EMS arrived on the scene at 10:10 a.m. and transported the injured party to the hospital at 10:35 a.m. Both suspects have since been arrested, according to Sherri Ly, media relations manager for the Metropolitan Transit Police Department.听

听Originally the incident was reported as a potential stabbing but was later corrected after investigation.听

听This report is the most recent in a slew of incidents on the metro in D.C. On Dec. 8, a suspect fired a gun towards a Metro car after a fight at the Columbia Heights Station. Prior to that, a 19-year-old was shot in the leg on a Metro car on .

听When asked about crime on the metro, passenger Alex Crane said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just what happens now, I guess.鈥�

听Field Training Officer for the Metropolitan Transit Police Department Ryan O鈥橠onnell said that there was 鈥渘o interruption鈥� to the operation of transit at the Farragut West Station throughout the investigation and trains are continuing on their original schedule.听

EMS, Metropolitan Transit Police and a bomb tech were on the scene out of an abundance of caution but had the scene cleaned up less than an hour after police were first dispatched. Passengers on the platform were largely unaware that there had been an assault.听

Jos茅, a passenger waiting on the platform, said he 鈥渟aw all the police vehicles outside but didn鈥檛 hear what was the accident.鈥澨�

听D.C. has been experiencing a crime wave, much like other large U.S. cities, and after this incident some Metro riders are rethinking how they use public transit.听

听Karen Herrera said she has to continue to use the metro to commute, but after hearing about incidents that happen so close to her, 鈥渋t makes me consider how aware I am of my surroundings.鈥�

听Crane said with the rise of crime generally in D.C. and the reported incidents on the Metro, he鈥檚 become very cautious of friends traveling solo.

鈥淓specially with my female friends and my girlfriend, I鈥檓 much more intentional than ever about making sure they鈥檙e not traveling alone.鈥�

听The Metropolitan Police Department that this year the number of homicides has grown by 10% compared to 2020. Crane says he experienced a drive-by shooting just last week while at a friend鈥檚 apartment in Navy Yards.听

听鈥淎t this point, there鈥檚 a stabbing or a shooting every day now,鈥� he said.

听MPD reports don鈥檛 show the same rise in assaults and robberies, but WMATA data tells a different story about crime on public transit.

听In November, there were 22 incidences of aggravated assault , jumping over 40% from November 2020. Rates of robbery reported by WMATA doubled for the same period. The vast majority of these crimes are committed on trains.听

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鈥淲e always look to represent and incubate small businesses that need a leg up,鈥� Mike Berman, organizer of the Downtown Holiday Market, said.

The market is located on F Street NW between 7th and 9th streets in front of the National Portrait Gallery, taking over the block with shimmering lights and holiday tunes. Since opening this year, the market has been bustling with visitors anxious to see the market and shop locally. When Vice President Kamala Harris visited to celebrate Small Business Saturday, she these businesses are 鈥�part of the civic and social fabric of the community.鈥�

Me at the holiday market in DC: Why is everyone taking out their phones?

鈥� Matthew Torres (@News_MTorres)

There will be more than 70 vendors present at the market, selling goods like D.C. artwork, glass-blown ornaments and other handcrafted goods. It鈥檚 open every day until 8 p.m., which allows visitors who work during the day the ability to peruse the market after.听

This market is an opportunity for businesses to create a presence in the downtown neighborhood without investing in a rental space. With high rents and low tourism numbers since the pandemic, small businesses aren鈥檛 racing to get into downtown storefronts.

鈥淭here is not a single small business that I deal with that could contemplate the rents that are charged for downtown storefront retail locations,鈥� Berman said.听

听Jon Wye, a vendor at the Downtown Holiday Market who sells belts and other leather goods, said in 18 years of operation, he hasn鈥檛 even considered opening a brick-and-mortar store downtown.

听鈥淚 would have to have a greater selection of items and a much bigger brand鈥� that would just be a lot more stress in my life,鈥� he explained.

