Chef and entrepreneur, Gene Nguyen, recently opened Ambrosia Vietnamese Restaurant in the space former occupied by Tony Cheng’s Seafood Restaurant, which closed in late 2025 after nearly 40 years.

Ambrosia is located at 619 H Street NW.�� It sits in front of a new 75-million-dollar Marriott hotel project, as well as near construction at the Capital One Arena on Sixth Street.

Nguyen emigrated from Vietnam to California, and then to D.C. in 1988. Since then, he has watched the vibrant Chinatown community not “catering that pride anymore.”

“When you get here, you see the gate. After that gate, what is shown that is Chinese?” said Nguyen.

Chinatown is now considered “China Corner” because of the number of Asian small businesses closing.

Nguyen said he has opened restaurants across the DMV since 1993, including “Present Restaurant” in Falls Church, has cooked for large events at MGM Casinos, has catered to famous artists such as Snoop Dogg, and has even been featured on national television with Fox News and on local networks WJLA and WUSA.

Nguyen said he has seen the drop in Chinese population in Chinatown as well.

“They all moved away because the property is bought off. So, they moved to Rockville, Bethesda; they have their own community out there,” he said.

Erica Fitzgerald, who works in Chinatown off of Massachusetts Avenue and has lived in the D.C. area for the last 10 years, has seen a lot of change in the community specifically post Covid.

“It’s a shame to lose out on culture. A lot of places have shut down; new places have come up. It’s sad to see some of those businesses go.”

With the culture of Chinatown decreasing and the identity closing into just one corner now, businesses like Ambrosia are finding ways to bring back what Chinatown once was through Nguyen’s eyes.

Nguyen said he has a goal to rebuild Asian culture in Chinatown with three organizations to bring life back to Chinatown.

Ambrosia is working with the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), Lions Path D.C. Revitalization Initiative, as well as Save Chinatown DC.

The restaurant is fighting to back the long-term trends in the community by remaining open late in the night to bring back late night vibrant energy.

Nguyen said a lot of work will need to be done to accomplish that goal, but it starts with safety in the area.

“It takes a lot of effort. Number one is the safety, a little bit more police presence, so when its safe, people can come down, and it’s important that tourists come down here,” said Nguyen.

Cassie He, an organizer with Chinatown Solidarity Network, has been with a new organization, Save Chinatown, for two and a half years since its start up in February 2024.

The organization’s goal in the community is to uplift the voices, needs, and concerns of the residents and long-term working class in D.C. Chinatown.

Save Chinatown works with two affordable buildings in Chinatown, Museum Square and Wildlock House, to advocate for the needs of tenants, and long-term legacy small business in Chinatown to help them fight for the needs in their community.

He said the cultural aspect of a city is what ultimately makes the city. “It’s the food scene, canoeing music, and displacement as a result of intentional decisions by government and policy makers.”

He only hopes that the culture in Chinatown and D.C. will come back to what it once was. “I’m hopeful that there’s new energy in D.C., and I encourage folks to get involved in their communities.”

Save Chinatown engages in big campaigns, host events for holidays, and attract numerous volunteers to come together and bring change and life to Chinatown.

“We want to be a part of this new revitalization of Chinatown,” said Nguyen.

The post New Restaurant Aims to Bring Life Back to D.C.’s Chinatown first appeared on 91����.

“I have wanted to do this for years. And I look around very often, and I want to be able to shop and have things in our neighborhood for us,” said Lucas, the founder of The K Collective and an Art All Night Anacostia vendor. Lucas said Anacostia residents lack access to attractive, affordable fashion, thus inspiring her to launch her business in February.��

Art All Night Anacostia, under the umbrella of the D.C.-wide Art All Night initiative, celebrates its status as the official Arts and Culture District of Washington, D.C. and works toward supporting local businesses, bolstering its artists, and advocating for its community’s wellness.��

Founded in 2011, the citywide as an initiative to amplify local talent, stimulate restaurants and local businesses, and showcase D.C.’s creativity and culture. Art All Night Anacostia, however, took place for the first time in 2020 with a drive-thru art gallery.��

“Throughout the day and all the shops, our goal is not just the event, but to make sure that the businesses are full, that the community, its vibrancy, is out there,” said Kristina Noell, executive director of the Anacostia Business Improvement District (BID).��

Noell said that the community expressed “mixed feelings” when the Art All Night Anacostia festival was first announced in 2019. Though they were excited to host a cultural event by and for their neighborhood, many were concerned about the safety of the event in the later hours of the evening, for Anacostia residents and visitors alike.

