Gerald Jones, a longtime Mission resident who lives and works in a city-contracted supportive housing site,pushed a steel laundry cart — the kind found in laundromats — out of the Hotel Royan Hotel on Valencia Street near 15th Street, toward a large dumpster on the corner. He tossed in furniture and bags left behind by tenants who had recently moved out.
Jones has watched the recent sweep activity around the plazas and nearby blocks. The effort, he said, hasn’t changed much. “They didn’t clean it,” he said. “They just moved people around.”
He said the daytime presence of officers and city workers — including the Mobile Command Unit parked on the southwest plaza — does little to address the underlying issues. “That presence, it was good for a minute… it looked good,” he said. “It’s not really doing anything come nightfall. It just makes you move around.”
Even during the day — depending on the hour — the biggest impact is on the southwest plaza where the mobile unit sits. Otherwise, like today around lunchtime, the side streets and northeast plaza continue to have a fair amount of activity. Residents say much of the latter involves drugs or alcohol and police have been making an increasing number of arrests for low-level crimes, according to Police Chief Bill Scott.
On Thursday, dozens of people stood around the bus stop in front of the northeast plaza around lunchtime. Two men in hoodies sold a small spread of chocolates, peanut butter sandwiches, and a box of cereal. A woman in pink Crocs reached to inspect an item but quickly walked away.
Nearby, an elderly woman in a blue disposable face mask sold bagged onions and oranges. No police vehicles or officers were present.
Six people stood or sat along Caledonia Street. One person leaned up against a wall beside a metal-fenced garage, while a wheelchair with a suitcase on top sat in the middle of the street. Two others sat on the curb beside someone standing nearby.
Julian Avenue had scattered trash near the corner of 16th Street, with about ten people gathered on the east side. The two orange trash cans in front of the Gubbio Project were lined with black bags.
Wiese Street was nearly empty at 12:10 p.m., with no visible trash at the time of this report.
On Capp Street three men and one woman gathered along the wall of the Mission Plaza Apartments. One man in a red jacket sat looking down at his hands, holding a torch lighter. Two others stood beside him under a black umbrella.
ML, DO NOT REMOVE MY COMMENTS PLEASE!!THIS IS BULLCRAP “NO CHANGE” TO 16TH MISSION ST,ITS WORST ON THE WEEKENDS,I WILL GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW AND TAKE PICTURES OF “OUTSIDE ILLEGAL MARKET” ON SIDEWALK FROM 15TH MISSION TO 16TH MISSION(ALL RETAIL THEFTS ITEMS, WHAT A FREAKING JOKE! IM NOT LAUGHING, BUT ANGRY😡😤),NO FREAKING CHANGE,ITS WORST NOW,ALL THE FUC___ DRUG ADDICTS,THEIVES,VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIENS IN FULL FORCE AT NIGHT IN WIESE ALLY FROM 15TH ST TO 16TH ST,YOU GOT THEM OUT HERE SCREAMING, DOING DRUGS IN FRONT OF OUR CHILDRENS BEDROOM WINDOWS,PLAYING LOUD MUSIC, COPS COME THROUGH(weekdays only!) CHASE SOME OUT(SUPPOSE TO BE CHASING “ALL” OUT OF ALLEY),ON WEEKENDS POLICE DONT EVEN SHOW UP AT ALL ON WEEKENDS !!! IM FED UP WITH 17TH ST POLICE FAKE ASS DEPARTMENT OF “NO ACTION COPS”,WOMEN COPS ARE LITERALLY SHRINKING IN SIZE TO ABOUT 4’9 TO 5 FT TALL,WHO THEY GONNA SCARE AWAY??? THIS IS A FREAKING JOKE,CIRCUS!!! GOV. NEWSCUM IS TO BLAME! LIBERAL,LEFT WOKE DEMONCRAP FREE SPEECH ML,IM NATIVE SF🌉❤️💯🇺🇸🇵🇷🇭🇳🇲🇽MUCHAS GRACIAS
Ma’am —
Take a deep breath and stop typing in all-caps. Your lengthy comments are tedious and this sort of thing adds nothing to this discussion. This manner of commentary can be taken elsewhere. In the future, it will be.
Best,
JE
Day 9037, 4 am, 16th st plaza seems normal, busy with activity; Dealers and addicts are conducting business as usual..9am, the police is showing up, everyone scatters in the alleys… noon, the police go for lunch, the Walgreens sellers are back..1pm everyone scatters again. 4pm a guy gets arrested for pieing on a trash can. 5pm the alleys are now cleaned up, 8 pickup trucks were filled. 10pm, the plaza is busy again. Day 9038 won’t be different.