DCist: No Overnight Camping for Inauguration

dcsource

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:41:20 -0500

actually according to secret service the parade route will be shut down from 5-8am for security sweeps, so no one can access till 8am at the earliest. don't know if that means the mall also.

WestEnder

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:50:21 -0500

Huge crowds at security checkpoints to prevent terrorists from accessing the huge crowds on the Mall. Pure genius!

JonboyDC

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:40:12 -0500

As I understand it, people won't be allowed to line the parade route until 7 a.m., but they'll be allowed on the Mall as early as 4 a.m.

econosize

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:31:28 -0500

boondoggle, I sincerely hope you're talking about the incoming first lady, because if you have a thing for the librarian I'm worried about you.

out_on_an_island

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:18:50 -0500

JDag: According to WTOP, there will be 1 toilet for every 6,849 people. 146 portapotties in total: http://wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=780&sid=1544907 That's the number of toilets allocated to Metro only. The number of toilets on the Mall has not been decided, but will likely be at least a couple thousand. So far, the best estimate of the number of toilets required is 2k-3k. Link. Maybe the best idea is to bring your own toilet paper and just crap in the bushes like the homeless do.

iAManugget

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:23:01 -0500

@hungeegirl: i meant the people who want to attend inauguration, not employees. they will shack up at the metro to get on the earliest train possible for inauguration, show up in the city then wander around preparing to get in

JDag

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:07:11 -0500

@smitty dc According to WTOP, there will be 1 toilet for every 6,849 people. 146 portapotties in total: http://wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=780&sid=1544907

gmail

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:57:04 -0500

Kramers is going to be packed up the ass with large groups of people nursing a single hot chocolate for three hours.

smittydc

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:39:02 -0500

still seems assinine to not let people freeze their asses off as long as they want to. The two things I'm worried about: 1) what kind of stupid/pointless security checkpoints are they going to make us suffer through. 2) I hope there are a lot of portapotties.

stmove

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:30:28 -0500

On the fourth the trains are packed, and everything goes fine. People are usually singing and having fun even when the lights go out and the train stops, same was true on New Years 1999. People who are afraid of the chaos and crowds probably need to lighten up a bit. It won't be that bad. It will be like a much smaller, less fun, mardi gras or Carnival, and if New Orleans and Rio can pull them off with no public transport to speak of, DC will be fine.

nanas_tea_party

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:30:03 -0500

damn open tag. I'll try the link one more time: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/inauguration-watch/2008/12/mayor_fenty_max_crowds_mean_th.html

nanas_tea_party

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:27:40 -0500

Apparently the 4 million number is simply what D.C. figures to be the maximum number of people who can fit on the Mall and parade route: ">http://voices.washingtonpost.com/inauguration-watch/2008/12/mayor_fenty_max_crowds_mean_th.html Wonder how authorities came up with the idea that there could be 3 million to 4 million people at Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony and parade? It appears the number wasn't arrived at by a rigorous analysis of how many plane, hotel and charter bus reservations have been made. Instead, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said the number was picked because that's the maximum that can fit on the National Mall and the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route, assuming each person takes up 3 square feet of space.

ajw_93

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:22:18 -0500

Meh. The fences and security entrances lasted approximately 4 minutes on Dec 31, 1999. Revelers then packed the mall and sang songs together etc. I predict a similar, albeit lots more crowded, scenario...the feared crushes at the entrances to the Mall won't be a problem because the hordes will just knock the fences down. Also, there won't exactly be lines of cops a la Grant Park, since they'll all be busy rounding up drunks in Adams Morgan. Plus, the few on the Mall will have to deal with Monkey and his tree-dwelling neighbors.

Krisa

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:11:32 -0500

You know there will be a lot of people who are out drinking until 5am and then go down to the mall, without sleep, in a drunken haze, trying to get their spots early only to be told to wait another two hours in the cold. There will probably be thousands of people just 'camping out' in the metro stations themselves to stay warm until the doors open. I'm not sure how Metro will even operate. They should open the mall by 5am to accomodate early arrivals.

erincarly

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:09:21 -0500

@ hungeegirl: i think i'm just going to call out sick that day. my office is open, and i work 4 blocks from the White House. insanity, i tell you.

ishmael

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:00:45 -0500

@ hungeegirl i know the entire federal government has that day off Nope. Not the ENTIRE federal government. Anyone associated with security for the Inauguration, any Department or Agency, or anything remotely related to "Homeland Security" will probably be at work on Monday AND Tuesday. And that's going to be a lot of us. And if you think cold,sleep deprived Obamamaniacs are going to be cranky that morning, don't DARE cross any Feds who've been denied a 4 day weekend AND have to get to work in that craziness!

monkeyrotica

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:58:41 -0500

sophiagrrl - Congrats! Who do you suspect the father is?

oceanchild

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:56:29 -0500

I want to see the parade. I just really, really like parades. And TV coverage never does them justice. I have no idea how I'm going to get myself a spot where I can actually see the parade, and that makes me really sad. I was counting on camping out.

turkeyrotica

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:55:55 -0500

I was unaware that camping was allowed on the Mall otherwise.

Wizzyliz

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:53:31 -0500

I don't know what crystal balls these predictors are looking into. It may well be that 4M people are descending into town but the majority of them could be attending the inaugural balls instead of freezing their titties and balls. Ooooooooops. I said it again: balls.