Though initially cautious, the community has since grown to appreciate Art All Night Anacostia, even stepping in to offer suggestions for future events to the Anacostia BID. The festival has become an event that Anacostia residents, artists, and business owners look forward to.��

The 2026 edition of , held from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Sept. 11, took place along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and Marion Barry Avenue SE. This year’s theme, “Good Trouble. Louder!” draws inspiration from the legacy of Rep. John Lewis.��

This year’s event featured a quilt exhibition, live visual art creation, musical performances, fashion shows, open mic sessions, and local business pop-ups held along the business corridor of the historic Anacostia neighborhood. Anacostia BID hosted the festival in partnership with community arts organizer Art to Go-Go, and D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) as the Department of Small and Local Business Development of the District of Columbia (DSLBD) funded the evening of activities.

“Community is what makes us, guides us, holds us, nurtures us, molds us, grooms us, and feeds us, and there’s no better place than to be right here in the heart of D.C., in historic Anacostia,” said Michael Collins, who serves as board chair and interim president of the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation after 21 years as Lewis’ chief of staff.��

For artists, Art All Night Anacostia provides an opportunity to share their art with a broader community while emphasizing the need for deepened support of artists in the area.

“My hope for the future is that we can continue to create and receive the support we need financially keep on doing what we want to do and what we’ve been called to do. But also to live,” said Vanessa Villarreal, an artist commissioned by the Anacostia BID for a quilt-making activation in the exhibition for Congressman Lewis. Villarreal said that artists need to be provided with more financial sustainability in D.C.

Though Art All Night Anacostia took place for one night only, the community already looks forward to the future of the event. Kristin Askew, an Art All Night attendee for each of its 15 years, prefers Art All Night Anacostia to festivals in the other seven wards of D.C. and anticipates the events’ expansion.��

“I wish Art All Night could last for the entire month of September,” Askew said. “I’m happy that Anacostia has changed because in the past, it was on a much smaller scale,” she continued. Askew hopes that the festival extends further down historic Anacostia’s major streets, engaging more businesses and commissioning more artists.��

To Noell, though, the intimate, community-based atmosphere is worth preserving. Though a high-profile celebrity sighting would be popular, she said she is most moved by intentional engagements with the neighborhood.��

“I look at Art All Night as an opportunity to leverage the community that I serve…You can see that this community’s not so scary,” said Noell. “I think a lot of people sit back, and I get it because you got to be safe. But here, people really love people.”��

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The D.C. Council enacted on July 6 to combat the increasing amount of youth violence. The act allows the mayor or chief of police to add curfew zones if deemed necessary. This applies to youths under 18 years old in groups of nine, in public areas, and any establishments within the zones. ��

Navy Yard had additional zones implemented on specific weekends this summer, including June 12-14 and Labor Day weekend. The curfew would start at eight p.m. on Friday and run through eleven p.m. on Saturday.

Despite the act being active in Navy Yard for two-months, residents are unsure about how effective the law has been.����

Haley Climman understood why the council implemented curfews, but she said there was a better solution to keep the community active without punishing youths for going out and being social. ��

“I think shenanigans can happen at any hour, so a curfew doesn’t really change things,” Climman said.����

Lily Miller, the director of the Youth Justice Division at the George Washington Law School’s Access to Justice Clinic, said that teenagers testified to the Council when the emergency amendments were implemented, asking for recreational centers and boxing gyms where they could socialize with friends. ��

��“Congregating as a group shouldn’t be a basis for criminalization,” Miller said.��

Teens do not have enough safe spaces to socialize with friends, and school won’t have any effect on whether the laws are effective, according to Miller. These laws were put in place due to property values, rather than focusing on the safe spaces youths need, she said.��

“I feel like it is putting a Band-Aid on a more systemic issue,” Navy Yard resident Jamie Robinson said.��

Robinson agreed with Miller, saying the real issue at hand was the lack of spaces for youths. He said the community should focus on creating more spaces where youths can socialize, adding that curfews only create a short– term solution to a long– term problem.����

��The research shows zones may move youths from one zone to another, but there is no indication curfew laws reduce crime, according to Michael Umpierre, the director of the Center for Youth Justice at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.������

Additionally, curfew laws deepen the distrust between law enforcement and community members, Umpierre said. When the community deems a new policy as unnecessary, and allocates resources from other immediate issues, tension grows, he said.��

He said that the Council should focus on strengthening policing community relations, instilling positive social after school activities, and improving community safety.��

Another important goal should be reconnecting students with school, said Deborah Shore, the founder of the Sasha Bruce organization. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools, opting for online school during the pandemic, she said she has witnessed students struggling to re-engage. Not only with learning, but with each other.����

The combination of the lack of places for youths to socialize, the struggle with interacting at school, and curfew laws lessens community engagement, according to Shore. By having more programs, students can learn how to apply their own passions to a community.����

Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. and his team declined to comment. ��

��

The post Navy Yard Residents Unsure of How Effective Curfew Zones Are first appeared on 91����.

The Chevy Chase Civic Core Redevelopment Plan is a multi-year effort to modernize an existing library and community center, integrate affordable housing, and provide the community with an open space. Its recent 2026 plan includes the addition of 177 affordable housing units with a range of layouts from studios to three-bedroom apartments.

