Connect with us

San Francisco, CA

SF’s newest green space is Bayfront Park, just opposite Chase Center

Published

on

SF’s newest green space is Bayfront Park, just opposite Chase Center


Situated on the eastern side of Terry A. Francois Boulevard between Warriors Way and 16th Street, the still-fenced-off Bayfront Park contains tables and benches, extensive “bioretention gardens” intended to manage stormwater runoff and a sloping, grassy hill. 

Several large, vertically oriented pieces of reclaimed steel are also clearly visible, a nod to the shoreline’s industrial past.

According to Eric Young, a spokesperson for the Port, these are sections of the Bay Bridge’s original eastern span, which was dismantled more than a decade ago. “The site also includes salvaged anchors from the Port of San Francisco’s ‘boneyard,’ as well as new plaza areas for barbecues and picnics,” he said.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

San Francisco, CA

S.F. police investigating attack after tech co-founder says he was struck with pipe

Published

on

S.F. police investigating attack after tech co-founder says he was struck with pipe


San Francisco police are investigating an attack after a tech co-founder said he was struck in the head with a metal pipe in the Mission District. 

A witness told police the victim, 33, and another man got into an argument that escalated into a fight in the area of 24th and Bryant streets around 2:10 a.m. Jan. 18. The San Francisco Police Department did not provide other details about the attack or the extent of the victim’s injuries, except to say he was bleeding from the head. 

Paramedics took him to a hospital for treatment, police said. 

The assailant took off after the attack and had not been arrested as of Sunday. 

Advertisement

The investigation is ongoing, with investigators “working to make an arrest in this case,” the department said Sunday on X. 

“Violent crime is unacceptable in San Francisco and the SFPD has devoted resources to ensure the public is safe and perpetrators are held accountable,” the department said.

In a series of posts on X, the apparent victim — Vishnu Hari, co-founder of Ego, a San Francisco-based AI-powered 3D simulation engine, according to his X and LinkedIn accounts — said he was discharged from a hospital’s intensive care unit recently. 

Calling the attack unprovoked, he said he was struck in the back of the head with a metal pipe as he walked home from a corner store. The account was based on information he gathered from friends; he has no recollection of the incident, he said. 

Hari said he suffered a traumatic brain injury, and that the attack left him partially blind in his right eye and unable to hear well out of his left ear. He expects it will take several months to heal, he said. 

Advertisement

The assailant did not steal his phone or wallet, but did rip off his jewelry, Hari said on social media. 

Hari did not respond to a request for comment Sunday. 



Source link

Continue Reading

San Francisco, CA

Recall campaign against San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio officially launched

Published

on

Recall campaign against San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio officially launched


SAN FRANCISCO – Efforts to recall San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio shifted into a new gear as organizers officially launched the campaign on Saturday. 

At the United Irish Cultural Center in the Sunset District, dozens of community members gathered to sign the recall petition. Some people even volunteered to collect signatures from District 4 voters. Among them was Frances Misenas, a District 4 resident who actually voted in favor of Proposition K. 

“I’m for a park, I actually love the idea of a park,” Misenas said. “But the process was not transparent, and it wasn’t clear, and it doesn’t represent our neighborhood’s concerns.” 

Proposition K permanently closes a stretch of the Great Highway near Ocean Beach to transform it into a park. Residents of San Francisco’s west side, particularly from the Sunset District, expressed frustration and anger over the supervisor’s role in helping to pass the controversial measure. 

Advertisement

“I have concerns about safety because there’s increased traffic in our neighborhoods. My neighbor just last week had a car run into his home,” Misenas said. 

Critics, including Misenas, argue that Engardio failed to adequately engage with constituents before pushing Proposition K to a citywide vote. They contend that closing the two-mile stretch of the Great Highway has created significant traffic problems, diverting cars into residential streets and compromising the safety and convenience of local residents. 

Nancy, a District 4 resident living near the Great Highway, expressed her frustrations, saying, “When (traffic) gets heavy there, I can’t get in and out of my garage and cars won’t stop.” 

Marc Duffett, owner of Ocean Park Motel, echoed similar sentiments, calling the situation “very offensive, and I think a lot of people are very angry about having it shoved down our throats.” 

Organizers of the recall effort argued that Engardio’s actions hurt public safety and claimed his failure to adequately consider the concerns of his constituents was a key reason for the recall. Richard Corriea, a recall organizer, said, “He’s made us less safe on the west side. He’s ignored his constituents.” 

Advertisement

Proposition K passed by about five percentage points. The November results showed voters living near the Great Highway overwhelmingly rejected Proposition K, while those living farther away supported it. 

In response, Supervisor Engardio has defended his support for Proposition K, stating that the coast “belongs to everyone” and that erosion along the southern part of the highway made the decision inevitable. 

