Eric Falquero
@ericfalquero.bsky.social
DC community journalist: ericfalquero[at]51st[dot]news. Co-founder of the worker-led nonprofit @51st.news 📰. Past professional lives at WAMU/DCist and Street Sense Media. Appalachian, Llanito, bird nerd 🦅, @footballclubgroup.com member / owner / fan ⚽
Sam did a helluva job with this one.
sam delgado@samdelgado.bsky.social · 6d agoFor the last 3 months, I've been obsessed with one question: why can't D.C. get its rat problem under control? I went to an Adams Morgan alley, rat school, and down the rabbit hole (or in this case, the rat burrow) to find out. @51st.news 🐀 51st.news/dc-rat-preve...
D.C. landlords owe the city millions for unabated housing violations. The worst offender? DCHA, which owes $2.2 million+ for 2,500+ unresolved violations across its properties. NEW in @notusmetro.bsky.social on why, and why DOB can't collect: www.notus.org/metro/dc-hou...
D.C.’s Worst Landlord Is Its Housing Authority
The Department of Buildings fines the city’s bad landlords. None owe more than the DCHA.
notus.org
NEW: This month, the D.C. Public Library began enforcing rules banning people from sleeping outside of downtown's MLK Library. Advocates worry it will simply move people elsewhere, making it harder to connect them with housing and services. In partnership with @streetsensedc.bsky.social:
Why has DC's MLK Library banned sleeping outside?
New enforcement includes rope barriers and police to keep homeless people from sleeping under the library's overhang.
51st.news
❤️🔥‼️🎉
The 51st@51st.news · 6d agoWe’re thrilled that our newsroom is growing. Elliot Williams is joining our team starting next (!) week (!!) @ecwilliams.bsky.social has covered D.C.'s arts and culture for the better part of a decade and we can't wait to see what he does at The 51st. 51st.news/elliot-willi...
ICE contracts are proving lucrative for those hired to carry out the Trump administration’s deportation and detainment efforts — and for President Trump himself. The details: www.levernews.com/a-detention-...
At just 16 years old, Robert Barton made a drastic decision that derailed his life. But a D.C. law that allowed Barton to redefine himself. It's now under threat by federal elected officials, he writes in an opinion piece:
Congress shouldn't overturn D.C.'s second chance laws. I'm proof
At just 16 years old, I made a drastic decision that derailed my life. But I'm the beneficiary of a law that allowed me to redefine myself.
51st.news
Grateful for the sustained attention to this situation from worker-run @thesouthlander.com:
The Southlander@thesouthlander.com · last wk.⚠️ Content Warning: The Southlander previously reported that GEO Group, a billion-dollar private prison company, was ordered by the judge to share unsealed footage of the June 12, 2020 incident at the Adelanto ICE processing center… 🧵1/5
That's a quote from my colleague @maddiepoore.bsky.social. We heard *directly* from so many people who relied on our election coverage this primary. We knew it mattered. But it was wild to hear that our performance stood out in our industry, too.
Nieman Lab@niemanlab.org · last wk."We found this heartening, in a time when many experts are writing eulogies for clickthrough from search engine results pages." www.niemanlab.org/2026/07/desp...
My last story about DC for a while: Trying to figure out why buses slowing down 51st.news/metro-tried-...
Metro tried to make bus service better. Somehow, ridership and speeds are both down
A year after Better Bus, reviews are mixed.
51st.news
Nearly everyone in D.C. has a harrowing rat story — and for an upcoming story, we want to hear yours. Don't spare us the details! Need more characters? Tell us here: 51st.news/ratstories
NEW: Looking to lend a hand? Each week, we round up ways to get involved around D.C. Here's this week's list:
9 ways to volunteer around D.C. this week
Abortion trivia, courtwatching, and more ways to plug in.
51st.news
The abrupt closure of Baby’s on Fire spotlights Baltimore’s growing worker-ownership movement baltimorebeat.com/the-abrupt-c...
The abrupt closure of Baby’s on Fire spotlights Baltimore’s growing worker-ownership movement
Saro Khan had been on shift at Baby’s On Fire for less than an hour when the message landed in the staff group chat. It was the first time the cafe’s owners had said anything to the staff since June…
baltimorebeat.com
This month is the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and it reminds me that the ADA could not be passed today. It probably couldn’t get a vote in committee today.
NEW: How can D.C. natives tell if someone is a transplant? In this week's "Ask a D.C. Native" column, Malachi Byrd shares a few of the tells:
How can a D.C. native tell if someone is a transplant?
There are so many things you may not even realize.
51st.news
NEW: Federal lawmakers are working to repeal D.C.'s "second chance law," arguing that the measure is too soft on crime. It would be a mistake, Robert Barton argues in an opinion piece: The landmark D.C. legislation has changed lives and ultimately made our community better.
Congress shouldn't overturn D.C.'s second chance laws. I'm proof
At just 16 years old, I made a drastic decision that derailed my life. But I'm the beneficiary of a law that allowed me to redefine myself.