But this influx of 250 to possibly more than 400 new residents would stress and potentially overcrowd Connecticut Avenue’s only Metrobus, D70. Despite a recent comprehensive overhaul of the bus system, the “spine of the community” faces increased congestion from additional commuters during peak usage hours.

When asked about the redevelopment and whether the expected increase in Chevy Chase’s residential population will result in Metrobus D70 frequency changes, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) said it doesn’t plan to make any changes to its existing service.

“We would not be adjusting service based on any new development,” Randy Clarke, general manager and CEO of WMATA, told 91����.

On June 29, 2025, WMATA implemented its Better Bus Network, marking the first major redesign of the region’s bus system in over 50 years. The initiative modernized public transit across the DMV area, and in Chevy Chase, it guaranteed arrivals with Metrobus D70 every 12 minutes or better during peak periods.

This guarantee has fallen short as recent Transit App data of observed wait times shows the D70, which serves more than 3,500 people on average during the week, reduced its service frequency from less than 20 minutes to less than 30 minutes.

With hundreds more residents expected to move to the area as a result of the new development, Chevy Chase’s main transit line may see similar usage numbers to Metrobus C37. That line serves about 3,700 commuters east of the Anacostia River between Minnesota Avenue Station and Potomac Avenue Station on weekdays but runs 10 to 15 minutes more frequently.

Some Chevy Chase residents recognize the need for better planning around infrastructure, charging that development takes priority and other factors, like transit, are afterthoughts.

“The various agencies that should be brought together to seriously address impacts of development don’t ever study the problem,” said Andrea Rosen, a longtime resident of Chevy Chase. “The greatest good is development, and everybody else is expected to fall in line.”

In January, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser officially selected a development proposal from Rift Valley Chevy Chase, LLC, for the Chevy Chase project, prompting the initial discussion of designs in preparation of groundbreaking in 2028, as well as support and opposition.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3/4G, which represents Chevy Chase, conducted a in June 2025, finding that 45% of residents support the addition of housing at the Civic Core while 49% are opposed. Neighborhood representatives highlight the split reactions to the housing inclusion and agree that more information is essential for the community to feel comfortable.

“Just like there was a range in survey results, there will be a range in reactions to the development,” said Laura Phinizy, chair of the ANC 3/4G-04. “At the root, everyone wants Chevy Chase to be the best it can be. Getting down to the root is how we get there.”

The new development is expected to bring in lower-income residents who differ from the historically affluent Chevy Chase, an addition that some housing advocacy organizations support.

“The concern about radical change in the neighborhood is misplaced,” said Ronald Eichner, vice president of Chevy Chase Forward, a social equity and housing advocacy organization in D.C. “It’s important to understand that this effort is using underused public assets [air rights at the civic core] for a public good.”

Francis Griffith Newlands founded Chevy Chase in 1890 as a distinct “streetcar suburb” that maintained its prestige through exclusionary zoning. Today, housing advocates say this affluent community must brace for the changing dynamic in an otherwise spaced-out neighborhood.

“Ward 3 has been exclusionary for centuries due to redlining, racial covenants, and deliberately carving out the land to make it more expensive by zoning it for detached single-family homes,” said Dennis Jing, an organizer at DC YIMBY, a D.C. housing advocacy organization.

“The support [for the plan] is not just housing, but it’s about rectifying historical wrongs,” said Jing.

The post As Chevy Chase’s Civic Core grows, can its Metrobus line keep up? first appeared on 91����.

The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) the two additional temporary road closures on major streets, including a shutdown at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street. The second round of closures, which were originally set to begin Sept. 14, will now occur between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. from Oct. 5 through Oct. 15.

“You’re causing more traffic,” said Elodie Tagro, a bartender at Ivela Lounge who commutes from Takoma Park. “I came the other day to get my check, and I literally had to park somewhere else and walk over here.”

The first closure for this month limited access to a section of Georgia Avenue between Wayne and Thayer avenues from Aug. 26 through Sept. 9, leaving workers and local consumers struggling to navigate the already modified roadways. The closures begin in the middle of scheduled hours, making transport out of the area at closing times a challenge, several workers said.

“You have a whole bunch of other people that want their customers to have access to them, but you guys cut it off,” said Tagro regarding the construction closures.

The temporary road closures have added to a long list of other ways the construction has slowed business in the past few years, with businesses either becoming accustomed to the changes or being forced to close their doors. More recently, the issue has moved to parking, with the main road closures eliminating streetside access and rideshares.

Lidiya Lemma, a waitress at Langano Ethiopian Bar & Restaurant, said that while business has been slow for quite some time, remaining customers continue to mention how “aggravating” accessing the restaurant has become.

Lemma said customers often cannot find a spot near the business and do not want to pay for parking “because they just want to grab their food.”