“The southern part has literally fallen into the ocean because of the severe coastal erosion,” Engardio said. “I respect that people are going to disagree about what to do with the Great Highway, but you can’t beat Mother Nature. She’s already decided that this road has lost its greatest utility.” 

The supervisor also pointed to his broader contributions to the district, including improvements to education, public safety, and the popular night markets. 

“Don’t think we should recall someone based on one policy issue,” Engardio added. 

Advertisement

However, recall organizers remain steadfast, with Corriea arguing that the issue goes beyond a single issue: “He’d like to say it’s one thing. It’s betrayal and he’s made us less safe on the west side.” 

As of now, recall organizers have until late May to gather 9,400 valid signatures. They report having already collected 1,000 signatures since launching their campaign just five days ago. Misenas, for her part, is ready to continue her efforts, emphasizing that the issue at hand is about safety. 

“I’m just going to talk to my neighbors first, my neighbors on my block,” she said, highlighting the real-world consequences of the road closures. 

If the recall effort proves successful and enough signatures are gathered, organizers said a special recall election would take place likely in October.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

San Francisco, CA

San Franciscans have a second shot at a new beginning, and boy do we need it

Published

on

San Franciscans have a second shot at a new beginning, and boy do we need it


A lion at Kerouac Alley at Grant Avenue in San Francisco for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Carl Nolte/The Chronicle

The January spell of weeks when winter felt like summer is over. Rain is in the air and the skies have turned gray. Gray news all around San Francisco, too: The California Historical Society is history, dissolved after 154 years. Books, Inc., the oldest bookseller in the West, is in financial trouble. Empty stores. You know the story.

The western new year — 2025 — has been a bust so far. Maybe it’s time to think of a newer new year. So I took a trip to Chinatown to see what’s new. And to North Beach to see what’s old. A good way to start the Lunar New Year. This is the year of the serpent, by tradition a time of wisdom and adaptability. We could use both.

Advertisement

The beginning of the trip was unpromising, up Kearny from Market, up Sutter Street, right on Stockton Street past blocks of “For Lease” signs, then through the noisy Stockton Tunnel.

Article continues below this ad

Stockton Street was a bit quiet for a holiday period, but it turned out I had missed the new year rush. So I headed down the side streets into the Chinatown alleys — Ross Alley and Waverly Place — decorated with lanterns and flags, the pavement thick with bits of red paper from firecracker new year celebrations.

The Chinatown alleys, usually packed with life and locked doorways, always seem mysterious to western eyes. At this time of the year they also seem to have a new-year vitality as if this old part of the city was starting again.

There was a big celebration on the first day of the new year at Portsmouth Square, with Daniel Lurie, the city’s new mayor, on hand.

Advertisement

I went to a smaller event at the northerly part of Grant Avenue, where Chinatown runs into North Beach.

There were a couple of hundred people here, jammed together on Grant, listening to speeches in English and Cantonese. The sound system was not up to the job but the message was clear: good wishes for a happy and prosperous new year. Tell your friends to come by. We could use the business.

Article continues below this ad

The speeches ended in the roar of a thousand firecrackers and enough white smoke to deter whatever evil spirits might be around.

There were two Chinese lions dancing and a third lion standing by at the entrance to Kerouac Alley. The street is only 60 feet long — one end in Chinatown, the other in Italian-flavored North Beach, two worlds of San Francisco.

Advertisement

“At the front side we faced the western world, at the back we faced the eastern world,’’ Lawrence Ferlinghetti said of the City Lights bookstore at the North Beach end of the alley.  

Just beyond is a three-way intersection where Grant, Columbus Avenue and Broadway all run together.

On the North Beach side a dozen Chinese street musicians were playing, the eastern music drifting over the sounds of the city: traffic, buses, sirens. Just opposite was a neon sign celebrating the raucous days when this corner was ground zero for topless dancing.

Article continues below this ad

It was a new year in Chinatown, but an older time was still the order of the day in North Beach and the two worlds are close together so I headed up a block or two to Green Street for a winter’s day drink at Gino and Carlo and lunch at Sotto Mare, in the heart of North Beach.

Advertisement

 “Sotto Mare” means “under the sea” in Italian and I enjoy the sand dabs there. They are small fish with both eyes on the left side of their heads, a San Francisco kind of fish.

I like to sit at the counter and watch the cooks at work, dicing and slicing, big flames coming up from the gas stoves. The orders are written on paper and come to the cooks zipping on a long wire. Very low tech, very old San Francisco. 

I had a glass of wine while waiting for lunch and got to thinking: Change is in the air for the new year. A band of rain, even a storm, is in the forecast.  And after that, in the second week of February, all the street trees will start to bloom.

Article continues below this ad

There’s a special thing about this wintry season in this part of the world: You get a second chance at a new year.

Advertisement

Carl Nolte’s columns appear in The Chronicle’s Sunday edition. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending