You can see all the 16th Street posts here.
Jeff and his friend Jay, both 40, stood in the shade on the north side of 16th Street between Mission and Capp streets, ready to sell what Jeff had swiped earlier from Safeway. It was stashed inside a HomeGoods bag.
Why here?
“We can make money here,” said Jeff as he used a card to scoop ice cream from a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Dirt Cake. “The customers are right here.”
Where? On Saturday afternoon, there did not seem to be many customers. The plazas and side streets near the intersection were fairly clear of everyone except pedestrians. Moreover, a few police and other city workers were nearby, which is probably why Jeff kept his merchandise in a bag.
But while we talked, an Asian man who appeared to speak no English came up, dipped down into Jeff’s bag and pulled out two 12-ounce cans of Signature instant coffee that sell for $8.99 at Safeway.
“$4” said Jeff, “Two for eight.”
How did he even know you were selling anything? I asked as the man leaned down to drop one of the jars back into the bag.
“He knows me,” said Jeff, and then to the man, “Hey you break it, you own it.”
It was not broken. The man handed Jeff $4 for one and left.
Have the police been a problem?
“You gotta dodge them for sure,” said Jeff, describing the merchandise in his bag as either stolen or purchased from other vendors who have stolen it and need to make a quick buck.
Jay agreed and later explained that when he moved from Vallejo three years ago, Jeff was one of the first people he met.
Turns out, Jay added, they nearly share the same birth date. Jeff was born on Feb. 5 and Jay on Feb 4.
Why San Francisco?
“It’s easier to live here. We all have Nikes on, nice clothes,” said Jeff, who moved from Sacramento. “That’s not possible back home.”
A second vendor moved in nearby. He was selling cigarettes and both Jeff and Jay bought a few. It had been a long day.
Jeff’s morning started in Oakland. First, he said, he has to steal some items and the Safeways in San Francisco have made that too difficult. Then he comes to 16th and Mission to make his sales. By 3 p.m. or so he had not made much more than $20
“We’re all trying to make a buck and they are not making it possible,” said Jeff, referring to the police. He felt emboldened enough to now put the second container of instant coffee and another pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the sidewalk – this one Chocolate Chip, Cookie Dough.
“Basically, they’re taking people’s bags – that’s all we got.”
16th Street
As it has been for the more than a month, the west side of Mission Street remained clear during the day and into the evening.
Southwest Plaza and west side of Mission Street
2:34 p.m. 8/9 southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:57 p.m. 8/9, northeast plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:34 p.m. 8/9, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:34 p.m. 8/9, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:39 p.m. 8/9, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:38 p.m. 8/9, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
The northeast plaza and east side of Mission Street were clear during the day, but as has been the norm, as soon as the police leave, vendors and others move in.
Northeast Plaza and east side of Mission Street
2:34 p.m. 8/9, northeast plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:36 p.m. 8/9, northeast plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:57 p.m. 8/9, northeast plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:55 p.m. 8/9 east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:36 p.m. 8/9, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
8 p.m. 8/9, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia 
2:36 p.m. 8/9, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
8 p.m. 8/9, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia
Caledonia Street
Caledonia remains clear closest to 16th Street.
Julian Avenue
Julian Avenue is clear close to 16th Street, but there appears to be a regular group of homeless residents close to 14th Street.
2:40 p.m. 8/9, Julian Avenue looking south from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:40 p.m. 8/9, Julian Avenue looking south from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:45 p.m. 8/9 Julian Avenue looking north from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez 
2:47 p.m. 8/9 Julian Avenue looking north from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
Wiese Street
Wiese Street was clear on Saturday.
Capp Street
Capp Street continues to be a hang out between 16th and 17th streets and clear north of 16th 6th Street.
San Francisco community organizers spent a decade complaining about highly educated young people moving here to work white collar jobs and begin their careers. So now we get Jeff and Jay, two middle aged losers who boost instant coffee to buy meth instead.
Ah yes, gentrification isn’t a problem because drug abuse and homelessness exists. I love a good unrelated straw man argument, bravo.
Presumably by gentrification you mean displacement, which was more or less a non-issue for most of the 2010s. The Latino share of the Mission population fell way more in the 90s than it did in the 2010s.
But even if you care about displacement, the solution is to build more housing not to extort developers for the Jon “I swear it wasn’t me” Jacobo PR and legal defense slush fund. Remember when Kevin Ortiz was trying to argue that some pinball guy was not Latino enough to open an arcade in the Mission?
Crime and depravity aren’t a problem, because better human beings are actually the real problem. What pathetic nihilism…
Thanks for reporting.
Sf cannot get it together .
This place invites and pays for thugs , vagrants , addicts , freeloaders and good for nothing tramps who have mase choses to engage in unacceptable behaviors.
It is beyond time this city get control
and quit promoting and enabling this crap.
The penalties need to be increased for stealing . They need to need increase the penalties for drug sales and usage ,
Society and a democract cannot exist without laws that are effective and enforced .
Time for security guards to be able to carry billy clubs and guns and use them .
Paddywagons driving around with law enforcement would be a good start .
This city doesnt care ,and is sinking .
Mature SF Get it together.