The Purple Line, a construction project managed by MDOT MTA in partnership with the Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP), has been in development since 2017. The 16-mile light rail line will run through Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, connecting commuters to multiple Metrorail, MARC commuter rail and Amtrak stations in key urban hubs.

However, the construction has had significant economic impacts across the region known as the Purple Line Corridor. Bonifant Street, which sits between Wayne and Thayer avenues, in downtown Silver Spring, is documented as one of the most affected areas.

Both Montgomery County and the state of Maryland have sought solutions, with the most recent being the . Managed by MDOT MTA, the grant offers awards of up to $50,000 to qualifying small businesses located within a quarter-mile of the Purple Line light rail tracks. The program is offered in three rounds each year until 2028 and has awarded $2.6 million in grants since 2025.

However, certain businesses are deemed ineligible, including tobacco and alcohol-based businesses, according to the limitations listed by MDOT MTA on the grant application .

Many locals and business regulars have noticed the continued changes to the roads and have still done their best to remain active in the community. Christian Olinger, a Wayne Avenue resident, said the frustration comes from the seemingly random changes to traffic and access.

“It’s just constant road changes. A road could be perfectly fine one day, and then they decide to switch up lanes that are drivable because they need to work on a different lane,” said Olinger.

Currently, the Purple Line is scheduled to open for service to commuters in winter 2027. Many are anticipating the project’s completion, with Montgomery County planners expecting significant , steering housing and other development to the future Purple Line hubs.

“I just want to get home safe. I don’t care about nothing else,” said Tagro.

The post Road closures bring commuting challenges for Silver Spring’s late-night businesses first appeared on 91����.

“This was the backdrop of a lot of people’s fondest memories, this place, and you don’t realize it until it’s gone, but this is one of the biggest trees here,” Logan Mason, a Northern Virginia resident and local realtor, said.

Mason was walking through the park a couple days after the storm when he noticed the fallen tree. At the time, it had just one note attached. 

Since then, residents, including Mason, have filled the tree with messages.

One note said, “Thank you for reminding us that people can come together to appreciate beautiful things in life.” Another letter reads, “Goodbye and goodnight, sweet tree. You will be missed.” 

And this tree isn’t the only one Washington residents lost. 

More than 300 trees fell in the Sept. 3 storm, Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a the next day. 

According to , the district boasts 2 million trees, and 89% of those are in “excellent” or “good” condition. Casey Trees is a nonprofit organization that plants, restores and protects the district’s tree canopy.

D.C.’s goal is to reach 40% canopy in Washington by 2032, Casey Trees said on its website. It is at 37% now, according to the most recent data from 2020.

Vince Drader, the director of communications for Casey Trees, said harsh weather like the Sept. 3 storm can set the organization back.

“Casey Trees plants upwards of 7,000 trees per year. When we lose a large, mature tree, as we lost many large, mature trees in the storm, you can imagine how long it takes for us to get that canopy back because a large, mature tree has been growing there for 50 to 100 years or more,” Drader said. 

Although tree loss cannot be avoided in large storms, Drader said, care and maintenance can give trees a better chance. 

“Making sure that you’re pruning it, having it inspected and looked at,” Drader said. “Pruning it to make sure that there’s no large hazard limbs, that it’s growing in a proper shape and form that will allow it to weather a storm like the one we just had.”

For Mason, the canopy is what sets Washington apart from other cities.

“That’s one thing that keeps D.C. looking beautiful is the fact that we do keep the lush greenery,” Mason said.

Yvonne Thelwell, who is from the city, feels similarly. 

She said the trees in Dupont Circle Park are the “anchors of Dupont.” And if the fallen tree could talk, think of how much it would say, she added.

Thelwell, a civil engineer for the district, said the neighborhood historically has had much meaning to many people. ”A lot has happened in this Dupont Circle,” she said, such as during the ‘60s and with gay pride events.

She said she is curious to see what happens with the stump, but she hopes something is done with it, like a carving, or to see it left as a memorial.

As for the future of the tree, Jeffrey Rueckgauer, a Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commissioner, said the ANC will see what the arborists say about the stump.

The National Park Service told Axios Monday morning that the stump will be removed, and a new tree planted. The National Park Service’s National Capital Region did not respond for comment. 

The memorial remained as of Monday evening. 

In the meantime, Drader said residents are mourning the loss of the tree because it provides them benefits year-round, like curbing noise pollution and providing cleaner air.

And Mason has one message for those grieving downed trees around the city.

“If you ever get the chance, leave a note on the fallen tree,” he said.

The post Tree memorial beckons D.C. to value its tree canopy first appeared on 91����.

WASHINGTON — Behind the counter of Georgetown’s Compass Coffee,  Spencer Young takes orders, makes drinks and works the kind of full-time schedule many college graduates hope will lead to independence.

