Metro service cutbacks are the latest drag on downtown Bethesda's floundering nighttime economy. The latest victim is Nando's Peri-Peri, the popular chicken restaurant at 4839 Bethesda Avenue, which is cutting back late night hours on Fridays and Saturdays. For once, Councilmember Hans Riemer - whose "nighttime economy" initiative concluded with 9 bars and one of Bethesda's only two 24-hour restaurants closing, and businesses like Barnes & Noble and CVS cutting back late-night hours - isn't the primary culprit.
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Original later closing
time on Friday/Saturday
still visible below
announcement |
The Nando's announcement says that the restaurant will close half-an-hour earlier on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30, so that its employees can get home on Metro. As you can still see on the window stencils, Nando's previously was open until 11:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Text at bottom right
cites Metro service
cutbacks as reason
for the reduced hours |
Whether a business closes earlier due to the anti-business votes and policies of the Montgomery County Council, or to the horrific mismanagement of WMATA and Metro, the result is the same. Lost tips, lost wages, lost profits and lost revenue for the County.
The Council's abysmal record on private sector economic development speaks for itself - although
the Washington Post and even Riemer's own former chief-of-staff (!!) are now acknowledging how sluggish and moribund it is. If you had to describe the Council's performance in three words, I would suggest "Weekend at Bernie's."
But now our incompetent, dumpster fire of a Council is joined by the three-ring circus known as WMATA. The surge has been anything but for our local businesses, who now have an additional drain on revenue to contend with. It would be an understatement to say that we should all be expecting and demanding a world class Metro system when this surge work is completed, after the outrageous inconvenience and damage to the regional economy this has caused.
They really mean it
this time!!
A letter complaining about cutbacks in late night service, signed by dozens of Maryland officials yesterday, is a very late start. But at some point, the pens have to be put down, and the gloves have to come off. Withholding funds from WMATA is just one nuclear option available; our elected officials should be using that and any other leverage we have to clean house at Metro.
My take? This is the same old "deferred maintenance," with station closures and cutbacks in service that simply allow WMATA to save a lot of money, and we'll be back to incompetence as usual - if the surge ever even officially ends. With the Council too impotent to challenge or lower the boom on Metro incompetence, we're stuck until these folks are ousted from office by the voters. God help us.
45 comments:
How do you propose to restore late-night service on Metro, Dyer?
You cite the closings but completely ignore the openings.
This current Council isn't very good in their oversight role.
Writing a strong letter is pretty weak stuff.
WMATA's Board of Directors has seven members, only one of which comes from MoCo. How is Metro's current situation exclusively, or even primarily, the fault of the Montgomery County Council?
This is why you should never, ever be elected. Withholding funds from WAMATA is not the answer, they are already under-funded and that is why we are in this mess with them in the first place. WAMATA needs guaranteed funding from MD/VA/DC and greater oversight. If you cut their funding the cycle will perpetuate.
And before you bring it up, no...building another bridge is not the answer #birdbrain
Bethesda residents have been taking the brunt of WMATA's ineptitude for awhile now.
How many times has the Bethesda station closed without good contingency planning? And single tracking the red line between Twinbrook and Shady Grove during rush hour with no shuttle buses? Crazy.
151,000 new jobs created in August. And not one of them was Dyer's.
#ThanksObama
#ThanksHans
That's pretty ridiculous for this restaurant to be blaming metro. Bethesda and Bethesds Row have lots of issues, metro being one piece of the puzzle.
This problem theoretically affects DC and VA also. So to cite it as an example of MoCo failings isn't really painting an accurate picture.
I can't speak to the closures of the Bethesda Metro station that were not related to scheduled maintenance. Regarding scheduled maintenance, it is Metro's policy to use shuttle buses only when part of a line is completely closed, not just when it is single-tracked. And that's a systemwide policy, not just relating to the western Red line.
If you had to describe the Dyer's performance in two words, I would suggest Donald Trump. MAKE BETHESDA GREAT AGAIN! How about we build a wall around you? Moribund Moron.
A strong public transit system is so essential, yet WMATA continues to push people to private ride sharing services and single occupant vehicle trips because of their foolishness.
7:17 AM Does anyone disagree that we need to "make Metro great again"?
7:19AM Dyer also missed the skydiving granny and donkey memorabilia breaking stories.
7:19 AM believes that Bethesda Row businesses being impacted by Metro closing early isn't news? lol. This is a huge story that Dyer will continue to have reporting on as it plays out.
Hello, "Woodmont". Please give my regards to "Elm".
7:28 AM Give my regards to the Councilman this weekend when he angrily asks you to put a second coat of wax on his car.
