San Francisco, CA

Agonafer Shiferaw, S.F. club owner who powered Fillmore jazz district, dies at 71

Published

1 year ago

December 7, 2023

Agonafer Shiferaw, S.F. club owner who powered Fillmore jazz district, dies at 71

Agonafer Shiferaw and his wife Netsanet “Net” Alemayehu at Sheba’s Piano Lounge on Fillmore Street in San Francisco., Calif., on Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

When Rasselas Jazz Club was hopping, owner Agonafer Shiferaw, recognizable in his funky fedora, was either at his customary seat at the San Francisco bar or circulating through the room, talking to people and buying drinks and promoting the fellowship that Rasselas was known for seven nights a week.

The combination of the cuisine from his native Ethiopia and major names in jazz from around the world worked so well at the corner of California and Divisadero Streets in Pacific Heights that city leaders recruited him to bring the Rasselas formula to the long-stalled revitalization of the Fillmore jazz district. The venue formed a live music triangle with Yoshi’s San Francisco and Sheba Piano Lounge, which was run by Shiferaw’s wife, Netsanet Alameyehu.

The district, envisioned as the rebirth of what had been known as the Harlem of the West, was still picking up steam when the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency folded, putting an end to marketing support for the district. Rasselas closed in 2013 after Shiferaw had already closed his original location to focus on the Fillmore.

Article continues below this ad

“My father was excited to be a part of this venture knowing that there was a collective effort to ensure success for the Fillmore jazz district,” said his daughter, Bete Agonafer. “He was invited to the dance by the city, and then left on the dance floor by himself after giving it his all.”

After losing a lawsuit against the city that alleged fraud over his proposal to operate the Fillmore Heritage Center building, Shiferaw continued to work within the community and in political activism even through a diagnosis of cancer in 2022. He fought through it by hosting fundraisers and supporting causes, both here and in Ethiopia, until he died Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, where he had moved for treatment and to be near his daughter. He was 71.

“He was a guy who spoke truth to power and stood up against injustice even when it was against his own business self interest,” said attorney Ben Rosenfeld, who represented Shifferaw in the case. “He didn’t go along with pay to play politics in San Francisco and was willing to lay it on the line in order to restore the promise of the Fillmore Jazz Heritage District as the Harlem of the West.”

Agonafer Shiferaw was born April 14, 1952, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he grew up, the grandson of one prime minister and the nephew of another. As a youth, he became politically active against the government that his own family members were serving, so it was decided that he’d be better off being educated in San Francisco, where his brothers were already living.

Shiferaw graduated from George Washington High School in the Richmond District in 1971. He attended San Francisco State University, where he was active in the Bay Area chapter of the Ethiopian Student Union of North America. He graduated with a degree in economics and got a city job at the Youth Guidance Center. From there he became a program analyst for the city.

Article continues below this ad

In 1973, he married Elizabeth Abebe, whom he met in the Ethiopian community. In 1975, their daughter Bete was born. They were divorced six years later. Shiferaw later became partners with Oakland restaurateur Netsanet Alemayehu. They were together for 42 years and were married in 2019 with a reception for 400 guests at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.

For years, Alemayehu had operated Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland that closed in the 1990s. In 2006, it was resurrected in San Francisco as Sheba Piano Lounge on the corner of Fillmore and Geary, a block from Rasselas. Still owned by Alemayehu and her sister Israel Alemayehu, Sheba Piano Lounge is the last survivor of a half-dozen music and food venues that made up the Fillmore jazz district.

“Agonafer was a pioneer,” said Net Alemayehu. “He had a big dream to create a space where everyone felt welcome.”

Shiferaw’s first business venture was the True Value Hardware store, which he opened in 1984 across the street from a French restaurant on California Street. Eventually, he sold the hardware store in order to take over Major Pond’s, a bar on the opposite corner. That’s where he created Rasselas Jazz Club and Ethiopian Cuisine. It opened in 1986 and was said to be the first Ethiopian restaurant in the city..

“Many of us when we come here open restaurants,” said his cousin Nebenye Lakew.” “It’s not easy, but that’s the first thing we think of.”

Article continues below this ad

Rasselas became an instant community hub to the point that customers called Shiferaw “Mr. Rasselas.” He was a fan of New York City jazz clubs, which he had discovered while visiting an uncle who worked at the United Nations.