Great article today. Thank you for talking with one of the vendors, it really shows the scale of the problem and how people don’t seem to even feel that they are doing anything inappropriate.
It might be worth visiting the 24th St. station. It appears to be getting much worse again. More displacement activity?
“You mean moving them 2 blocks away didn’t solve the problem despite the photo-op and stirring Breed/Lurie speeches? I am truly shocked.” At the naivete.
It would work if there was a jail 2 blocks away. Plenty of demand for it.
Thanks for continuing to follow this story (disaster).
People sure can spout their rhetoric while doing nothing to solve problems. But, that might be good because their rhetoric is ignorant and cruel without any attempt to understand the underlying problem. No compassion nor an attempt to help those who are less fortunate. Bullying, smashing, running them out, taking the only possessions they have – like their RV, tents, blankets – is going to solve the problem. Such a white collar attitude!
Now this is a truly honest and concise look at the political economy of 16th and Mission.
A better-run city wouldn’t celebrate criminality.
The people who buy these stolen goods are just as complicit in this criminal activity as the shoplifters themselves. Police should start arresting them.
No, we’re reading about people who steal in Oakland and ride the BART to destroy a viable neighborhood.
No compassion for this high functioning trash.
It’s a bit bewildering having to point this out: The idea of a flea market is not for shopping. The vibe’s supposed to be being a different form of a yard sale.
Was walking down Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens to get some Mexican food today and was struck by how many Mexican puestos were lining the sidewalk selling delicious Mexican street food. Why can’t we have nice things?
You mean like restaurants and stores that pay taxes, pay for utilities, pay for trash removal, pay employees and maintain their buildings?
I’m not against banning the sidewalk vendors next to the flea market near 15th on Mission Street, but without them there’s no point in shopping there. In Oakland the cops don’t clear out the extensive sidewalk vendor spillover from the huge Laney College flea market that’s at least fifty times the size of the tiny one here that has only about 8 vendors. The vendors inside our Mission flea market will go out of business because people like me won’t bother to go there any more without the addendum of sidewalk vendors. Bye bye Mission Flea Market, I always figured you were ultimately doomed
PM,
You mean La Paulita or I think that’s how it’s spelled.
Next to Arriba Juntos ?
I’ve been shopping there for over a decade and you get to know the regular vendors.
I get bags of cool bracelets and give them out like Mardi Gras all year round.
Got my bedding there over the years too.
Livens up my bedroom with gaudy eagles and the like for twenty bucks or something.
Ronen doubled the size by filling a closed Julian Street and providing tables on weekends but neighbors bitched about lost parking and killed it.
It was free to legitimate vendors and I especially loved the vans of vintage collectibles from old Hollywood photos to spices and incense and books and magazines and shawls and leather goods and the like.
Supervisor Fielder could kick start that operation again with Hillary’s mailing list as now that Lurie and I got the scaffolding removed from around the rear and North end of Armory (over 600 linear feet) there is plenty of sidewalk space without closing the street which was a real circus and killed a great idea cause it was jammed all weekend.
DPW has done an absolutely stellar job cleaning the hell out of anything Daniel points at for a 2 block radius but until he gets serious about change and adopts the European model of decriminalized drugs available to addicts as legal prescriptions and tosses in a Stockton style grand a month UBI … nothing will change.
These people don’t understand the power of addiction.
Remember those experiments where monkeys starved themselves and ignored sex while pushing that stimulation button ?
Programs running out of churches and slum storefronts should each and every one be moved to Treasure Island and a new RV/Tent 1,000 unit campground adjoining the VA’s Medical Complex next to Lincoln Golf Course.
The two Mission BART plazas should copy New Orleans with 24 hour Police Kobans from which the SAME cops rotate on Foot Patrols as far as Lurie’s cleaning crews generally get which is about 2 blocks but that’s enough to make a permanent change in the entire scene in those neighborhoods.
A for effort to the Mayor and his teams and he’s getting work out of the DPW crews and equipment than any mayor since Willie when he was trying to drive all of the Poor out of town …
Reporter: “If things keep getting more expensive won’t we end up with a town of only the rich?”
Willie: “Would that be a bad thing ?”
Oh, he said that and privatized scores of City jobs like the laundry workers at SFGH and Laguna Honda while saying he wouldn’t do it because they reminded him of his mom and he wouldn’t take away a job from her but he did and plenty more.
It’s as simple as marking off and numbering and assigning Vendor spaces around that thousand feet of Armory perimeter to neighborhood groups and churches and regular vendors wanting to expand or to 7 day status.
With the cleared deep sidewalks there’s no need to close Julian Street this time.
The Cop Boxes and Foot Patrols and Due Diligence by SFPD will only come from an Elected San Francisco Chief of Police (creation of Lurie’s tenure) who has ten times the power that appointeds have enjoyed.
Open an Ohlone Casino in the Armory and legalize Sex Trade and we’d bury Vegas.
Cause we have better weather and hotel accommodations and restaurants.
go Niners !!
h.
I did meth once and only once. Honestly, nothing else in my 69 years has ever felt so amazing. But I never did it again as I knew the price would be way too high and that was the best it would ever feel anyway. Most humans don’t possess my intelligence unfortunately…