Mayor Ed Lee’s “Fix-It Team” has arrived in the Mission District and will be touring the neighborhood and meeting with residents to figure out what quality of life issues can be addressed with quick fixes. At a meeting on Thursday night, Fix-It Team head Sandra Zuniga fielded concerns from residents living in the northern Mission. “You guys can pretty much...
Walking through the 16th Street BART station, I hear a guy who calls himself The Jonah Kit playing Take a Walk on the Wild Side. 1970’s Lou Reed glam rock about transvestites sounds downright futuristic in Betsy DeVos’ 2017, where we’re all meant to use the bathroom God meant for us. As usual, the past and present are living side...
A fryer that once churned out fast-food potato fries will now be producing sweet potato fries made with organic, sustainably sourced palm oil. After being shuttered for two years, the site of an erstwhile McDonald’s on Mission Street near 16th Street has become an all gluten-free catering service called Mealmade, with options for paleo, keto, vegan and other health-conscious eaters....
John Ratliff reaches into the pocket of his jacket and says, “This is my latest project,” and he pulls out a young pigeon. It rests on his hand momentarily and extends its tattered wings outward. The skin is exposed, raw, and it begins to flap its mangled wings, but it’s no use. “It can’t fly,” says Ratliff. “It’s a baby,...
The array of sticky notes full of positive, inclusive, hopeful messages written by passerby at 16th and Mission streets will be taken down and preserved on Friday evening, artists who organized the public participatory art installation say. Though they originally planned to remove the notes the same day, the “Dumbledore’s Army Guerillas” have kept the wall open to messages all week. To protect...
The San Francisco Public Defender’s office announced today that a man who had been charged with carrying a loaded firearm was acquitted of felony charges. The man, 25-year-old Alberto Chan, had actually been trying to disarm an inebriated relative who had pulled a rifle out of his backpack unexpectedly. Chan would have faced up to three years in prison if...
Michael Petrelis, the political gadfly and a candidate running to represent part of San Francisco on BART’s Board of Directors, is tired of pigeon crap. Its cleanup has in fact become a rallying cry for Petrelis’s campaign for the BART Board of Directors, in which he is running to represent District 9, which includes the seven BART stations from Montgomery Street to Balboa Park....
Pablo O. a man who works on the plaza at 16th Street said he witnessed the Sunday morning attack that ended with 55-year-old Larry Teevy dead from multiple stabbing wounds. The account could not be corroborated, but police said Teevy was attacked and stabbed by at least three suspects and succumbed to his injuries. Teevy was well known within the community of men and women...
A coalition of San Francisco organizations long-opposed to the construction of a 10-story, 380-unit building at the 16th and Mission BART plaza by Maximus Development met last week to present alternatives for the space including a popular option to downsize the proposed development to a four-story, 150-unit building. The coalition’s three proposals include a single-story commercial space with some green space...
A bank teller and mom shares memories of her first time in the Mission and how she’s seen it change, and talks about the people that she meets in the plaza and at the bank. Listen below, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of ten $20 BART tickets: About this project: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative...
About this project: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative between the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Andrea Baker Consulting with the intention of initiating a conversation about the 16th Street BART plazas and the people (our neighbors) who use and traverse the plaza — sometimes on a daily basis. Oftentimes, we use a place and yet we do not...
Linda loves to roller skate, and tells the long history of San Franciscan skating. Listen below, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of ten $20 BART tickets: About this project: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative between the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Andrea Baker Consulting with the intention of initiating a conversation about the 16th...
Moana talks about the changes she’s seen in the neighborhood and the various local organizations and businesses where she hangs out and helps out. Listen below, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of ten $20 BART tickets: About this project: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative between the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Andrea Baker Consulting...
Ever wondered where the chalk-art stage at the 16th and Mission plaza poetry slams come from? Meet one of the artists behind the work. Listen below, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of ten $20 BART tickets: About this project: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative between the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Andrea Baker Consulting with...
Del’s story involves international events that ultimately led to him spending most of his time at 16th and Mission. Listen below, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of ten $20 BART tickets: Meet The Neighbors is an initiative between the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Andrea Baker Consulting with the intention of initiating a conversation about...