Kev29

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:47:50 -0500

With Secret Service security checkpoints at Nationals Park opening night - it took about 2 hours to get in to the stadium. That was 42,000 people. Imagine "4 million"

stmove

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:46:16 -0500

If the bars would stay open until 7am this would not be a problem, and it may be the biggest day for DC liquor sales since Gen. Hooker's whores played quarters at Mary Ann's Brothel on the mall in 1863. The four million figure has to be inflated, it is only the local media that is hyping this up into a frenzy. Inauguration is getting the snow coverage treatment. But there could be a snow storm on inauguration day, which would be the perfect local news storm, and lead to every local news broadcaster's head exploding.

somegirl

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:44:41 -0500

Everyone whose job it is to provide security, bathrooms, directions, street cleaning, setup, etc. etc. is going to HAVE to commute into town that day, as are all the restaurant and retail workers. Those are the people I really feel sorry for. On the bright side, this is a fantastic opportunity for anyone with an alarm clock, a coffeepot, and a cart to make gobs o' cash from 4-7 a.m.

sophiagrrl

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:35:49 -0500

Samer: Good point. 4 mill was the 3 given by DC gov't folks, so it's probably a bit inflated. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12 /11/prediction-not-4-million-but-still-very-strong/ According to the NY Time the Secret Service has a working number, that they are not sharing. But it's less than 4 Mill.

lilybelle

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:28:51 -0500

Yeah. I know this is 'history' and you want to be able to tell your kids you were there, blah blah blah, but I really just want to stay home and watch it on TV. Is that so bad? I like Obama as much as the next yuppie, but not as much as I hate hypothermia and metro clusterfucks. I'm seconding everyone who says this is a terrible idea and someone's going to get hurt. Not that there is really any good way to deal with a mass of people 8 times the city's normal population trying to squeeze itself onto that tiny rectangle.

boondoggle

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:26:11 -0500

Of course, if we had taken my advice and elected Mike Gravel, we'd be looking at 30-40 people rather than 4 million. Then we could all stay home and stalk girls we had crushes on in high school on facebook instead standing out in cold all day. So think about that.

boondoggle

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:18:06 -0500

..that camping on the National Mall will be banned.. Noted. But don't hold it against me if they show the First Lady elect on one of the jumbotrons and I pitch a tent. She hot like fyah.

Samer

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:17:53 -0500

Where is this oft-repeated 4 million number coming from? That seems astonishingly high, no? Also, what morning commute? I don't have the day off, and I might not be allowed to take the day off, but I will be working from home if I have my druthers. Or a hotel room across the country!

glasswindow

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:17:14 -0500

Well hopefully some of those bars will be open...

sophiagrrl

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:15:37 -0500

Someone do the math: how long would it take to move 4 million people (back out maybe a million who don't take Metro? HA!) from all the various outer points to the stations remaining open. Factor in the walks to the checkpoints... and seriously, can we even GET these people here? If the people movers start at 4 am, how many people can Metro drop off in town in 3 hours? Can it even be done, assuming nothing at all slowed it down (like some asinine package scare that turns out to be some ladies diaper bag)? So, by 7 am, how many people will be waiting to get through the gates? You can stop them camping on the mall, but not from camping immediately outside whatever you erect as the boundary. So, will we have lines of folks spending the night all up and down streets in DC? The event runs 12-4 apparently. So 5 hours in the cold AFTER you get in. And of course, you will not leave after you get in, and lose your spot so that means folks will want to bring everything the need to sit on the Mall from 7 am until 7 pm. But folks can't/should not bring a lot because of the security checks. The more I run this through my head, the more insane it is. Me? I can't leave because I have the good fortune of being due to GIVE BIRTH that week. So I'll be warm and cozy, just .5 miles from WHC, hoping the place isn't overrun with hypothermia cases so that residents can still get services.

downtown rez

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:13:30 -0500

Imagine the practical difficulties that allowing thousands or hundreds of thousands of inexperienced people to camp in potentially wet and sub-freezing weather on city property. Imagine the liability.

KrazyKat

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:05:34 -0500

It doesn't make sense for the Metro to be open at 4 a.m. if people can't go to and stake out their claim along the parade route or the Mall. Unless the Starbucks, other coffee houses or restaurants will be open then, people will be quite unhappy and cold. They really aren't thinking this through and the mad rush to grab a prime spot will cause some sort of injury. There are also the little kiddies to think of who will be stuck standing there with their idiotic parents who think their kid should experience "history". It will be a historic event for the hospitals when they get numerous cases of frostbite and hypothermia if the weather is bitter cold. I think I will just stay home and watch it all on tv.

Sunny Florida Avenue

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:04:13 -0500

These Campbell Brown ads are really fudging with my quality DCist time

monkeyrotica

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:02:56 -0500

Please notice the conspicuous absence of the word "treehouse." Feel free to exercise Monkeyrotica's Temporary Mall Housing Loophole. And don't forget to throw poo at passers by!

Kev29

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:55:54 -0500

OK, I'll ask... how are they going to differentiate between campers and homeless people?

DC Guy

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:54:54 -0500

I am glad I am planning on leaving town for that weekend.

Henry Krinkle

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:54:13 -0500

Does that rule apply to homeless people? I really want to take that whole week off. Can't imagine what the Metro will be like.

IMGoph

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:52:56 -0500

did these idiots not pay attention to what just happened at that long island wal-mart the day after thanksgiving? this'll be even worse. pushing, shoving, it'll be really cold outside. oh, and instead of your usual genial wal-mart greeter, you'll have armed peace officers. i'm sure that'll go over just peachily. people will get killed if this stands. guaranteed.

hungeegirl

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:51:49 -0500

commute? if you have an employer that is making you commute into work in DC that day, they are crazy. i know the entire federal government has that day off, and many private employers have also declared that day a holiday....but maybe i just have a really good job!

iAManugget

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:50:43 -0500

people will probably camp out on the outskirt metro stations to commute in

McGillicuddy

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:48:47 -0500

this is the very definition of a giant cluster fuck.