A GMA reporter covering San Francisco’s Westfield Mall closure has admitted his bosses told him not to appear live from fentanyl-ravaged downtown early in the morning because it was ‘too dangerous’.
Chief national news correspondent Matt Gutman told viewers he had been advised against appearing live from Union Square or the mall for ABC’s 4am Good Morning America segment on Thursday.
The veteran broadcaster instead reported on the latest in a long series of downtown retail closures from a separate part of the west coast ‘zombie city’.
‘It is worth mentioning that we are not at Union Square or the Westfield Mall this morning because we have been advised that it’s simply too dangerous to be there at this hour,’ he told viewers.
Back in the studio, Michael Strahan said Gutman’s admission was ‘saying a lot’.
Chief national news correspondent Matt Gutman told viewers he had been advised against appearing live from Union Square or the mall for ABC’s 4am Good Morning America segment on Thursday
Westfield in San Francisco (pictured) has announced it is handing the building back to the lender
Downtown San Francisco is known for widespread drug use – particularly fentanyl – and its large homeless population
Earlier this week, Westfield announced it had defaulted on its half-a-billion loan for the building, and was handing it back to the lender, blaming ‘unsafe conditions’ and a ‘lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity’.
The folding of San Francisco’s biggest mall follows the closure of at least 24 major stores in the area, which is known for its fentanyl epidemic, widespread homelessness and rampant crime – even as it remains home to tech billionaires.
Criminal activity in the area has been on the increase this year – with police data showing a 5 percent rise in robberies, arsons, grand theft autos and homicides in 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
Drug-related deaths also sky-rocketed by 41 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same time last year, mostly due to fentanyl.
Some 200 people died due to overdoses between January and March – or one death every 10 hours – compared with 142 deaths in those months the previous year in the California city.
Earlier this week, Westfield announced it had defaulted on the $558million loan for the building and is handing it back to the lender, which will appoint a receiver.
The decision was sparked by the decision from Nordstrom, the mall’s anchor tenant, to close in August.
Drug-related deaths rocketed by 41 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same time last year, mostly due to fentanyl.
Crowds of homeless people live in tents on sidewalks in the west coast ‘zombie city’
San Francisco Centre generated $455 million in sales in 2019, before the pandemic, but last year, sales were down about a third to $298 million.
Westfield blamed ‘unsafe conditions’ and ‘lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity’ in large part for Nordstrom’s departure.
The mall said the ‘unprecedented’ poor performance in San Francisco was a sharp contrast to the rest of its properties.
San Francisco Centre generated $455 million in sales in 2019, before the pandemic.
Last year, sales were down about a third to $298 million.
Nordstrom occupied 312,000 square feet in the mall: when it closes, Westfield San Francisco will only be 55 percent leased.
Other Westfields are, on average, 93 percent leased.
The mall is a smart and upmarket building, whose other retailers include Bloomingdales, Aesop, Rolex and Sephora.
Westfield’s struggles will pile fresh pressure on city leaders, after multiple retailers and hotels shuttered in downtown San Francisco as it continues to battle soaring crime, open drug use and homelessness.
The famously progressive city has been condemned for its ‘harm reduction’ policies, which critics say have effectively legalized drug taking. Meanwhile, its police department remains short-staffed after woke lawmakers called for defunding in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
Whole Foods, Old Navy, Gap and Office Depot are just some of the stores in the district to announce in recent months that they are closing.
Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city’s Union Square area, just 107 are still operating – a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
The city is in something of a vicious cycle: office workers are now working from home, leaving the downtown area significantly quieter, and making the empty streets more dangerous. The rise in crime then deters people from entering downtown.
And as the downtown empties, the city loses essential tax revenues, and the area becomes less appealing.
The revenue loss to the city caused by decreased property taxes could reach $196 million per year by 2028, according to modeling published in November by the San Francisco Controller’s Office.
The best-case scenario from the modeling expects the cost will be nearer to $100 million per year.