Forty-hour weeks making coffees, teas and other drinks earn him $840 a week before taxes. In 2024, Young graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in theater. His rent is $2,200 a month, and he still owes about $55,000 in student debt. After rent, food, bills and loan payments, he said, there is little left.

“After rent, living expenses and debt, I don’t really have anything left,” Young said.

Young, 23, is part of a generation expected to have great financial influence. A 2025 analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international consulting and accounting firm commonly known as PwC, said Gen Z’s spending power is expected to reach $12 trillion by 2030, even as young consumers adjust to inflation, rising interest rates, student loan payments and a difficult job market.

PwC found that Gen Z cut overall spending by 13 percent between January and April 2025 and planned to reduce holiday spending by 23 percent, but still expected to spend an average of $1,357 during the season.

The report also found that Gen Z is patiently frugal. More than 79 percent wait for products to go on sale, while 64 percent have tried buy now, pay later at least once. PwC described the generation as “cautious with money, yet quick to spend when the purchase carries emotional weight.”

Young started college in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted universities across the country. He studied theater at George Washington and graduated four years later.

“I started college in 2020, so COVID was my first year,” Young said. “It was a terrible year to start.”

Now, he wants to move to New York and keeps applying for jobs there. He said he is not especially worried about the future, even though his present finances are tight.

“I’m not really worried about the future,” Young said. “I think it’s just a matter of trying and trying again and surviving in the meantime.”

For Sara Jones, a sophomore at American University, money is not a serious concern yet.

Jones’s regular expenses are limited to what she chooses to buy for herself while she studies political science with a minor in communications and works a few days a week at the front desks of AU residence halls.

She makes $18 an hour and tries to keep her weekly spending under $50, mostly on coffee, occasional treats, beauty products and, rarely, clothes.

Her father covers the rest of her major costs, including college, housing, food and her planned law school tuition.

That support gives her space to focus on academics and career preparation, ahead of full financial independence.

She said she applied to one internship this year because she wanted “a job for the summer in preparation for study abroad” and “some real-world experience relating to my major.” She sees internships as useful, but not everything.

“I think they’re beneficial,” Jones said. “I don’t think they’re necessary, but I think they definitely can help with some career readiness.”

She says early career opportunities, like internships, do not always pay enough to support the students they are supposed to help. The internship she applied for was in her hometown and paid about $13 an hour, which she considered good because it was above the local minimum wage. But she said that kind of pay would not go far in Washington.

“I don’t think the internship alone pays enough at all,” Jones said. “I think like $18 an hour is definitely not enough to like pay for an apartment, especially here where it’s way more expensive than most cities.”

In Lexington, Virginia, McCormick’s money goes further.

He works at the front end of a Walmart, eight hours a day, five days a week. He makes about $15 an hour, better than the $13 he made at Kroger. He is classified as part time, which means he does not receive benefits, even though his hours resemble full-time work.

“It’s easy work,” McCormick said. “I mostly watch self-checkout, run registers, bag groceries and sometimes help with pickup orders.”

McCormick lives with his parents and does not plan to go to college or trade school. His father works at Dominion Energy and earns enough to comfortably support his family. McCormick applied for a job there and was rejected, but he said it did not bother him.

His biggest expense is his truck, a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 Ford F-150 that gets about 17 miles per gallon. He pays around $450 a month for it.

“My truck is my pride and joy,” McCormick said.

His other major expense is fishing. He drives about 30 minutes to fish on weekends and sometimes after work. He mostly catches and releases bass, though he occasionally cooks fish wrapped in foil with lemon, butter and herbs.

“I’m always chasing the biggest bass,” McCormick said.

Tapiwa Sande, a second-year master’s student in finance who has researched consumer confidence and studied banking and finance as an undergraduate in Zimbabwe, said young adults are entering a job market where credentials alone may not be enough.

“For Gen Z, getting a job is no longer just about what you know,” Sande said. “It is also about who can vouch for you.”

Sande said artificial intelligence has made applications easier to polish, making personal connections more important.

“Gen Z is stuck in the classic catch-22,” Sande said. “You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience.”

Sande said Gen Z is also being shaped by new forms of consumer credit and recurring payments. Companies such as Klarna and Affirm have made buy now, pay later programs common in online shopping. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned in a 2022 public inquiry that those products can appear to consumers as a standard payment option even though they are taking on debt.

“Buy now, pay later does not always feel like debt to young people,” Sande said. “It feels like a monthly payment.”

PwC’s analysis also found that more than 40 percent of Gen Z consumers who used buy now, pay later had made a late payment, a risk Sande said builds exponentially through recurring charges and installment plans.

Sande said that can make young consumers look stable month to month while still building up obligations through rent, phone payments, subscriptions, credit cards and installment plans.

“The danger is that young people can look financially stable month to month while still becoming seriously indebted,” Sande said.

But he said Gen Z is not simply reckless. Many young adults are thinking creatively about money because they do not trust one paycheck to provide security.

