Officials condemn, Graffiti Rangers wipe away vandalism targeting Capitol Hill’s Jewish Family Service

City officials are condemning graffiti targeting Capitol Hill’s Jewish Family Service.

The large, spray painted message appeared across from the JFS offices after a Seattle Times op-ed on the rise in anti-Semitic hate from its CEO and just days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“As I wrote to one friend, Jews are a remnant of a remnant. The entire state of Israel is smaller than Lake Michigan. I cannot visit my family in Eastern Europe. The graves are not there any longer, let alone the people,” Rabbi Will Berkovitz wrote in the January 21st essay. “It makes me wonder if the non-Jewish community understands how personal these attacks are for some of us. The fear is real. The violence is real. And the silence speaks volumes.”

Police are investigating the vandalism on the E Madison at 16th Ave 7-11 that was first reported on Sunday, January 30th and believed to target Berkovitz and JFS. Temple De Hirsch Sinai is also just up the street from the location. Continue reading

Third week of protests begins with thousands marching and a CHAZ CHOP rally targeting the ‘affluent white communities of Seattle’

Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Protesters against police brutality and inequity were marching east on Madison Friday afternoon when they passed tall fencing and finely pruned bushes.

It was the gated Broadmoor community and the main goal of the march, which started inside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and ended about three miles away at Madison Park Beach, was to engage rich, white neighborhoods in Seattle’s ongoing protests.

UPDATE: You can still call it CHAZ if you like but the name that the community has chosen is CHOP — the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. “We are not trying to secede from the United States,” speaker Maurice Cola said Saturday afternoon.

Broadmoor served as a perfect foil for what these protesters said they wanted to do Friday; mobilize affluent white people with power to spur change that would benefit Black people. While passing, they chanted “Out of your homes and into the streets” to the couple dozen people standing on the sidewalk outside the community’s entrance.

Organizer and Seattle Peoples Party leader Nikkita Oliver highlighted the female organizers of the protest and repeated demands that the Seattle Police Department be defunded by 50%, spending increased on community-based organizations, and the protesters not be prosecuted.

She said that city leaders would try to offer some piecemeal changes to protesters, but urged demonstrators to stay in the streets until the system is overhauled.

“[Mayor Jenny Durkan] is going to try to find $100 million somewhere in the budget for 10 years to give to community, but it’s not going to be $100 million from the police,” Oliver said. “That means we have not won yet. Let’s be committed; let’s make this more than a moment. People have sacrificed things in the last 10 days; people have sacrificed things in the last 10 years; people have sacrificed things in the last 100, 200, 300 years and are tired of our powerful moments not making into a movement. It’s because we give into accepting reform.”

“Reform feels easy, but it’s not. Reform is bullshit.”

The crowd of thousands was one of two huge marches across Seattle Friday. As this group headed for Madison Park and the beach, an even larger “silent” march stretched out for blocks and blocks from the Central District to Beacon Hill. Continue reading

Two years after their expulsion, Russian diplomats still hope to return to Seattle’s historic Samuel Hyde House

The Russian Consular Residence the day diplomats moved out in 2018 (Image: CHS)

The Russian Consular Residence the day diplomats moved out in 2018 (Image: CHS)

By Claudia Yaw, UW News Lab/Special to CHS

Two years after the Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the country, tension lingers over Seattle’s historic Samuel Hyde House — the city landmark in Madison Park where Russian diplomats used to reside. The U.S. State Department owns the land underneath, but the Russians still claims the house as their own — and they want back in.

In a statement to Capitol Hill Seattle, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov lamented the closure of what was the only Russian consulate on the West Coast and the lockout at the E Madison residence.

“We presume that when the situation in our bilateral relations stabilizes, there will be a positive decision on returning this beautiful residence to its rightful owner as well as on reinstatement of Russian consular presence on the West Coast,” Antonov wrote.

CHS has agreed to post the complete letter from the ambassador as a condition for his comment. You can find it at the end of this post.

But the U.S. State Department doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans to do anything with the house. Continue reading

Cafe to become Love + Flour as Essential Bakery exits Madison Valley

(Image: CHS)

The dreaded paper sign in the window has gone up at the Essential Bakery Cafe in Madison Valley but in this case, the message is not about a closure on E Madison.

Or, at least, it won’t be a long one.

The Seattle baking company has sold its cafe to a new owner who is ready to keep the comfortable hangout full of soups and sandwiches, baked treats, and fresh Essential bread.

