The party was already in full swing at 8:30 p.m. tonight, with skaters careening down Dolores Street, some wiping out at 19th, others continuing down the hill toward 18th Street as more than 100 people looked on.

“Don’t cross,” advised one onlooker as a skater whooshed north on Dolores. Many of the onlookers who lined the street held skateboards at their sides; others watched with a beer in hand.

Except for a few cars that managed to get through, most of Dolores was blocked off from 20th to 18th Streets. It was the third year in a row that skaters organized a hill-bomb event at Dolores Park. At last year’s fete, skaters clashed with police.

The party started earlier in the evening.

Dolores Street is on ??? #skateboard #dolorespark

A post shared by Cécile Parker (@cecile0112358) on

Ah, yes, a planned event.

At 10 p.m. Thursday, police had not yet arrived on the scene and for the most part, the crowd was just having a good time.

The crowd at Dolores Street.

Follow Us

Founder/Executive Editor. I’ve been a Mission resident since 1998 and a professor emeritus at Berkeley’s J-school since 2019 when I retired. I got my start in newspapers at the Albuquerque Tribune in the city where I was born and raised. Like many local news outlets, The Tribune no longer exists. I left daily newspapers after working at The New York Times for the business, foreign and city desks. Lucky for all of us, it is still there.

As an old friend once pointed out, local has long been in my bones. My Master’s Project at Columbia, later published in New York Magazine, was on New York City’s experiment in community boards.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how you make that long-held interest in local news sustainable. The answer continues to elude me.

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

  1. Reply
Leave a comment
Please keep your comments short and civil. Do not leave multiple comments under multiple names on one article. We will zap comments that fail to adhere to these short and very easy-to-follow rules.

Your email address will not be published.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