Category: News

“At some point the people of San Fran will look up from their smart phones and realize they’ve turned one of the funkiest places in the world into a mall”

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Blogging legend (and former Mission dweller) Tony Pierce (of the world-famous Busblog, LAist, the LA Times, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) reacts to today’s news about Mr. Bing’s:

I first went to Mr. Bings with Marc Brown. Mellow, uncompromised, simple, comfy, respectable dive bar across the street from a peep show. Leave it to Frisco to intend to do it harm.

I am sure there are still some smart people in SF. Mark Johnson, Barney Greinke, and Allan Hough immediately come to mind. Sadly they are not political muscle men or power brokers.

At some point the people of San Fran will look up from their smart phones and realize they’ve turned one of the funkiest places in the world into a mall.

Hopefully the zombie apocalypse will go down soon and when it does I hope the zombies realize that the most brains per capita are in No Cal and they start there.

Drinks after the apocalypse at the 500 Club.

Looking forward to it, Tony.

(And also, there’s the news about the Stud.)

Hunger strike, one week in

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Mission Local reports:

The day after a group of hunger strikers held a rally outside the Mission District police station that saw more than 100 people chant for the firing of the city’s police chief, the group of nine began the seventh day of their fast – tired but determined.

“We’re getting pretty weak,” said Edwin Lindo, a candidate for District 9 supervisor who has camped outside of Mission Station for a week to demand that Police Chief Greg Suhr be fired or resign. Lindo briefly fainted on the second day of the strike, and an ambulance pulled up to the strikers on Wednesday morning to monitor their vitals.

“We’re getting low on blood sugar,” Lindo said.

Mayor Ed Lee responded to the hunger strike for the first time on Tuesday, saying the strikers had a right to protest but that he would not fire the chief and that he intended to allow current departmental reform plans to proceed. Chief Suhr also responded and said he had no intention of resigning.

Read on.

[Photo by Ariel]

Yet another fire in the long-vacant, fire-damaged building at 22nd and Mission

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Just a few weeks after city officials told the building’s former tenants to go fuck themselves, the thing goes up in flames once again.

Mission Local reports:

A 3-alarm fire broke out at the previously fire-damaged building at Mission and 22nd streets shortly after 11 p.m on Sunday night. No injuries have been reported beyond some cuts and bruises among firefighters.

By 1:20 a.m., the fire was reported under control. Residents of the adjacent building on 22nd Street, which suffered serious water damage after last year’s fire, were told that they would be able to return to their homes despite broken windows and water damage caused by the fire fighting.

The corner building has been abandoned and decaying since a fire on January 28, 2015, that apparently stemmed from an electrical fault inside a third floor wall. One man died and more than 60 residents were displaced in that fire, which caused serious damage to the building and led the city to condemn it in February.

Since then, neighbors have reported taggers going onto the roof via the fire escape and scaffolding that surrounds the building. Others said they’ve seen squatters in the derelict site in the past.

Read on.

City says fire-damaged Mission Market/Popeye’s building must be demolished and displaced tenants must go fuck themselves

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Mission Local reports:

The Department of Building Inspection on Friday ordered the demolition of the fire-damaged building at the corner of 22nd and Mission Streets, citing a concern that a moderate earthquake would collapse the building outward and cause harm to the public.

If the building is demolished, more than 60 tenants displaced by the fire may lose the right to return to their units after reconstruction.

San Francisco guarantees rent-controlled tenants who are displaced by a fire the right to return to their units after repair at their previous rent, though few do. But with the demolition, that protection no longer applies: New buildings are not subject to rent control because of state law and are not bound by the right of return. No-fault evictions on the basis of demolition are also allowed under city law.

Read on for lots more.

[Photo by Google Maps]

Gentrification in microcosm

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Here’s the beginning of an article titled “Longtime Residents Worry Roommate With Well-Paid Job Slowly Gentrifying Apartment”:

Noting that many areas are completely unrecognizable compared to when they first moved in years ago, residents of 1102 Larimer Street Apartment 2B told reporters Thursday they’ve begun to worry their well-paid roommate is slowly gentrifying the apartment. “I don’t hold anything against Mark personally for having a good job, but as soon as he moved in, the framed pictures started going up, and this place has lost a lot of its original character,” longtime roommate John Wertz said of the new arched floor lamp, Whole Foods groceries in the pantry, and a potted succulent plant that have slowly replaced the apartment’s longtime furnishings and steadily reshaped the space’s look.

Read on for the startling conclusion.

San Francisco to close at end of June

The Onion reports:

SAN FRANCISCO—Saying that staying in its current location was no longer feasible, sources across San Francisco confirmed Thursday that the popular Northern California city would be shutting its doors at the end of the month due to rising rent.

Residents and business owners of the iconic West Coast metropolis, which has occupied the same peninsula for generations, told reporters that spiraling costs had reached such a level that remaining in its 47-square-mile waterfront space was simply beyond its means.

Read on for more.

[Photo by Allie]

[related-posts]

I guess they seriously want to raze an entire block (at 19th and Bryant) to make room for condos

In the comments section of our Facebook post about the blog “Man Lines”, neighbor Spike K. posted the above photo and the following:

the next fight, and without the moratorium its crucial to come and protest: on June 18th, the planning commission will hear the developers request for a demolition permit to raze the entire block of Bryant st, between 18th and 19th st, the former Cell Space, Tortilla Flats, the A.C.T. prop and scene shop losing 50 union jobs, the auto repair shop that’s been there for decades, losing 9 blue collar jobs, and a local landscaping firm. come to the mtg 6/18 at 12 noon at city hall, room 400, and say no to this request to destroy our neighborhood and put up 200+ luxury homes.