He was not a jazz aficionado per se, but he understood the business of jazz and how it worked with Ethiopian food. As a result, Rasselas became a hangout for both the Ethiopian community and jazz fans who remembered the clubs in the Fillmore.

“Ethiopians and other immigrants took pride in the fact that another Ethiopian owned such an incredible establishment that they made it their home,” said his daughter.

“Not only that, Rasselas was like the United Nations. You could see every ethnicity there on any given night. That’s one of the things that made it special.”

Both Rasselas on California and Rasselas on Fillmore are now gone, but the customers remain loyal. A celebration of Life held Nov. 28 at the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Mekane Selam Medhane Alem Cathedral in Oakland drew hundreds. Reps. Barbara Lee and John Garamendi both gave tributes. A reception at the old Claremont Hotel in Berkeley included live jazz and Ethiopian food, the combination that always worked at Rasselas.

Article continues below this ad

“He would have had it no other way,” said his daughter.

Reach Sam Whiting: swhiting@sfchronicle.com

Source link

Click to comment

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco hotel workers agree pay rise after 3-month strike

Published

10 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

San Francisco hotel workers agree pay rise after 3-month strike

What’s New

Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.

The union, which represents about 15,000 workers in the region, announced that the deal settles the last of the city’s 2024 hotel strikes, covering approximately 900 Hilton workers.

Newsweek has contacted Unite Here Local 2 and Hilton via email for comment.

San Francisco Union Square Hilton Hotel workers strike on September 3, 2024. Workers voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.

Justin Sullivan/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Why It Matters

The new contracts after this year’s strikes establish significant improvements in wages, health care and workload protections for workers at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott-operated hotels.

The agreements conclude months of labor unrest that involved thousands of workers and disrupted San Francisco’s hotel industry.

What To Know

Hilton workers voted 99.4 percent in favor of the agreement on Christmas Eve, which includes a $3 per hour immediate wage increase, additional raises, and protections against understaffing and increased workloads.

The four-year contract preserves affordable union health insurance and provides pension increases. The deal covers workers at Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55, with 650 workers having actively participated in the strike.

This agreement follows similar contracts reached with Hyatt workers on Friday and Marriott workers last Thursday, covering a total of 2,500 workers who had been on strike since late September.

What People Are Saying

Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years, said: “These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up. We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”

Lizzy Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2, said: “Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards – and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight. As contract talks begin with the city’s other full-service hotels in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said on X: “All those that have been out on strike will be back to work, and just in time for Christmas. So, things are looking bright as we head into 2025.

What Happens Next

Unite Here Local 2 said it would push for other full-service hotels in San Francisco to adopt the same standards established by the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott agreements when contract negotiations resume in 2025.

Source link

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco hotel workers approve new contract, ending 3-month strike

Published

18 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

San Francisco hotel workers approve new contract, ending 3-month strike

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Hilton hotel workers who have been on strike for the past three months voted Tuesday to approve a new union contract.

The approval by Unite Here Local 2 in San Francisco settles the last of three hotel strikes in San Francisco this year, union officials said.

The strikes at Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotels throughout the city began in the fall. Marriott workers reached agreements on Thursday, with Hyatt doing the same on Friday.

San Francisco Hyatt Hotel union workers unanimously approve new contract

The Hilton agreement is the same as those ratified by striking Hyatt and Marriott workers last week, according to Ted Waechter, spokesperson for the Unite Here Local 2 union.

The agreement applies to about 900 workers, 650 of which have been on strike for over three months, according to Waechter. The hotels include the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and about 250 workers at Hilton’s Parc 55 hotel, who had been prepared to go on strike.

All the deals with hotels include keeping the workers’ health plan, wage increases, and protections against understaffing and workload increases.

Many of the 2,500 hotel workers had been striking for about 93 days, picketing daily in Union Square, which is the site of a Hilton and the nearby Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street.

SF Hyatt Hotel union workers on strike to vote on ratifying tentative agreement for new contract

“These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up,” said Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years. “We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”

Hilton media representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie on Tuesday issued a statement welcoming an end to the strike, saying it came just in time for the holiday season and allows workers to return to work for key events such as the JP Morgan Health Care Conference and NBA All-Star Game.

Unite Here Local 2 represents about 15,000 hotel, airport and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties and represented the striking hotel workers.

Source link

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2024

Press Room

San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season

The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.

One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.

While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.

In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.

“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”

Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.

Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.

In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.

Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.

Source link