Metro is a joke. So is Metro funding. When will they learn that taking funding away doesn't make WMATA spend more efficiently, it just makes them do a poorer job.
Ok, I see what you are doing. haha I'll play along ^^^can I be Rugby?
How can local jurisdictions keep planning Metro-heavy when Metro is so unreliable?
Anonymous5:54 AM Maryland hating troll with the good ol boy bs crap talking against building another major freeway and bridge between Virginia and Maryland.
Woodmont/Elm - you mean unelected Councilman Robert Dyer?
So you mean that the majority of MoCo and NoVa residents who oppose the so-called "Second Crossing" are "Maryland-hating trolls"?
So wmata metro problems also affect VA and DC businesses the same.
The Legion Bridge/270 spur is among the worst corridors in the U.S. in terms of traffic. Can we at least agree on that fact and that it hasn't been addressed at all?
The MoCo Council and the state have ignored this. Neither is willing to propose anything bold enough to help.
Hogan's timid plan isn't the answer.
And we know Metro isn't saving the day- WMATA can't manage what they've got now.
If one counts closings against the nighttime economy taskforce, would one not logically also count openings for the nighttime economy taskforce?
Dyer opposes widening the Beltway between the American Legion Bridge and the I-270 spur.
8:51: Wrong. I oppose any widening that would require demolition of homes. I strongly support any widening that does not demolish homes. To my knowledge, adding Express Lanes between the bridge and spur wouldn't require demolition.
I would thoroughly enjoy watching Robert Dyer attempt to be a county councilmember or hold attempt to hold any full time job.
Mr. Reamer, now in his second term, has not even been attempting to be a Councilmember. Hope he gets to work at some point on the serious issues the county faces.
Me. Leventhal is vulgar and verbally abusive.
Both of these guys incompetence might be funny, if we weren't facing such serious issues in our crumbling infrastructure like 911, Metro and more.
Residents would "thoroughly enjoy" someone representing their needs and concerns.
Robert Dyer does not really represent the majority of the county's needs and concerns.
So far that is fact. As he has never been elected by any sort of majority. As his opinions are commonly opposed and disliked by many here and elsewhere.
Westbard area residents found that Roger Berliner represents the majority of developer needs and concerns quite well.
@ 7:10 PM - Judging by the number of times that Berliner has been elected and reelected, it would appear that he represents the needs and concerns of County residents quite well.
Judging by the fact that Dyer has run three times and lost, it would appear that County residents don't have confidence that he can represent their needs and concerns.
7:22: I would say that Mr. Berliner has done a good job in certain areas, but if you say "represents the needs and concerns of County residents quite well," I have to assume you were on an overseas safari during the Westbard sector plan controversy earlier this year. You missed Berliner being booed offstage by actual residents (not paid hack trolls for the MoCo cartel like you), who overwhelmingly opposed the plan he endorsed and voted for.
Given the embarrassingly low voter turnout, you simply can't claim anyone was embraced or rejected by that small a representation of the public. That's just one reason term limits have such momentum - along with Westbard, the still-active bus depot search, Lyttonsville, the Damascus low-income housing dump, etc.
Why is the turnout for Dyer so embarrassingly low?
Why can't Robert Dyer ever answer questions about himself without redirecting to an existing council member or other?
Why can't Robert Dyer answer the numerous legitimate constructive questions often asked of him to further a conversation but he just ignores it? I'm starting to understand the #DodgingDyer hash tag. The vampire stuff is still nonsense of course. As are the paid trolls and shills on either side.
The error in y'all's arguments here is you're assuming people are purposely voting for a specific candidate.
They aren't.
Most pick a name not a person. Eenie-meenie. Sounds familiar. Incumbent. Female. Lots of their signs.
These are all reasons given for why people voted for local candidates. Most had no idea who the candidates were or what their platforms included.
Something to consider.
The power of incumbency is supreme. You can appear on old media like WMAL, the local TV stations, the Post, etc. from morning to night at will. AND incumbents have their own county media operation with cable channels, Internet sites and radio.
We need term limits. Why does anyone think it's a good idea to elect someone and watch them calcify in their seat for over a decade until retirement? That's why there are so few fresh ideas from this elected body that is now clearly out of touch. The Council desperately needs new voices.
"Most had no idea who the candidates were or what their platforms included."
And how will term limits remedy this situation in the slightest?
Term limits won't remedy people choosing to be uninformed. But it will keep the politicians from running amok.
Sure we could use new voices but only if those voices are better. And we don't see anything really developing as better.
Different is better.
Different is definitely not always better. That's like a voter hoping for change without any clue as to the plan.
"we don't see anything really developing as better."
How do you know? Elections are years away.
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