“Gen Z does not only think about a nine-to-five anymore,” Sande said. “They think about investing, content creation, streaming, side hustles and online businesses.”

Not every Gen Zer is living the same way. Jones is spending carefully while preparing for a professional future. McCormick is working steadily and spending on a truck and hobby he loves. Young is trying to survive expensive city life long enough to reach the next opportunity.

The post For Gen Z, a Paycheck Does Not Mean Stability first appeared on 91����.

By Yuri Perelman

When Thea Kano was younger and growing up, she questioned where in the world she would like to perform music as a conductor. The Kennedy Center always came to mind, she said, because of its perception as the nation’s stage.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had a lengthy development. It opened to the public on the evening of September 8, 1971, according to a New York Times published the following day. Roger L. Stevens, then chairman of the board, wrote to Congress the following day that the center’s “promise and purpose” would be to strengthen the life of the performing arts throughout America and all they can give to all Americans.

Stevens also gave a speech on the center’s opening night explaining that the center was dedicated as a memorial to Kennedy, and the only such one in Washington. Today, the chairman of the board is President Donald Trump himself.

Today, Kano is Artistic Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. She is one of many engaged in performing arts in Washington D.C. that have been inspired by the Kennedy Center from a young age who also disagree that Trump’s actions towards the center have not been appropriate, or faithful to the intentions of those involved in its development.

Artistic organizations face pressure

Trump has had a heavy influence since taking the role of board chairman.

The Kennedy Center, now branded the Trump Kennedy Center, has been targeted by the administration for the quality of its facilities. Consequently, The center will be closing for two years to undergo a complete reconstruction, starting on July 4.

Groups like the National Symphony Orchestra, whose primary performing venue is the Kennedy Center, are going to have to find alternative locations to perform at during this period.

Lola Zulps, an alum of American University’s College of Arts and Sciences and former operations intern with the NSO, finds it unfortunate that the city will lose its largest cultural hub. But she observes that by performing in local venues, a silver lining is that the orchestra will be able to connect with the D.C. community on a deeper level.

“I do think the Kennedy Center closing allows us to reach more people, and for people to be more connected to us and more willing to see us in a show,” Zulps said in an interview.

Zulps also notes that by being able to disassociate itself with the president, the orchestra has a stronger chance of regaining patronage it has lost since Trump began making alterations to the Kennedy Center.

“We’re hoping that when the shutdown happens and we’re on the road and we’re performing at all these other venues, we get our audiences back, because we’re not affiliated with that center anymore,” Zulps said.

Andrew Taylor, the director of the Arts Management program at American University, says that the closure of the center will bring substantial challenges to the orchestra. Finding a suitable venue, with the proper acoustics for the large orchestra, will be difficult.

“It’s hard to beat the Kennedy Center for the quality and stature and credibility,” Taylor said in an interview. “The audiences tend to think, Oh, it’s gonna be good if it’s in that space, and the acoustics are great, and the building is great. So it’s hard to find comparable venues.”

Taylor projects that by not being able to perform in the Kennedy Center, the orchestra will see fewer performances, fewer contracts, less musician hours, and fewer opportunities for people to see them.

There will also be a reduction in job opportunities for performing arts in the D.C. area.

“Performers will have less opportunities to perform,” Taylor said. “All of the stage professionals and the craft professionals and the technical and sound and audio and engineering. Everybody who makes a show happen, will have a significant reduction”

In the meantime, the nature of programming at the Kennedy Center has changed. Many events with LGBTQ themes are no longer taking place. The Gay Men’s Chorus, as an example, was scheduled to accompany the National Symphony Orchestra during a show in June 2025, until the performance was abruptly .

However, Kano also says that the Kennedy Center has changed so much as an institution, and is a hostile place for groups like the Gay Men’s Chorus.

“We do not feel welcome there even if the doors remained open,” Kano said.

Artists protest the changing of a cultural center

When Donald Trump attended the Kennedy Center’s premiere of Les Misérables, he sat in a theatre that was mostly empty. Senator Ted Cruz and far-right activist Laura Loomer were the few in attendance. But also in the audience were three drag queens.

One of them was Tara Hoot, a drag artist whose stage name was derived from their hometown of Terre Haute, Ind. They recalled that this act of protest was highly effective, going on to garner media coverage from outlets like the New York Times.

“It was pretty empty inside, but we got a pretty good applause, and we just wanted to show up as a form of protest and take up space,” Hoot said in an interview.

Today, Hoot serves as emcee of a weekly demonstration organized by advocacy group Hands Off the Arts. Every Friday evening, a group gathers in lively song and protest on the steps leading up to the entrance of the Kennedy Center.

Hoot says these protests are important because it is difficult to predict the extent to which the Kennedy Center will change after Trump’s planned reconstruction.

