SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — From the stages to the food trucks, San Francisco took another step towards a comeback Thursday night with its first Downtown First Thursdays.

“Make it feel like there are actually things that are happening in downtown San Francisco and make us think of a future in this city, that gives us hope,” said San Francisco resident, Kenny Green.

Thursday night’s kickoff marked the first of many block parties in the SoMa District, scheduled for the first Thursday of each month. “It’s a fun vibe and it’s nice to see a lot of the stores I see at other events, and the food smells great,” said San Francisco resident, Neeti Ganjur.

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“San Franciscans need to remember we are great at throwing a party and celebrating; getting people back to downtown,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “Hopefully this is the kind of thing that makes people who have the option of working from home or commuting want to come downtown and that’s good for our businesses.”

“Even if people come downtown to work they leave as soon as it’s done, so it’s fun to have something nearby for all the coworkers and friends to join up and enjoy time together downtown,” said San Francisco resident Mary Keenan.

And for business owners like jeweler Meghan Zore, the event is a welcome sight.

“I mean they’re expecting 10,000 people tonight – that’s amazing on a Thursday,” Zore. “San Francisco in my mind is hope. San Francisco is change. We’re going through a transition period, but all that means is an opportunity for new stuff to bloom.”

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Volunteers from the Gap, JP Morgan Chase, Levi Strauss, Visa, and Wells Fargo stepped outside their office buildings on Thursday and into the streets and parks of San Francisco, ready to clean up.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A San Francisco man is livid after finding a doll with a noose around it’s neck among other things on the doorstep of his Alamo Square home.

Terry Williams says he can’t sleep at night after the events of what happened April 26. One what seemed like an ordinary morning, Terry woke up to take his three Rottweilers out for a walk around 6 a.m. That’s when his father found something on the doorstep that shook him to the core.

It was a clear plastic zip bag with words scrawled in black marker.

“It has gangster, thug, and other negative stuff about Black people on there,” Williams said.

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The contents inside were even worse.

“A picture of me with a noose around the neck and a noose around the dog figurine,” he said.

Also inside, this stuffed doll so graphic and laden with slurs, we couldn’t show any of it on television.

“Calling me monkey, go pick cotton…” rattles off Williams, who recalls such terrible slurs and sayings — he had to consult a family member asking about them.

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A sheet of paper inside was also so laden with hateful speech, ABC7 News also had to blur it out.

“It says the 4th of July is for White people not for Black people, among other things,” Williams said.

Terry says, as a dog walker for more than a decade and someone living in Alamo Square since the 70s, he’s no stranger to racism but never vitriol and hate like this.

Terry has no idea who could have left the package but provided police surveillance video from a neighbor showing an individual approach his home around 12:30 a.m. SFPD tell me the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

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Terry is sharing his story not just to represent his industry. “As a minority dog walker, I’m trying to get more people of color to do it,” he said.

He’s also encouraging others to speak out and help end the hate – in the neighborhood he loves and calls home.

“This has got to stop. My people don’t speak up – they keep everything tucked in. You can’t let this go by. Can’t let this go by. The more stuff you let go by the most they feel entitled to do stuff. This is my way stepping up, no I’m not letting this happen no more. This makes me want to stay and fight harder, I’m not going anywhere.”

Neighbors have rallied behind Terry and started this GoFundMe to help him pay for security cameras at his home.

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