Arena SF Opens This Week
With a tentative opening date of April 5, hip-hop dance club Arena SF will supplant the shuttered Mission Street Sports Bar at 2565 Mission Street. This is yet another change for this location which, previously, was known as Balançoire, the Blue Macaw, and 12 Galaxies.
Richard Einselen was the proprietor of Balançoire and the Mission Street Sports Bar. Now, with new partners Jackson Chung and Dave Ho, he says Arena SF will be less like the sports bar and more like Balançoire.
Chung and Ho run an Arena dance club in Los Angeles’ Koreatown; this will be their second outpost.
“I thought the Mission needed a sports bar, but the Mission couldn’t support it,” summed up Einselen. “People would come in during sporting events, but I think they were expecting something different. I think people expected gourmet food but we had sports bar thing: Burgers, tacos, hot dogs, onion rings. I think if it was on Valencia, it would have done much better.”
It remains to be seen how the residents of the upscale condo complex Vida SF cotton to having a hip-hop dance club across the street. —JE
Bike & Roll to School Week
The S.F. Bicycle Coalition and San Francisco Safe Routes to School are promoting its Bike & Roll to School Week, which will start on April 15 and last until April 19. Families are invited to ride their bikes, scooters, or boards instead of taking cars. You can also sign up and be entered in a raffle to win a Cleary bicycle. More information at their webpage. —AR
SF BiCon tickets to go on Sale
Organizers are seeking volunteers and guest speakers for the city’s first bisexual conference in 30 years. SF BiCon, scheduled for Oct. 12, 2019, is hoping to explore bisexuality and address phobias from other members of the community. Tickets will be available in April, and you can buy them at their website. —AR
It’s not up to the vida residents it’s up to the proprietors to make the venue safe and respectful to not only the vida residents but all of the surrounding residents.
You can bet that if SFarena customers start to assault, shoot guns, play loud music from their cars, stop cars, and disrespect the neighborhood, I will document and call the appropriate authorities.
Other venues put up signs that state to please respect our neighbors, maybe you should do the same.
And maybe figure out ways to let your customers out after you close in a better fashion.
I know you want to make money, I hope you do, but please don’t do it at our expense.
Proud Vida resident
Phillip
Hey Phillip,
That response is pretty racist since you are assuming certain minorities listen to hip hop and that those minorities are essentially criminals who shoot guns and disrespect the neighborhood.
Vida already has a bad reputation for being full of rich people and for trying to stop the Make Out Room and shutting down marching bands and artists outside of the Drafthouse. If you want a quiet, serene, segregated neighborhood, why’d you move to the Mission – a vibrant, bustling, diverse neighborhood with a rich history and culture?
Organizing a marching band on the sidewalk in front of the drafthouse past 11 pm on a weekday was beyond stupid @vida resident. That’s not cultural, that’s not fun, it’s stupid and a blatant disregard for families that are trying to sleep. Do you think the city would even issue a permit for that? I will happily call the police every time something stupid like that happens. That has nothing to do with supporting the culture of the Mission but everything to do with cracking down on idiots that make the Mission a tougher place to live. If you want to argue the merits of ArenaSF try to be more creative and substantive then just pulling out the race card.
@JS
Actually, that is cultural and fun. The Mission is a place where that kind of thing can still happen… but then you moved in and stopped it. So thanks.
The merits of SFArena are debatable. I was specifically calling out Phillip for making a racist comment that he probably didn’t even realize was racist (or still doesn’t). It’s particularly important to acknowledge and call out racism in the Trump Era or we run the risk of it becoming more accepted/normalized/unnoticed.
@Vida Resident – some quick call outs:
– Phillip did not mention “hip-hop” in his comment, rather the author article stated that the new establishment is, a “hip-hop dance club”
– Phillip did not reference minorities as a group, or at all
– Guns and violence are not a concern specific to minorities, rather to all clubs where alcohol (and potentially drugs) are involved with a mass audience available to victimize. This is a big reason why clubs and bars have security – not just to prevent underage entry, but also for the safety of the guests. While specific to a hate crime, the Orlando shooting was a big example of this: https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/2016-orlando-shooting
@Phillip – I thought your comment was very tasteful, objective, and respectful. The main point is, regardless of noise and activities that take place, we want everyone, both club guests and people in the area, to be safe. Thank you for sharing.
@NM
Let’s be real. Phillip might be conscious enough to not mention hip-hop or minorities in his comment. But if the author had called it a “ballet dance club” or a “tango dance club” do you really think Phillip would be mentioning assault, shooting guns, stopping cars, and playing loud music in cars? Phillip is clearly associating hip-hop with certain minorities and crime. To not see that or acknowledge it is being naive or blind.
@VR, are you new the neighborhood? (JK….I’m pretty sure I know who you are btw).
You don’t have to go very far back in the news archives to find evidence of the behavior that Philip is warning against right on this block.