November 24, 2025 Newsletter

Katie Murphy

Katie Murphy

— 3 min read

Hello neighbors,

I hope you’re all heading into a peaceful Thanksgiving with loved ones. However you spend the day, I hope you have good food, good friends, and good rest.

I also want to acknowledge that the Friday after Thanksgiving is Native American Heritage Day, an important reminder to honor the Indigenous communities whose histories and cultures have shaped our country and our local area. I hope you'll sign up for the River Terrace History Tour webinar to learn more about them as well as more of our recent residents.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Katie

Thanksgiving Giveaways:

Thanksgiving Metro Service

 On Thanksgiving, Metrorail will operate from 6 a.m. to midnight on a special reduced holiday service schedule at all stations. Metrobus will operate on a Sunday schedule. All MetroAccess subscription trips will be canceled, but customers may still make a separate reservation to travel on the holiday.

Service information for Thursday, Nov. 27:  

  • Red Line: Trains every 10 minutes
  • Blue Line: Trains every 15 minutes
  • Silver Line: Trains every 15 minutes between Ashburn – Stadium Armory, and every 30 minutes east of Stadium Armory on both branches
  • Orange Line: Trains every 15 minutes
  • Yellow Line: Trains every 8 minutes
  • Green Line: Trains every 8 minutes
  • Buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. 

Leaf Collection

Leaf collection begins the week of December 1. Please make sure your leaves are raked to the tree box area - the grassy space between the street and the sidewalk - and if they are bagged, they must be put in PAPER bags. Leaves in plastic will not be collected.

295 Ramp Construction

As I mentioned in previous newsletters, the ramp from Benning Road to 295 will be closed overnight from 7 PM to 7 AM starting today, November 24. Please be alert and safe and follow signage and detour information.

DC Council Public Safety Hearing

On Thursday, Dec. 4, the Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will hold a hearing on four bills and also the broader topic of "Public Safety in DC." For neighbors who want a place to publicly testify about a wide range of issues, including concerns around MPD's cooperation with ICE and other federal agencies, this is a space to share those views with the Council and hear responses from MPD.  There have been two shootings of DC residents by federal officers in the last month. These officers are not accountable to any local oversight body and don't follow the same laws in place for MPD. I encourage you to sign up to testify and share your experiences.

Food Policy Council Survey

The Food Policy Council is seeking Ward 7 and 8 kitchen spaces that are interested in sharing their space with food entrepreneurs. Please complete this survey if you operate a kitchen (restaurant, cafe, catering) or if you are part of an organization with a kitchen (churches, community centers, or nonprofits) that would be interested in opening their existing kitchen space to small food businesses. 

Webinar: A Walk through River Terrace: Home, Community and Activism in a Northeast DC Waterside Neighborhood

December 11, 7-8:30pm

River Terrace is a small, cul-de-sac community of about 2000 residents located on the bank of the Anacostia River in northeast Washington, DC. First appearing on Captain John Smith’s 1612 map of the Chesapeake Bay, evidence of early Nacotchtank (Anacostan) American Indian settlement indicates that this part of the Anacostia River was a hive of trade and activity for thousands of years. Once predominantly rural, modern day River Terrace was laid out in 1937 as a whites-only community featuring a school, grocery store and church, with ‘Rustic English Village’ inspired brick row houses designed by renowned architect George T. Santmyers. River Terrace was one of the first neighborhoods in DC to desegregate in 1948 when restrictive covenants in house deeds were declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, and since then has been home to many of the city’s Black luminaries, including environmental activist and author George Gurley, Tuskegee Airman Major L. Anderson II, and the first African American woman to serve on the Board of Governors of the Biological Photographic Association Luvenia C. Miller RBP. The River Terrace Community Organization, founded in 1950, is the longest running continually active community organization in the country. Join us for a virtual walk through River Terrace where we’ll introduce you to the people and places that make our community unique.

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