“I don’t trust Donald Trump,” Hoot said. “He tore down the East Wing of the White House without anybody batting an eye. And, you know, he doesn’t listen to any moral compass or have any rules or follow any rules. So, you know, if the Kennedy Center closes, what’s to say that we wake up one morning and it’s not there anymore, physically?”

Many involved in leadership positions with Hands Off the Arts have personal connections to the center that drive them to the cause. Mallory Miller, an alum of American University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the organization’s co-founder, studied classical ballet from her childhood through college and says the existence of the Kennedy Center has always been very profound to her.

“I grew up in central Indiana, and I became aware of the Kennedy Center when I was very, very young, and understood that I could have a career because a place like this existed,” Miller said in an interview.

Forrest Robinette runs Hands Off the Arts’ arts and community outreach committee, and is a former tour guide at the Kennedy Center. He observes that the closure of the Kennedy Center is going to be especially devastating for the Washington D.C. community at large, pointing particularly towards those who benefit from their educational programs.

“Many of these students are not students who would go see the ballet normally,” Robinette said in an interview. “They are not students who would go see the symphony normally. They are not students who would engage in performing arts normally without this.”

Looking towards the future

Some of those who currently work within the Kennedy Center, like Zulps, have encouraged an optimistic outlook.

“It is so, so important to continue playing and to continue putting on shows, and to keep doing what we’re doing with our heads up, and keep moving forward,” Zulps said. “Because if we don’t do that, then what?”

After all, Zulps said, artists won’t be unsupportive during this period.

“We’re not under his name, and we know that we have support, and we know that there are people rooting for us,” Zulps said. ”We just have to get through this difficult time.”

This mindset was pushed back somewhat by Hoot.

“I think that the people that are optimistic are, I don’t want to say delusional, but I’m not nearly as optimistic thinking about if the Kennedy Center closes, that it’s going to open up and be what it was before,” Hoot said.

But Hoot has a word of advice for those who are concerned about how the arts scene in Washington will cope.

“Don’t lose hope,” Hoot said. “If I can throw drag on in two hours and get down there every single Friday to try to make a difference, and to show up on Capitol Hill, and to do this. I mean, showing up is the least that people can do right now.”

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On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14168 titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” Eleven days later, Dr. Mandi Pratt-Chapman was notified her grant had been terminated.

By 5 p.m. on January 31, her study on how rural cancer centers collect sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data was shut down.

Pratt-Chapman is the Associate Director of Scientific Communication & Dissemination at The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center and a professor in the Department of Medicine and Department of Prevention & Community Health.

“There was an intentional targeting of higher education and science– and to an extent it worked,” she said. “There was an intention to be overwhelming and a lot of us were very overwhelmed.”

Her grant was one of many canceled following the implementation of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), primarily focused on reducing federal spending. On the DOGE website, it states that 15,887 grants from various government agencies have been terminated, saving approximately $49 billion.

Pratt-Chapman’s funding was flagged because EO 14168 states that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.” It enforces a strictly binary understanding of sex and gender which is part of larger anti-transgender rhetoric from the Trump Administration.

Pratt-Chapman described her grant as relatively small, but its cancellation raised big questions on the future of LGBTQ+ research and federally funded science. She said the data lost will have lasting effects after Trump’s term.

Grant cancellations are just one part of the administration’s greater agenda against the education bureaucracy they say is failing. In another unprecedented EO last year, Trump dismantled the Department of Education, saying its closure “would drastically improve program implementation in higher education.”

Pratt-Chapman’s terminated grant was for the study “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection in Community Oncology Practice.” Pratt-Chapman and her colleagues were following up on their study of how SOGI data of cancer patients is collected in urban and more populated areas.

They had already gathered more than one-third of the federally funded data, and planned to interview 16 additional rural cancer centers when they lost funding.

“I felt personally in a crisis,” she said. “So I organized a space for others experiencing this to be heard and validated.”

She began a monthly meeting for the sexual and gender minority interest group that was previously hosted by the National Cancer Institute. When the meeting series ended, Pratt-Chapman took over as a touchpoint for researchers to continue building community.

“I still have a monthly call for scientists in the LGBT community that want to talk about research or vent,” Pratt-Chapman said. “I still hold that hour every month just in case someone wants to call in.”

In an interview, Dr. Lauren Houghton, an epidemiologist, researcher at Columbia University, and colleague of Pratt-Chapman described her as a leader in the sexual and gender minority cancer community.

“She immediately offered sessions and places for us as researchers going through a trauma to connect,” Houghton said.

In addition to the monthly meetings, Pratt-Chapman surveyed 158 researchers and interviewed 22 on their experiences with grant terminations, financial instability and job changes. She anticipates the analysis being submitted to a journal by the end of March.

“The way I look at all of my research is trying to remedy an injustice,” she said. “It was the same skillset, just applied to my peers.”

