It was January 19, 2025, a quiet Sunday evening on the Richmond waterfront, the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a national holiday. The Karen Sudjihan and Alex Markels Trio were entertaining at the Riggers Loft.

Then all hell broke loose.     

Hundreds of people and vehicles converged around the General Warehouse, just behind the Riggers Loft and across from the Red Oak Victory ship, for a gigantic sideshow. Where the smoke from welders’ torches and the clanging of cranes once filled the air, the waterfront became dominated by smoking and screeching tires and the crunch of colliding vehicles, hallmarks of a full-blown sideshow.

Despite being part of a national park, owned by the City of Richmond and managed by the Port of Richmond, the vicinity of the General Warehouse in recent years has become dominated by graffiti, trash, garbage and sideshows. The General Warehouse is an historic building, part of the historic Shipyard 3, where “Rosie the Riveter” (actually ”Rosie the Welder”) helped build hundreds of ships during WWII to help win the war. Now it is celebrated as part of Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park. Adjacent to the General Warehouse is the Riggers Loft, another historic building where the newly constructed ships were outfitted. The Riggers Loft also houses the office of the Port of Richmond, designed to serve as an Emergency Operations Center in case of a waterfront emergency.

Unfortunately, we have a City Council that has crippled the capacity of the Richmond Police Department, has no interest in preserving Richmond’s rich heritage and has actually embraced sideshows as a legitimate outlet for youthful exuberance.

That’s where we are in Richmond, folks. Your city, your City Council and your future.

See https://m.facebook.com/groups/1076564749104499/permalink/9180144362079790/?mibextid=wwXIfr for the video.
                            

Figure 1 - The Karen Sudjihan and Alex Markels Trio were entertaining at the Riggers Loft

Figure 2 - Sideshow audience with General Warehouse graffiti in the background

Figure 3 - Sideshow with historic Machine Shop building in background

Figure 4 - Graffiti on General Warehouse

Figure 5 - Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, otherwise known as "Sideshow Eduardo," has long embraced sideshows as a harmless youthful activity. He once said, “Seniors speeding down Carlson going 50 to 60 are as reckless if not more reckless as a sideshow'
https://youtu.be/j5T1LtZcCfs?start=7352