On Tuesday morning, Feliciano Aranda dipped a brush into a can of beige paint and swept it across a graffiti-covered wall outside the Kailash Hotel on Julian Avenue, just north of 16th Street. His black work vest was splattered with dried paint, and a pair of glasses sat low on his nose as he reached up with the brush.
“I don’t like seeing people followed or harassed,” he said of the recent police presence at the 16th Street Plaza. “But yeah, because of the mess, I guess it helps a little.” He added that training and offering jobs to unhoused people might be more effective. “They’d probably do this for less than what they pay me.”
In a strange coincidence, a man wearing a surgical mask and hat approached Aranda and asked in Spanish if he knew of any other jobs like the one he was doing. Aranda wasn’t sure, but told him to reach out to hotel management.
Aranda has worked at the Kailash for about a year. Before that, he spent two years unhoused after his landlord died during the pandemic and he was evicted. “It wasn’t drugs or alcohol,” he said. “Just lost my place.”
He was born in San Francisco, and spent part of his childhood in Nicaragua. “I went to Nicaragua when I was about three, and back when I was 14,” he said. “I would like to stay here, but if I can’t, I won’t.”
4/22/25 Caledonia Street. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 Feliciano Aranda who was born in San Francisco is seen with paint brush in hand as he removes graffiti on the side of the Kailash Hotel on Julian Avenue. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 Julian Avenue had about half a dozen people near the Kailash Hotel. At 10:01 a.m., Aranda was seen covering graffiti on the side of the building. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 At 10:09 a.m., a man sat on Wiese Street beside a shopping cart stacked with belongings. Loose trash lined parts of the street. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez4/22/25 At 10:15 a.m., the northeast plaza saw increased patrolling. Two SFPD officers stood talking with two DPW workers. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 Joshua Walters sings and strums his guitar at the Northeast 16th street plaza. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 The southeast 16th Street Plaza had no police officers or DPW workers on site, aside from the Mobile Command Unit that has remained parked there since March 12. The plaza was clean, with about eight people sitting along the outer edge near the BART entrance. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.4/22/25 By 10:35 a.m., a DPW truck filled with trash was parked on Capp Street. When asked if all of it came from the street, the worker nodded. Photo by Gustavo Hernandez.
Gustavo Hernandez is a freelance photojournalist and videographer currently living in Excelsior District. He graduated in Fall 2024 with a double major in Journalism (Photojournalism) and BECA (Broadcasting and Electronic Communications Arts) from San Francisco State University. You can periodically catch him dodging potholes on his scooter and actively eating pho.
BART should close down the 16th Street stop an fence off the entire plaza until a heavy handed solution is enacted and enforced, otherwise the existing situation will just continue endlessly.
All at ML paper deserve an award for your comitment on this coverage of such human tragedy. The clear photos, the interviews with those who work and live in the area are the only way to get the attention this area among us so desparately needs. I hope folks finally figure it out that placing those released from detox, tho still so gravely ill, then back where the fix is at their door is absolute insanity. What ever magic can anyone possibly expect from that solution. Is that why 2 deaths per night via overdose are not uncommon from day to days estimates that I heard just recently, not sure on which local news, as I tune in to that as little
as possible. Well there will be more of that most likely as their
tolerance and drug habit changes due to the cut off in detox. Then
the next fix from an unsavy dealer, not cut enough for the users
lowered tolerance, its lights out. Its been a while more so did w
to view this progress and coment on Gustofos and others powerfully effective endeavour. It is going to make a difference and correct a lot of disinformation I do believe. I feel more would comment though its a hard topic to express. Blaming and venting are in no way helpful to this cause, so seeing none of those this
viewing was good.
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 easy-to-follow rules.
BART should close down the 16th Street stop an fence off the entire plaza until a heavy handed solution is enacted and enforced, otherwise the existing situation will just continue endlessly.
Oh yeah, some fence ought to solve all the problems.
All at ML paper deserve an award for your comitment on this coverage of such human tragedy. The clear photos, the interviews with those who work and live in the area are the only way to get the attention this area among us so desparately needs. I hope folks finally figure it out that placing those released from detox, tho still so gravely ill, then back where the fix is at their door is absolute insanity. What ever magic can anyone possibly expect from that solution. Is that why 2 deaths per night via overdose are not uncommon from day to days estimates that I heard just recently, not sure on which local news, as I tune in to that as little
as possible. Well there will be more of that most likely as their
tolerance and drug habit changes due to the cut off in detox. Then
the next fix from an unsavy dealer, not cut enough for the users
lowered tolerance, its lights out. Its been a while more so did w
to view this progress and coment on Gustofos and others powerfully effective endeavour. It is going to make a difference and correct a lot of disinformation I do believe. I feel more would comment though its a hard topic to express. Blaming and venting are in no way helpful to this cause, so seeing none of those this
viewing was good.