On February 7th, 2025, Pratt-Chapman shared her experience in Science Magazine– an action many other researchers were hesitant to do. She says she was shocked by the level of intimidation people felt and hoped that speaking out would lead to justice.

Houghton described Pratt-Chapman’s willingness to speak with the media as inspiring.

“She was one of the first people to do it,” Houghton said. “I think it was important to have that voice out there and not be afraid. She was so brave.”

Pratt-Chapman said it felt like the natural thing to do. Being a point of connection not only helped strengthen her professional community, but document the shared experiences of researchers.

“If you don’t state truth, then you are at risk of losing it,” she said. “And if you don’t stand up for the values that you believe in, then you lose them too.”

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For the first time in 44 years, the election for Ward 1’s Council seat will not include the incumbent council member after Brianne Nadeau announced she would not be seeking reelection last year. Several candidates have entered the race to represent one of the city’s most densely populated and progressive wards and are ramping up their campaigns for the primary election in June. 

Among these candidates is Aparna Raj, who has volunteered with the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter and has been endorsed by 11 unions. Raj is the child of Indian immigrants, is a nonprofit worker, has organized for tenant and workers rights, and is a member of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild union, which represents news, information, and nonprofit workers. 

Raj’s platform consists of free childcare, rent caps, and expanding workers rights. Her platform and proposed policies have led to endorsements from workers and unions in D.C., including Teamsters Local 639, United Food and Social Workers Local 400, and the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which Raj is a member of.  

“I think sometimes people view political endorsements as just a logo that’s in literature or on a mailer,” Raj said “It really means that the members and the workers who form these unions put their faith and trust in me. They see this campaign as one that will fight for them.” 

Raj says her labor platform seeks to expand D.C. worker’s power. She supports the increasing of the minimum wage to $25 from $17.95 and the restoration of Initiative 82 which would increase tipped minimum wage. As well as the protection and expansion of the Pay Equity Fund which would raise childcare workers wages, and the strengthening the right to organize for workers in the public sector.  

“I know that in the Wilson Building [D.C. Council Building], I will be able to collaborate with them [unions] and I know that labor has got my back, that workers have got my back, and I will always have theirs,” Raj said.  

The Trump administration hasthe National Labor Relations Board, and has rolled back the Biden administration’s pro-Union positions and replaced officials placed by the former administration. As a result, Raj plans to propose a D.C. Right to Organize Act, similar to legislation seen elsewhere in the country and on the national level, including the proposed . 

If the Trump administration were to dismantle the NLRB, the D.C. Right to Organize Act would protect workers rights in the city and expand on labor protections for workers who are not currently protected by federal labor law. A key element of this proposed legislation includes allowing workers to unionize through majority card check. 

“It is a way for us to try to preempt some of the big federal antilabor legislation we anticipate,” said Raj. 

Recently, Raj hosted an event in collaboration with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union and Unite Here Local 25, which is the union which represents hotel, casino, and restaurant workers. Both of the unions have endorsed Raj.

Raj spoke to the attendees of the event about her reasons for running for office. Her parents’ experiences as immigrants and laborers, her own experiences with others while organizing, and disappointment with the current city government were all reasons she stated. 

“I have organized alongside tenants who are living in terrible conditions. People who have to deal with mold, with rodents, with water leakages, with the heat going out in the winter, so they have to use their ovens to stay warm,” Raj told the audience “I have organized alongside workers who are working two or three jobs to get by, or people who are forced to leave D.C. entirely, because they can’t afford rent, groceries, childcare, and utilities. And I have seen our Council let this happen.” 

Hannah Stephens, the vice president of organizing at the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union Local, said that the union represents and fights for the best interests of its members while being politically engaged through legislative work and political education events. Stephens described the decision to endorse Raj as an easy one for herself and the members of NPEU.  

“We did a poll for our members and our D.C. members voted 96% in favor of endorsing Aparna and a lot of that is because she’s a union member herself. She is unapologetically pro-worker,” Stephens said “We are a huge part of the DC community, and we feel seen in her campaign.” 

Raj has hosted events with DC mayoral candidate front-runner Janeese Lewis George, including a tenant rally at The Woodner Apartments in late March. Raj said that she is a big supporter of her mayoral campaign and was involved in her reelection campaign for Council in 2024. Raj and Lewis George are running on similar progressive, affordability focused, and worker oriented platforms. 

“I think if we both get elected it will shift government in a way that we haven’t seen before and really give power to renters and workers in developing policy,” Raj said “I think on the council side, having a friendly mayor is huge.” 

In her speech at the event, Raj spoke about her disapproval of the current Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not seeking reelection. 

“I have seen our mayor give billions of dollars to a billionaire sports stadium owner, while our schools are crumbling, while our libraries and our rec centers and our parks are falling apart. And I am tired of us always having to be on defense for emergency rental assistance, or to protect our wages, to protect the things that belong to us. And I think it’s time that we had a government that fought for us.”  

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