The transient nature of the DMV also helps vendors expand their consumer base at the market. Wye said regional customers who come to the market and then move away have 鈥渢aken [his] brand with them.鈥澨�

Jodi Kostelnik owns and operates The Neighborgoods, a small gift shop, from her basement. Before the pandemic she had a storefront in Shaw but had to shut it down. Now, she is looking again for a place to rent, but says she has little hope for a place in downtown D.C. Though costs are top of mind as she is considering where to rent, she said that low foot traffic in the downtown also discourages her.

The holiday market attracts people from all over the DMV, not just D.C. residents. Small businesses get a high level of exposure from this market, since for many of them it鈥檚 their only reason to come downtown.听

听Sonda Allen, owner of jewelry business Turtle鈥檚 Webb, says this holiday market is the only thing that brings her into the area. She says downtown D.C. is much more friendly to larger, multinational businesses.

听鈥淚t鈥檚 all Starbucks and Louis Vuitton, it鈥檚 not feasible for small businesses.鈥澨�

听These larger companies dominate the city center of D.C., with multiple blocks scattered with luxury fashion companies and little presence of smaller ones. Allen says the businesses that operate in the holiday market focus on the art rather than profits.

She said she doesn鈥檛 have a storefront and doesn鈥檛 want one, 鈥淚鈥檓 not interested in being a machine, I don鈥檛 want the pressure of needing something on the shelves every day.鈥�

听Allen also says that this market, with its focus on small businesses and artists, offers visitors a break from the professional culture of the city. Wye echoed this, saying the political and business presence in the city makes people lean more traditional in their tendencies. With all the 鈥渃onservative dress and conservative attitudes鈥� in the city, Wye celebrates the market for 鈥渋nject[ing] some color into the city鈥� to allow people to embrace 鈥渁 kind of artistic side.鈥�

Vendors and organizers expect sales to be high this year, but not as high as 2020. Last year set a record for many sellers, which Berman attributes to all the other stores and markets in D.C. being closed in 2020.听

鈥淔olks flocked to us鈥� Now, there鈥檚 a lot more open鈥� tourism isn鈥檛 back鈥� office workers definitely aren鈥檛 back yet鈥� but we鈥檙e hoping to pick up where we left off in 2019,鈥� Berman said.

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鈥淭here’s no one fix that would intervene in a successful way every single time,鈥� Burditt said.

The campaign, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Wait, Reach Out,鈥� is part of the department鈥檚 response to an increase in death by suicide among military members, the Department of Defense in 2020. Despite the good intentions of the campaign, veteran resource groups outside the VA still believe the department could be doing more to support veterans鈥� mental health.

Burditt once worked for the VA in the hospice unit and now is senior manager at (TAPS), which helps family members of veterans who have died by suicide.

Burditt said that within the VA, it sometimes does feel like, 鈥�the left hand may not be in touch with the right hand,鈥� and veterans need easier accessibility to available resources.

The DOD report showed an average of 17 veterans die every day by suicide, and the suicide rate among active duty service members from 2015 to 2020. In 2020 alone, 580 members of the military died by suicide.听

Rafael Reyes, assistant campaign manager of the partnered with the VA on the project. He said the campaign came about 鈥�to try to eliminate the stigma of reaching out for help.鈥�

The campaign depicts real veterans at their most vulnerable deciding to seek outside assistance. All of the Public Service Announcements direct viewers to a portal on the, where they can select which issues they face and receive individualized guidance to available resources.

Burditt said that within the VA, it sometimes does feel like, 鈥�the left hand may not be in touch with the right hand,鈥� and veterans need easier accessibility to available resources.听

The suicide rate among veterans in 2019 was than among non-veterans according to a VA annual report. Reyes said the military culture hardens soldiers, creating a belief there is 鈥渨eakness鈥� in accessing mental health resources.听

He said the campaign will help to 鈥�bridge the gap between the veterans who need resources, and create a place where they could come together and find everything in one place.鈥�

COVID-19 and the war in Afghanistan have heavily affected veterans, said Diane McCall, who works as the Development Director at, an organization dedicated to providing resources to veterans and their families.

