“I’ll do $25 for three, okay?” a vendor haggled with a potential customer on Monday, near the bus stop at the northeast 16th Street BART Plaza. The vendor held a tote on one arm as she tried to convince the customer who looked down inside the bag.
“I got it from a store, from Macy’s,” the vendor continued. It was hard to tell what she was selling, but it looked like beige tights.
The two reached a deal, and the vendor walked on. Before police established a 24/7 presence here, some vendors laid out blankets to display their wares. Now, they sell the goods from shopping bags, on foot. Twenty feet away, two police officers and public works employees stood, appearing not to notice. At the bus stop, a man pulled out clothing from his black duffel bag, then seemed to reconsider. He put it back and got on the bus instead.
On Monday afternoon, both plazas were mostly clean, even around the trash cans. The only exception: The gated space behind the elevator at the northeast plaza was scattered with trash: A Häagen-Dazs ice cream pint and a beer can wrapped in a brown paper bag.
On the southwest plaza, an Urban Alchemy worker hosed down the sidewalk, and foamy water snaked down the plaza. The air smelled like cleaning supplies.
The side streets were in rougher shape.
Around 2:10 p.m., Wiese Street was empty of people, but trash was scattered along it. An empty stroller sat abandoned at the entrance to the alleyway. A resident, sitting on the fire escape on the second floor, looked down.
On Julian Avenue, about half a dozen people gathered in front of the Kailash Hotel, and plastic bags were littered on the sidewalk. On Caledonia Street, about eight people gathered at the end of the alley, where a 1-800-GOT-JUNK truck parked. In the shade, puddles of water still hadn’t dried out from the street cleaning, but trash littered the alley there, too.
On Capp Street, four people rested on the sidewalk, with their belongings on pieces of cardboard. Someone’s dog played with an empty plastic container. A woman in an all-white outfit and a face mask wove through them with a cane.
“On Capp Street, four people rested on the sidewalk” Resting? I see, from a long day of being chased from here and there for smoking fentanyl and meth in public and scattering trash in the neighborhood. Words matter, those quoted above are a poor choice. Lets start to call it what it is actually. I believe the word is LOITERING.
How about “four passed out junkies”?
Isn’t there a crackhouse run by the Guibbo Project to help facilitate this type of “rest”?
words do matter. loitering is a word used to criminalize everyday behavior of using public space. its a good word for repressive police state and individuals who should move to private communities.
Wow, you’re really triggered by words.
Haha, “repressive police state.” “Loitering” is a perfectly appropriate word to use for criminal behavior in public spaces. I’m sick and tired of seeing illegal, destructive drugs being sold and used on the streets. They’ve made their choice, they want to destroy themselves, step by step.