Zachariah Blade Dawson stood on a ledge with his skateboard at United Nations Plaza—the longtime epicenter of San Francisco’s drug and homelessness crises—and watched as a woman and a child made their way through the square.
San Francisco, CA
UN Plaza in San Francisco: Is It Still the Drug Crisis Zone?
“They can walk through here without a care in the world because we’re right here,” Dawson said, referring to skateboarders who have taken ownership of the public space since the city added a skate park to the plaza last fall.
“You think they would do that if it was surrounded by drug dealers?” he said as he smoked a cigarette. “You could bring your grandma down here now.”
Local officials say crime and reckless behavior have greatly diminished during the day since the park opened at U.N. Plaza. For skaters, the new park symbolizes a dramatic change in how the local government treats them. The sport was effectively banned in the plaza before.
Last week, the shoe company Adidas hosted a “skate jam” and video screening at the park with blind skateboarder Dan Mancina.
“Skateboarding was the next best crime,” said Dawson, co-owner of Low Key Skate Shop in the Tenderloin. “We self-regulate. … I guess they finally recognized that.”
From 2019 through 2023, U.N. Plaza, just two blocks from City Hall, was the location with the most drug overdose emergency calls in the city. The San Francisco Fire Department responded to 433 overdose calls at the plaza between Jan. 1, 2019, and Nov. 7, 2023, before the skate park opened. That’s according to The Standard’s data analysis of fire department calls with a high likelihood of being overdoses based on patient care reports filed by medics.
As part of a plan to “activate” the plaza, city officials launched a series of initiatives last year to make the area more inviting.
The plans were initially met with suspicion as vendors at the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market were forced to move across the street, and others questioned how around $2 million in renovations could combat the city’s drug crisis.
Since the skate park opened on Nov. 8, the fire department has responded to about two daytime overdoses—between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.—each month. That’s about half the four daytime overdose monthly average the department logged at the plaza in 2023 before the skate park arrived.
However, the number of overdoses in the plaza has remained steady. An average of 12 people have overdosed in the plaza monthly since the skate park opened, as overdoses are occurring more frequently at night.
The data provides an imperfect picture of overdose calls at U.N. Plaza because the fire department logs calls to the nearest intersection. To get a count of calls to U.N. Plaza, The Standard selected intersections that have a clear entrance into the public square. The data documents calls between Jan. 1, 2019, and Jan. 19, 2024.
During the pandemic, the city sanctioned a homeless encampment, known as a “safe sleeping site,” across the street from the plaza. That site closed in preparation for the return of the Pride Parade in 2022.
Then, for 11 months in 2022, the city operated the Tenderloin Center, a supervised drug use site, in the plaza. Staff at the facility reversed 333 overdoses, but the center closed as some alleged it attracted criminal behavior to the area.
Following the closure, the city turned its efforts toward revitalizing the plaza. In December 2022, the Department of Emergency Management constructed a mural of trees and installed speakers blasting classic rock & roll, meant to “reinforce the area as an arts & cultural district,” where the Tenderloin Center once stood.
In August, the city hosted a four-day carnival in the plaza that featured a Ferris wheel, a 100-foot super slide and spinning teacups.
In November, just before world leaders descended on the city for the APEC summit, Mayor London Breed unveiled the skate park and activity area, complete with chess tables, pingpong tables and an exercise space. The plaza’s fountain, designed to represent the continents of the earth, was also refurbished with new plants.
In a statement, Breed’s office touted the renovations as “proof of what’s possible when we work together to deliver safe, clean, and vibrant public spaces to our communities.”
But the root of the problems once seen at the plaza has not been fixed; these problems have simply been moved away during the daytime. The total number of overdose calls in the city has remained consistent, and many overdoses are still reported in the plaza at night. The city experienced a record number of overdose deaths last year, losing 806 lives, according to preliminary data from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.
Around 8 p.m. Thursday, a reporter for The Standard saw more than 100 people gathered at the edges of the plaza, hawking wares and using drugs as police cars sat parked nearby. Skaters rolled through the skate park in the middle of the plaza, while a new art display of LED plant fixtures glowed fluorescent colors.
“Don’t come here at night still,” Dawson, the skate shop owner, said. “Don’t be stupid.”
Starting in June, city, state and federal agencies began a collaborative effort to stamp out drug activity in the area around the plaza.
The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement that it’s focused many of its efforts on stopping drug activity in the area. However, the department said it’s still looking to further address drug activity at night but refused to give additional details.
“U.N. Plaza and the surrounding area where children and families come to enjoy our city is not an area where we will tolerate drug dealing or drug usage,” the statement read. “We are currently looking at implementing plans to address this 24-hour problem.”
Even the farmers’ market is doing better than many of the vendors initially feared, according to Steve Pulliam, director of the market. Pulliam said many of the market’s customers feel safer at its new location, even though it’s just across the street in the plaza between the Asian Art Museum and the main library.
Pulliam said 20% of vendors at the market have seen an increase in their business at the new location, while 40% reported no changes in their sales. Another 40%, many of whom are located on the far side away from the BART station, said they’ve seen a decrease in business, he said.
“It’s hard to say if customers feel safe because we moved or because of the increased security presence,” Pulliam said, referring to a seeming uptick of police officers and nonprofit ambassadors in the area. “They’re getting the support that we would have loved to have during the rough times.”
Meanwhile, at the United Nations Cafe, business is booming, according to Penglorn Sam, a longtime employee. Sam used to dread coming to work at the plaza, but now he can’t stop smiling as he sells coffee and sandwiches to skateboarders and passersby.
“Before, I wanted to leave. But now I’m happy to work,” Sam said. “I feel so much better than before.”
Sam, who’s worked the cash register at the cafe for six years, said he used to encounter people with severe mental illness daily. He recalled multiple times when the front window of the cafe was smashed and another occasion when someone crawled behind the counter and stole his tip jar.
But now, with the skate park, those types of incidents have decreased. The cafe has capitalized on the improvements, adding an outdoor patio where customers can eat.
Steven Rice, director of ambassadors for the nonprofit Code Tenderloin, told The Standard much of the drug activity has dispersed across the Tenderloin.
At night, Rice said, drug dealers are mostly operating on the corners of Turk and Hyde streets—several blocks north of U.N. Plaza—and also at Jones and Market, one block east of the plaza. However, Rice is among those who consider the plaza’s renovations a success.
“It’s been lively. They’ve got a lot of people there during the daytime,” Rice said, noting that he enjoys eating at United Nations Cafe’s new patio. “But the drug dealing has spread out in many different areas.”
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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