鈥淚t’s gone on so long, that they just feel more and more hopeless,鈥� she said, and they struggle to seek the resources available to them.听

McCall said the VA suicide prevention campaign could be extremely helpful but doubts it will reach its intended audience. She had not heard of the campaign until 最新蜜桃影像 contacted her, even though it was released weeks earlier.

Burditt had also not heard of the VA campaign until 最新蜜桃影像 contacted her. She said her husband, a veteran, has had good experiences with the VA but acknowledged that sometimes resources are hard to access 鈥渂ecause of its complexity.鈥�

Many of the veterans who speak with McCall no longer trust the VA, she said, because of continued negative experiences and miscommunications. Many of these veterans would likely never see the ad campaign and therefore not receive the services it offered.

鈥淲e hear veterans reach out to us and say, 鈥楳y VA is great,鈥� and then we have other ones reach out and tell us that they don’t think their VA is worth anything,鈥� McCall said. 鈥淪o it would be nice to see some continuity between them, where they were all getting that amazing support that they needed.鈥�

While the VA works to provide more mental health resources, McCall said she wants veterans to know that outside services, like those available through Mission22, existed.

Burditt said the VA needs to work on their PR campaign to regain the trust of some veterans. She said that this ad campaign is one way that they are attempting to become more accessible.听

Reyes said that the campaign was designed to reach out to those who need it most, like young veterans and women. The DOD report inspired the campaign鈥檚 focus on young veterans after it reported who died by suicide in 2020 were between the ages of 20 and 24.

The VA also recognizes the importance of being accessible to veterans who re-enter civilian life but did not see combat or were not injured.

鈥淸They] feel like they’re taking up space, and they’re not as deserving of help and services as other veterans,鈥� Reyes said.

The VA will assess the initial success of the campaign as early as the end of this year, Reyes said. The ad campaign is projected to run for about a year, and Reyes hopes it will reach as many of the 23 million veterans in the U.S. as possible.听

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The announcement comes after the reopening of Franklin Park because of their restrictions toward unhoused people in the park. Franklin Park had previously been home to many unhoused people before the renovations last year.听

The recent upgrade to this 5-acre space in the heart of the downtown neighbourhood听. It is a 10-minute walk from听听metro stations, Metro Center, and has seating space, a children’s playground and will have a restaurant for residents and workers to enjoy.

Aaron Hao, a local advocate, said the restrictions against camping 鈥渁re really separating the homeless people and homeless services鈥� from the park. The park is also enforcing a rule that any gathering of over 25 people must apply for a permit, which limits local organizations in their ability to set up donation events.听

Amazon will sponsor Franklin Park鈥檚 Greenery and Beautification projects for the first year of operations. The company鈥檚 responsibilities include tree maintenance, lawn and turf care, seasonal plantings, and community programming.听

Despite repeated requests from 最新蜜桃影像, the DowntownDC Foundation, the Franklin Park manager, and Amazon failed to provide a specific figure of what this sponsorship cost Amazon or any terms that were agreed to.

In the announcement, Rachel Rose Hartman, executive director of DowntownDC Foundation, said, 鈥�it鈥檚 the success of public-private partnerships such as this anchor support from Amazon that will ensure Franklin Park’s future for all to enjoy.鈥�

Privatizing public spaces comes with . Many parks benefit from funds that otherwise the city would not be able to drum up on its own, and the parks are often better maintained and more frequently visited as a result. However, inviting private interests into public spaces can also mean they have their own expectations when it comes to recognition and accountability.听

Amazon has been criticized for the for long hours, warehouse employee injuries and insufficient pay.

鈥淎mazon is bad. I don鈥檛 think we need any of Amazon鈥檚 money in our public spaces,鈥� Hao said in an interview. They have also been vocal about this issue on Twitter, expressing outrage at the announcement.

DowntownDC BID Announces Amazon Sponsorship for Franklin Park

Privatized parks. Anti-homelessness. Aggressive security. Permits. No mutual aid. Sanitized consumption spaces.

This is the future they want. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are poison.

鈥� Aaron the Anthropologist (@Anarchopology)

Some visitors are supportive of the project since it brings in investment to public spaces.

Anna Solidair, an Amazon user and Franklin park visitor, said, 鈥淚鈥檓 pro businesses coming and helping the community, especially underserved communities like there are here in D.C., Black, people of color鈥� I think everybody should.鈥澨�

最新蜜桃影像 Amazon, she said, 鈥淚 know there鈥檚 good and bad like anything. But I mean, that鈥檚 a good thing that they鈥檝e invested in the park.鈥�

The supports the DowntownDC BID by connecting private interests with philanthropic missions in the downtown area. Amazon has been expanding its connection in the DMV since the to build its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Jeff Bezos, the executive chairman of Amazon, also 最新蜜桃影像ington Post, 听located directly across the street from Franklin Park. The Franklin Park sponsorship is the most recent investment that Amazon is making to strengthen their involvement in the DMV community.听

In the announcement, Brian Kenner, director of public policy at Amazon, said, 鈥�We鈥檙e growing roots here in the DC region and in partnership with the DowntownDC Foundation, we鈥檙e excited to support the improvement of Franklin Park for all the members of our community.鈥�

Kenner in the mayor鈥檚 Planning and Economic Development office. The decision to build a second headquarters in Arlington , and Kenner was brought into Amazon in mid 2019.听

Hao, who has been a critic of BIDs in D.C., said it is unusual that a large company like Amazon is sponsoring a project like this; it is 鈥渘ormally local companies within the BID boundary鈥� that are involved in deals like this.听

Park visitor Karen Mankin said she would have assumed investors in public parks would be local businesses, but it doesn鈥檛 change her mind about Franklin Park.

鈥淚t鈥檚 still to the benefit of the community, so I guess if they鈥檙e going to sponsor something, why not a park?鈥� Mankin said.听

Private investment in public parks has been successful in other cities. Atlanta鈥檚 Piedmont Park with private investment. Before the investment, the park was serving only local residents. Since investment, visitation has gone up every year. In 2019, 4.3 million people from all over Georgia visited the park.听

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The rental market in downtown D.C. has fully rebounded, according to a new . Real estate experts cite the return to work, influx of new administration officials, and the reopening of the rest of the economy as major drivers of this recent rebound.听

鈥淧eople are very excited to be back in D.C.,鈥� said Abigail Paulsen, realtor for Coldwell Banker Realty.

Downtown D.C. experienced a 鈥済reat exodus鈥� at the beginning of the pandemic, Marie Claire Ntam, a luxury real estate agent from Keller Williams told 最新蜜桃影像. Through most of 2020, the rental . People left the city because they were unwilling to pay high rates when workplaces and entertainment attractions were closed.

This affected rental rates significantly. 鈥淵ou can tell a lot about what鈥檚 trending in the market when you look at luxury apartment buildings鈥� We started to see really unprecedented incentives being offered,鈥� Jenna Sinise, an agent at Gordon James Realty, said.听

Rents dropped, vacancy rates rose and incentives, like three months of free rent and discounted move-in costs, were common.听

鈥淎ll of that鈥檚 gone away. You won鈥檛 find a deal like that now,鈥� Sinise said.听

The vacancy rate is now lower than before the pandemic, at 3.7 percent. It had hit a high of 11 percent in Q4 of 2020.听

Prices have also rebounded. They dropped in downtown D.C., more than anywhere else in the city at the worst point.听

Paulsen, a real estate agent for Coldwell Bank Realty, said the return to in-person schooling is a primary reason people have returned. She said many families had moved to states where their children had more in-person opportunities, and now that D.C. Mayor Murial Bower has , they have come back.听

The pandemic motivated families like the Bealieus to do exactly that. Early in the pandemic Kate Bealieu, her husband and their two children sold their house in the DMV and moved to New Orleans to be closer to family and send their kids to school. They came back to D.C. a year later, when their children were able to go to school in-person and the district started reopening. Now, her children go to soccer games and community festivals with other D.C. kids and are excited to be back in school.听

Ntam said that the influx of new administration officials is another especially pertinent contributing factor in D.C. New employees of the state department, embassies, and other federal agencies like FEMA have been coming into the city as a result of the 2020 election.

The cost of moving downtown is higher than many areas around the city and discourages some from renting in the area. Still,听 the federal government handles relocation costs for federal workers, so 鈥渢he convenience of being downtown is more valuable and they can focus on that,鈥� Ntam said.听

Though the pandemic has brought with it financial challenges, all three realtors said they had not seen a significant change in clients鈥� budgets, and people are still willing to pay high prices to be downtown.听

The in downtown D.C. is $2,979, whereas in the rest of the District, the average rent is $2,160.

While the rental market took a dip during the pandemic, the housing market stayed strong, Ntam said. Many homeowners wanted to take advantage of the seller鈥檚 market.

Once people sold their homes, she said it was difficult for them to secure another property which drove them to rent until the market stabilized. Those intending to build new properties were also forced to rent while waiting for materials, many of which are due to supply chain difficulties resulting from the pandemic.

The places people are looking for have changed since last year, Paulsen said. People want to be able to 鈥渓ive, work, and play鈥� in the areas they move to. This makes downtown a very popular destination because of the proximity to entertainment attractions and access to public transportation.听

Paulsen also touched on the unique draw of downtown D.C., saying that 鈥淒.C. is very much a city that is different from any other major city because it has what people look at as power, which is politics.鈥�

As businesses start to plan out their return to office plans, employees are preparing to need to be closer to the city again.

鈥淭hat seems like that is a driving factor,鈥� Paulsen said.听

The rental market is the only sector of the economy downtown that dipped and completely recovered from the pandemic impact. Office vacancies, restaurants and bars, and hotels are still underperforming in terms of revenue, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

As vaccines became widely available and restaurants and bars did see an increase in revenue. They are now operating atcapacity compared to pre-pandemic levels.听

As residents come back, they won鈥檛 benefit from the rental incentives from just a few months ago, but they will have a reemerging social scene to return to.听

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Jack Shanley, 23, was on his way to the airport and was unaware of the new scooter restrictions. When he tried to end his ride he had to find a bike rack, and he had trouble with the lock. The app required him to take a picture, which took even more time.听

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely annoyed at the moment鈥� I was going to do a bike, but I just wanted to drop it wherever and now I can鈥檛 do that,鈥� Shanley said.

Shanley, a soon-to-be D.C. resident, said because of how much time it took him with the lock, he is 鈥渘ever going to use this again.鈥�

The restriction went into effect on . The D.C. City Council approved the legislation last October and set the deadline a year later to allow companies time to design and install locks on the vehicles.听听

Major scooter operators like Lime, Spin and Bird now a photo of their parked scooter to end the ride. Users who violate the new rules by not uploading a photo, or uploading an image of a scooter parked inappropriately, will be warned. The companies may suspend repeat offenders from the service.听

Scooters downtown are used heavily by tourists and city workers. Robert Gardner, Director of Government Relations at Lime, voiced concern that this regulation will decrease their ridership.

When D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh proposed the legislation in 2019, Gardner said Lime 鈥渃ertainly didn鈥檛 agree with it,鈥� but they will comply now that it is in effect. In cities where these rules have been rolled out already, such as Chicago and San Francisco, he said Lime saw a 鈥減retty marked decline鈥� in users.听

Most riders use the scooters to go door-to-door. Needing to find a bike rack or other infrastructure changes makes it less convenient. Convenience is the highest priority for scooter users, according to Gardner.听

Cheh states on her that she encourages the use of green vehicles but pioneered this restriction on e-scooters. Cheh told 最新蜜桃影像 that when the scooters were rolled out in D.C., there wasn鈥檛 an appropriate 鈥渟cooter culture,鈥� and this regulation would help people who have been frustrated by scooters on the sidewalk.听

