On Friday, we noticed for the first time that someone has painted over the second half of this famous Shaw neighborhood sign on 9th Street NW between Q and Rhode Island Ave. In its entirety, it used to read “Bienvenue a Shaw, Slum Historique.” We still haven’t been able to determine who painted over the “Slum Historique” part.

The mural was originally painted by long time neighborhood resident and rabble rouser Ray Milefsky, who began painting scenes on the building over four years ago in an attempt to keep out prostitutes and drug dealers who had once occupied the building.

“I drove them out with an NAACP lawyer who lived on Rhode Island (Ave.),” explained Milefsky. “I painted the Bistrot au Ghetto, renamed Cafe Putain qui pue (smelly whore cafe), after hearing about (New York City Mayor Rudy) Giuliani’s success with having landlords paint vacant buildings with cheery scenes — the broken window issue. It worked and the whores did not come back.”