51st.news
If you love this you'll also love the images from John Wymer, who, in the late '40s and '50s, went around the District taking tons of street pictures as a hobby. His collection here is laid out on a Google Map so you can browse any part of the city to see how it looked decades ago.
Wymer's DC
Wymer's DC hosts an interactive story map which overlays historic images of Washington, DC onto Google Street View. Users can toggle between a mid-twentieth century photograph collection and modern im...
wymersdc.com
The 51st@51st.news · 3w agoThe District of Columbia Archives has released its largest digital collection of historic photos — showing new views of the city from 1947 through 1959. Find anything interesting? Let us know!
The Community Connectors working on this, especially George's leadership, have been incredible. If you live in Ward 7, I hope you'll join us! (And if you don't, please tell your friends who do.)
The 51st@51st.news · 2w agoIn the first half of 2026, The 51st surveyed 300+ residents of D.C.'s Ward 7 about the issues that matter most in their community. Want to hear what we learned? Join us at the Capitol View Neighborhood Library on Tuesday, July 28!
Grateful to tell the story of Nancy Shia's 50+ years of photography and organizing in D.C. through @51st.news.
The 51st@51st.news · 2w agoNEW: For the past fifty years, photographer Nancy Shia has witnessed a changing D.C. from her Columbia Road window. Capturing tenant organizing, statehood activism, and rapid gentrification taught her that change comes for those who keep fighting, @serenazets.bsky.social reports.
NEW: What are you doing this weekend? Squeeze every last drop out of the summer with a kayaking cleanup, a beginner fishing event, and more opportunities to learn while connecting with your neighbors. See all of our event picks:
15 things to do around D.C. this weekend
Squeeze every last drop out of the summer with a kayaking cleanup, a beginner fishing event, and more opportunities to learn while connecting with your neighbors.
51st.news
MedStar Washington Hospital Center delivers more babies than any other hospital in DC. Now, they're cutting over a third of their postpartum beds. Nurses & health advocates are very concerned about this decision. I spoke with them to understand why. @51st.news 51st.news/dc-hospital-...
This hospital is cutting over a third of its postpartum beds
As the city faces a Black maternal health crisis, health advocates are concerned about cuts at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
51st.news
An Instagram post about Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to wealthy communities in Marin County, CA, turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.
A Teen Reporter Searched for His Community in the Epstein Files. Adults Freaked Out
An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.
wired.com
Federal lawyers say anti-mask laws would endanger immigration agents, citing an ICE face-recognition art project that doesn’t actually work.
States Want ICE Agents to Show Their Faces. The Trump Administration Is Blocking Them
Federal lawyers say anti-mask laws would endanger immigration agents, citing an ICE face-recognition art project that doesn’t actually work.
wired.com
The cyclospora diarrhea outbreak isn't an isolated incident. It's part of a pattern of leafy greens wreaking digestive havoc. www.wired.com/story/why-le...
It's Always Lettuce
The cyclospora diarrhea outbreak isn't an isolated incident. It's part of a pattern of leafy greens wreaking digestive havoc.
wired.com
The EPA has proposed a rule change that would let states decide how much input the public has on air pollution permits. It would be a huge boon for data centers increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. www.wired.com/story/trump-...
The Trump Administration Wants to Change Public Engagement Rules for Polluters
The EPA has proposed a rule change that would let states decide how much input the public has on air pollution permits. It would be a huge boon for data centers increasingly reliant on fossil fuels.
wired.com
Over the past 18 months, the number of confirmed measles cases in the US has exceeded the combined total from the previous 25 years. Domestic outbreaks are being fueled by low vaccination uptakes–and rates keep declining.
‘The Child Is Terrified’: Measles Doctors Speak Out
Hear from six pediatricians in measles hot spot Utah, as the US faces infection levels not seen in over three decades and prepares to lose its status as a country that eliminated the dangerous disease...
wired.com
WIRED is surveying tech workers! From your opinions about your bosses and workplaces to your thoughts on the AI revolution, we want to know it all. Share your two cents by taking our short survey at the link below. 👇 wrd.cm/4fu42MY
In this story, we're also revealing some more of the ~400 celebrities who were designated as some sort of "risk" in MSG's talent database. They include: * Elliot Page * Jamie Foxx * F1 driver Lewis Hamilton * Simu Liu * “Real Housewife” Ubah Hassan * Achraf Hakimi from Morocco’s World Cup team.
Noah Shachtman@noahshachtman.bsky.social · 2w agoEXCLUSIVE: Madison Square Garden's sprawling surveillance system can monitor guests down to the second. MSG boss Jim Dolan recently made a major exception—for Taylor Swift. I reviewed the internal memo locking MSG security staff out of their own surveillance network. www.wired.com/story/for-ta...
Google purges reviews of ICE detention facilities and blocks the ability to write new ones, according to newly published research shared with The Intercept.
Following months of reporting by The Intercept that found the Pentagon’s official tally of casualties is a gross undercount, which one U.S. government official previously called a “casualty cover-up", the Pentagon belatedly admitted that almost 100 U.S. troops have been injured in the last two weeks