听鈥淚鈥檝e already gotten emails from people saying thank you, thank you, thank you,鈥� the councilmember said.听

Edward Segal, creator of the organization DangerousDCScooters and collaborator with Take Back Our Sidewalks, supports this action by the D.C. City Council but wants to see proof that scooter operators are being held accountable for creating 鈥減ublic health hazard[s].鈥澨�

He is advocating for heavy fines and even a complete withdrawal of permits if complaints continue.听

As a part of the Shared Fleet Devices Amendment Act of 2020, the law with this restriction in it, the District Department of Transportation was instructed to install 1,000 new bike racks every year until 2025 to increase accessibility for riders.听听

Gardner supports that plan. He told 最新蜜桃影像 that if the new restrictions were听 going to be in place, the city must double down on investing in infrastructure where dockless mobility is most used.听听

Not all Washingtonians are discouraged by the new law, though. While riding scooters on a sunny Friday afternoon, friends Crystal Rambaum, Christie Barrel and Hallie Smith said they were happy about the new regulations for safety reasons.听

鈥淚 love it!鈥� Smith said about the locks.听

These restrictions came into effect just months after Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a budget that to reduce car transportation.听

听

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Some offices had opened this summer on a voluntary basis with plans to reopen in September fully. Now, businesses have pushed back to , and remain flexible with new plans.

Downtown D.C. is . For Rick Ricci and Francesco Ottomanelli, co-owners of Barbers of St. James, not having those office spaces occupied has meant they are bringing in only 40% of normal business and have moved to a skeleton staff.

鈥淚 wish the people come back鈥� it鈥檚 not the same like before,鈥� Ottomanelli said.

Though business is down and stagnant, Ricci says the threat of closing his barbershop is minimal. He says in the downtown area it鈥檚 most important to be able to negotiate rent in accordance with profits. Ricci has been able to negotiate rent with his landlord, Douglas Developments, and he said that is a primary reason he鈥檚 been able and continues to be open.

鈥淭he landlord has got to play ball,鈥� Ricci said.

The restaurant industry has also been handicapped by the delay in return. Capitol City Brewing Company manager Dave Rowles said they are averaging about one-third of 2019 sales every day.

Regarding the mask mandate, he said, 鈥淚t killed our lunches all over again.鈥�

Sherry Whitworth, Managing Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy for Fiscal Note, believes the mask mandate, instated by Mayor Bowser drove those coming back to the office back out the door.听 鈥淭he majority of people decided they didn鈥檛 want to sit at the desk with their mask on,鈥� Whitworth told 最新蜜桃影像.

Whitworth is a D.C. worker with her office in the heart of downtown. She said she is only coming to the office three or four times a month because she lives an hour away and doesn鈥檛 want to commute every day. Whitworth also said reopening plans for Fiscal Note will likely integrate working from home as an option for most employees, making the hope of a full recovery for local businesses unlikely.

Workers not being in the offices has changed other aspects of business as well, like hours of operation. Rainbow Cleaners owner Sung Lee said the workers who would drop their clothes off early before work or late after work aren鈥檛 coming at those times anymore. She has changed her hours to focus on the afternoons, when people are now coming in.

Rowles and Lee indicated that they too will be able to stay open but are anxiously waiting for workers to come back.

鈥淓verybody [in the] office is good for my business,鈥� Lee said with a smile on her face. She has also had to negotiate her rent with her landlord to stay open.

Rowles counts on office workers being back for lunches, and on guests at the Marriott and the Grand Hyatt, which are right across the street, and visitors at Capital One Arena.

As we move into fall, he鈥檚 hoping that the capacities for hotels and the arena will increase and help with business.

鈥淭hings are trending up, but maybe not as quickly as we鈥檇 like.鈥�

Things certainly aren鈥檛 as dire as they were in 2020, but businesses still are waiting for mask mandates and capacity limits to lift to bring back their core customer base. They may be waiting a few months longer.

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