“We’re just looking to keep our little family here,” Jenny Finau told CHS Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading

Logan’s Espresso stand now fueling up walkers — and drivers — at E Madison service station

The Shell station on 17th and Madison has a new parking lot-mate, Logan’s Espresso. The walk-up — and drive-thru — coffee stand located in the corner of the parking lot opened earlier this month and is trying to catch the attention of foot and car traffic on the corner with its plant wall and neon pink sign.

“I thought Logan’s would be great because there are not a ton of walk-up coffee places in Capitol Hill. I love coffee, and I love the idea of people bonding over something as small as getting a drink,” said Courtney Dabbagh, owner of Logan’s Espresso.

Continue reading

More good bagel news for Capitol Hill — by way of Seward Park: Westman’s is expanding

(Image: Westman’s Bagel and Coffee)

There is a lot of good news for Capitol Hill bagels this week. You’ll find Loxsmith continuing its run of Capitol Hill pop-ups at Vios on 19th Ave E.

Now comes the good word that Westman’s Bagel and Coffee — born in the E Madison walk-up in the winter of 2018 — is ready for a 2019 expansion and ramp-up in production. The Seattle Met reports Monica Dimas is preparing to open up a key new location in Seward Park Westman’s Bakeshop:

Westman’s Bakeshop isn’t a retail shop but a commissary bakery that can, finally, satisfy Seattle’s appetite for bagels. It will up production to keep the walk-up well-stocked, plus fulfill wholesale and large catering orders. Should you have a personal need for a large haul of bagels, you can put in an order and pick it up in Seward Park next to the Caffe Vita on Wilson Avenue South.

Continue reading

With Tacoma expansion set to open, Central Co-op names new CEO

Last winter, Central Co-op marked 40 years on Capitol Hill. This year as spring approaches, the co-op has a new leader.

Catherine Willis Cleveland has been hired as the cooperative’s new CEO.

“Central Co-op is a model for building sustainable communities and a hub for celebrating healthy food,” Cleveland said in a statement. “When I was growing up my mother coordinated a cooperative produce buying club off our front porch and I have carried those cooperative values with me ever since. I am thrilled to be taking this leadership role at Central Co-op and to help guide this community-grown grocer into the future.” Continue reading

Cayton Corner’s path from empty lot to Seattle park a long and winding road

The path to building a park in the City of Seattle takes years and years and thousands and thousands of dollars. So, CHS got a little excited when we saw work underway at the corner of 19th Ave and Madison. The excitement was a little premature. Cayton Corner will be a nicer open space this summer with a safer, less trip-y sidewalk but the money needed to complete the full vision for the park is still an open question.

Things are moving forward slowly in the meantime. “The new sidewalk is part of the park construction,” a Friends of Cayton Corner representative tells CHS: Continue reading

Westman’s Bagels and Coffee bringing ‘morning culture’ to E Madison

Highly anticipated Westman’s Bagels and Coffee is nearly ready to serve up its first boiled and baked masterpieces with just the right amount of schmear — maybe even opening in time to enjoy a few of the final days of Chanukah. Sometimes big expectations get packed into small spaces on Capitol Hill.

“People are passionate about their bagels,” Monica Dimas tells CHS. “Their expectations can be based on a perfect bagel they had in New York 12 years ago.”

Dimas, a big player in making small spaces work, and baker Molly Westman hope to meet some of those expectations and bring a little NYC to E Madison when they hope to finally debut the new streetside cafe and bagel counter next week after months of anticipation. Continue reading

Tigerly Ox opens on edge of Capitol Hill and Central District

Wallingford-born Vietnamese eatery Tigerly Ox has opened up a restaurant on the border between Capitol Hill and the Central District, at 22nd and E Madison. Owners John Tran and his wife Jodie chose a location on the edge of Capitol Hill because they believe there is already an overabundance of restaurants in the center of the neighborhood. The E Madison location may be just the first wave of expansion for the eatery.

Tran said his aim with the E Madison Tigerly Ox is to serve people for whom getting to the Pike/Pine corridor of restaurants might be a hassle. “We feel as though we can better serve those on the outskirts,” said Tran. Tran said he was attracted to a location in between Capitol Hill and the Central District because he felt the area could use more restaurants and he feels there is an “oversaturation of restaurants” in the central Pike/Pine business district of Capitol Hill. Continue reading