to be a Rapist in 12 Easy Lessons," Chapter One: So You Want To Rape You Some ANC 3F Wimmens?
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Voluntary agreements are completely thuggish. And violate the spirit of democracy and urban life. They should be banned. They are to DC what homeowners associations are to the suburbs -- a legalized mafia.
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Voluntary agreement is a misnomer. There's nothing voluntary when a business has to agree to it, or they will face the bureaucratic hurdles tossed up by ANCs.
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there's also nothing voluntary when the business willfully ignored it. I don't like the amount of authority the ANCs have, but this guy made an agreement only to spit all over it.
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"One attendee chastised the crowd behind her for never bothering to show up to any other community meetings"
Further proof that the only thing most of the community really cares about is something fun to do in said largely-boring community.
Will someone please kidnap Frank Winstead and dump him, preferably naked, on Bladensburg Road at 3 AM? If he survives, maybe he'll stop worrying about outdoor ping pong tables on Connecticut Avenue.
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DC1974 is exactly right. Many so-called voluntary agreements between ANCs and eateries or bars call for banning certain genres of music. Constitutional issues aside, are ANC members elected for their musical taste and knowledge? If so, we need very different candidate bios in the future.
One or two Little Napoleons or suburban refugees on an ANC can delay a business license or liquor license for months and cost a new enterprise thousands. Of course these businesses agree. Is this voluntary? Hardly.
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DC ANCs: We want to be big brother and act like we have all the power but in reality we don't. Most ANC members are a bunch of tools.
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Not sure but i think Voluntary Agreements are not always arranged between ANCs and eateries, bars and clubs. There are some where non ANC neighbors use the same tactics with unwitting or naive shop owners.
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Whoa, that's way better than homeowners' association meetings!
They should totally settle that in the octagon.
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This needs to be made into a movie.
Jason Lee as James Alefantis in:
Comet: A true underdog story
Directed by Wes Anderson
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Honestly, is someone running against Winstead?
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While it doesn't help Comet's case that they've been violating the agreement, I don't think that necessarily justifies keeping the agreement in place.
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I so love that AM gets thrown under the bus every time someone wants to complain about a bar/restaurant in another neighborhood.
I'm not fan of the idea of VA's as much as the next guy, but the liquor laws in D.C. are pretty lax when you compare them other locales (with certain exceptions like Louisiana). Now of course, if the Grahamstander has his way, it would be free alcohol for everyone in the streets...as long as they aren't listening to go go music of course.
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Why does Winstead got to be all hatin' up on Adams Morgan?
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You HAVE to listen to the audio link on Fisher's Post site. About 29 minutes in, Winstead goes insane. Fantastic entertainment.
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Speaking of Louisiana, Comet should offer an ultimatum: either the ANC extends the hours and open up seating OR Comet installs a topless frozen daiquiri drive-thru window.
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How soon we forget the important rule: Don't feed the Mogwai pizza after midnight. Or let it play ping-pong.
We'll all live to regret this day.
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This will ultimately be settled when Comet agrees to no latin music, which might keep the neighborhood's nanny population in the area after dark or up too late to raise the neighborhood kids.
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People are always talking smack about AM...and how this is what they don't want their neighborhood to become, but it was not too long ago, when Adams Morgan was an even bigger craphole, just without much to do.
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goddamn, i know this is going to get me yelled at, but winstead's accent just makes this jucier. he sounds like the most concerned alabaman i can possibly think of.
drawl on, my fantastic ANC friend...
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Cranky,
Link please..
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Damn it all!!! Too many people are listening:
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DAMNn, DAMN, DAMN
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In the end, the commission voted 4-3 to lift the voluntary agreement...
hey, I thought you had to win by two in ping pong. Imagine if was 7-0, skunked! Then the commission would have to run around the meeting naked (like at my college) or chug two beers.
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maybe Comet will start selling "jumbo slices" after midnight
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I will have to say the Obits/the Points show I saw there a few months ago was pretty intense: thrown beer bottles, fights, non-ironic moshing... good times!
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I say we set up Winnie with Laura Sessions Stepp. The dude needs some serious NSA time with a real woman. They'd be perfect for each other.
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imgoph - is he from alabama? if so, i'm guessing he's doing no favors for my home state. not sounding like atticus finch, is he?
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This guy Winstead is out of control. I don't agree all ANC's are useless, its just certain Commissioners. Think about it -- This passed 4-3 so obviously there are 4 sane people on it - Just 2 bad apples and 1 rotten one (Winstead).
My friend and I were at the meeting and we were just amazed at what this guy Winstead was saying. I guess he didn't know he was being recorded. What a loser -- now all of DC knows it. Also, Wiss (who voted for it) said something to the effect of AU kids being loud - Whatever old lady.
The four good ones were Jame Soloman, Susan Banta Cathy Wiss and Mital Gandhi -- I wonder if he's related to Natwar Gandhi, our CFO. Anyways, Gandhi was the biggest proponent and did the community well.
We have to get sane people on the ANC, so if you live in Winstead, Perry or Klibanoff's District - RUN AGAINST THEM!
Also, if you haven't checked out the recording, you have to go to marc fisher's blog - HILARIOUS, around 15 minutes in...
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vaughan: like i said, i shouldn't have gone there. no offense to the great state of alabama. though i've never been there, any place that produces a (fictional) character as great as atticus finch does not deserve ridicule!
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Yeah, but for every fictional Atticus Finch there's a real Jim Nabors and Condoleezza Rice. Then there's Alabama the band. Shudder.
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see, it's things like this that make me love being here. the fact-checking is second-to-none!
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The audio is priceless.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/06/19/frank-winstead-gone-wild-the-recordings/
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Go Comet! Vote out the fun hating ANC's.