“Tenderloin Buzz” is a recurring update on changes, tidbits and other news from the Tenderloin. Got news? Send us tips at tips@missionlocal.com.
We’ve been hearing for months that the “safe zone” for kids envisioned in the Tenderloin Community Action Plan’s “investment blueprint” last year is moving forward.
The idea is modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City, and the proposed zone covers over a dozen square blocks that have been identified as having a “high concentration of families, children, and youth services.” Plans include safety measures like expanded street cleaning, increased police presence, signage identifying the area, murals, and programs for kids.
Esan Looper of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, who is involved in the planning stages, tells us the groups involved in planning the zone, which include the district attorney and the mayor’s office — are “in the process of aligning” on the finer details of the plan in meetings this month.
“We gotta get to brass tacks, [like] can we do all of that?” Looper said. “Once we know more we’ll be rolling it out to the community for their input.”
Sunday Streets’ kicks off in the Tenderloin this weekend once again, despite having its funding slashed by the Department of Public Health this spring. When the beloved event of 17 years was cut, private money started flooding in, including from once-Congressional hopeful Saikat Chakrabarti. Chakrabarti has promised to match donations up to 50,000 through the end of June — that fundraiser is still going.
That means five blocks of Ellis Street between Mason and Larkin will be shut to vehicle traffic for the afternoon, in line with the event’s ethos to reclaim car-congested streets in the name of health. We hear there will be a talent show and a lip sync battle, a drag queen will roast public figures, and the Exploratorium will host science and art activities.
The block party is on June 14 from noon to 4 p.m. Check out the event page, or sign up to volunteer.
Saigon Sandwich, one of the few treasured holdouts in this city where you can still get a bánh mì for $5.50, is opening a new location near Fisherman’s Wharf, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
The new location at Anchor’s Landing (alongside In-N-Out and the new Taco Bell Cantina) will serve alcoholic beverages such as soju cocktails, beer and wine — and they say they will keep their affordable prices.
City Attorney David Chiu filed a lawsuit against Golden Tiger LLC and its owner Adam La, for leaving residents of a 52-unit building 155 Hyde St. without power or other utilities for months after a June 2025 fire.
According to Chiu, Golden Tiger allowed residents to move back in and gave them butane-powered camping stoves to cook and heat water. The city stepped in, ordered the building vacated, and helped relocate 89 people in September.
Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival is back for Pride month, and there’s a Tenderloin connection — a screening of “Fire Within,” a documentary that follows four lives in the Tenderloin for a year: two support group facilitators at Glide Memorial Church, and two people struggling with addiction and homelessness.
The Roxie Theater will screen the film on June 22. For more details, click here.
Tragic
Discriminatory borders
Who decided this ?
Way wrong
What about the blocks that are not included .
Beyond comprehension that those involved with this are ok with their decision
Another way wrong attempt to fix an issue
No thanks to these persons or the city who continue to ignore the other troubled blocks that have been pleading for help to include getting control of the lawlessness for years .
This city is surely not pc .
Lacks compassion and concern .
All a game .
Very sad
Nothing changes here
These are deeply cynical political gestures. The reality is that the Tenderloin and SOMA are both treated as ‘sacrifice zones’ by the city, and as a result suffer from systemic service withdrawal that includes police understaffing, city underinvestment, a lack of parks, tolerance for open-air drug markets, and 60 percent of the city’s shelter beds. If Mayor Lurie’s Office and departments simply managed these neighborhoods NORMALLY, the entire community would be a safe zone.
Instead, officials are choosing to wall off a few blocks of the containment zone to make it slightly less volatile. That is cold comfort to a family living one block outside the arbitrary boundary line.
The city is terrified of disappointing affluent, influential neighborhoods, and is perfectly willing to abandon standard service delivery elsewhere. City leaders are responsible for uniform service delivery, meaning: equal crime enforcement, equal street cleaning, and the equitable distribution of shelter infrastructure citywide.
This enclave strategy mirrors the “Green Zone” in Baghdad. You better hope your home is inside the perimeter, because the city is openly admitting it cannot protect you if you live a few blocks away. It is shocking that they would put a policy of selective containment in writing.
I saw that the corner store on 155 Hyde had some people taking down some of the boards to look inside on Wednesday this week. Not sure what’s up with that, but it seemed notable.
Also, thank you so much, Eleni! Your reporting is always nice to see 🙂