Art, commerce, thuggery collide

Posted on September 2, 2011 by editors

Murals at Fillmore and Geary were overtaken by graffiti after a new bus shelter was installed.

By Kellie Ell

A once vibrant mural on the south side of the Boom Boom Room at Fillmore and Geary is now covered in gold, hot pink and white spray paint and other graffiti. Looming above, the next-door National Dollar store has painted its name and a parade of products it sells — soda, crackers, ketchup, sugar and toilet bowl cleaner — all intermixed with graffiti.

Alexander Andreas, owner of the Boom Boom Room, says the mural depicting jazz musicians on his building went undamaged for six years. But now it is “totally tagged,” he says, and vandals have also etched graffiti into the glass walls and top of the new designer bus shelter and smashed its back wall.

Andreas blames the rise in vandalism on the recent repositioning of the 38-Geary  bus shelter. Before it was at the curb. Now it is backed up against the wall of the Boom Boom Room, providing shelter for taggers to deface property out of sight.

“It’s absurd,” he says. “The city did a disservice. The move has triggered an onslaught of graffiti hitting my mural.”
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Complaints spur crackdown on hookers

Posted on June 1, 2011 by editors

CRIME WATCH | Barbara Kate Repa

Battling what appears to be an upsurge in prostitution, officers at Northern Station have stepped up enforcement efforts in recent months, making a growing number of arrests on Van Ness Avenue.

In April, 88 people were arrested or cited on charges related to prostitution in the district — up from the usual monthly tally of 10 to 20, according to Captain Ann Mannix of Northern Station on Fillmore Street. Charges included prostitution, soliciting prostitution and related offenses such as warrant arrests and traffic violations.
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Park as long as you like on Fillmore

Posted on May 2, 2011 by editors

No more tickets: New meters on Fillmore allow unlimited parking — and take credit cards.

Parking meters on Fillmore Street and in Japantown no longer have a one-hour time limit.

As part of the rollout of the city’s new high-tech parking program called SFpark, the shiny new silver meters along Fillmore were re-programmed on April 25 to have no time limits at all. Drivers may park as long as they wish, and they can now feed the meters with their credit and debit cards.

The result is promised to be a kind of parking magic: Spurred by periodic price adjustments, traffic will move more efficiently. There will be at least one available parking spot on every block at all times. And you can download an app on your smartphone that will lead you to them.
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Guess who’s coming to dinner (again)

Posted on April 20, 2011 by editors

President Obama will be back in the neighborhood tonight for dinner. By mid-afternoon preparations were in full swing on the 3200 block of Jackson Street, where Obama will dine at tech exec Marc Benioff’s compound — which stretches the full block from Jackson to Pacific and fronts on the Presidio Wall — with about 60 supporters willing to contribute the legal maximum of $35,800 each. Stevie Wonder will provide the musical entertainment.

(Fun local fact: Another name in presidential history, Monica Lewinsky, used to visit her grandmother, the artist Susi Lewinsky, on the next block up Jackson. When she came for her grandmother’s 80th birthday party while interning in the Clinton White House, the younger Ms. Lewinsky brought M&Ms with the presidential seal for all the guests.)

Obama dined in the neighborhood last May when he stopped for a fundraiser up the hill on Broadway with the Gettys.

Read more: “Inside the pricey fundraiser“

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Local library back in business

Posted on March 28, 2011 by editors

Its remodeling completed on time and within budget, the historic home of the Presidio Branch library at 3150 Sacramento Street reopened on March 26. The renovation included restoration of the exterior and interior and refurbishing of the original wood shelving. An interactive learning area for children and a teen area were added, along with 16 public computers and WiFi access.

The library has been serving the neighborhood since 1898. Its landmark home, completed in 1921, was funded by Andrew Carnegie.

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Restaurant ban may be lifted

Posted on February 4, 2011 by editors

New restaurants or food businesses are prohibited on upper Fillmore Street unless they replace a similar establishment. But that would change under legislation proposed by new District 2 supervisor Mark Farrell.

Farrell made good on a campaign promise to propose changes to city law that would allow new food-related businesses on Fillmore to be approved by the Planning Commission. Farrell said the move is intended to enhance the economic vitality of the neighborhood commercial district, defined by ordinance as the area from Jackson Street south to Bush Street.

At its January 13 meeting the Planning Commission unanimously endorsed the effort to remove the ban, which has been in effect since 1987.

“Along upper Fillmore Street and elsewhere in the city, restaurants and bars were identified as volatile uses which could multiply and upset the commercial equilibrium by forcing out critical neighborhood services,” according to a Planning Department report on the history of the ban.

In fact, the prohibition has led to a decline in the number of eating and drinking establishments on upper Fillmore. In 1987 there were 32 restaurants; today there are 24. Then there were 8 specialty groceries; today there are 2. Under the legislation new bars could be allowed, but only in full-service restaurants.

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Lafayette Park renovation gets green light

Posted on January 5, 2011 by editors

Ambitious plans for a $10.2 million renovation of Lafayette Park have received enthusiastic support from neighbors and a unanimous thumbs-up from the Recreation and Park Commission.

In addition, a fund-raising mechanism has been put into place to allow park supporters to solicit contributions to supplement available bond funding to create a more elaborate 13,000 sq. ft. playground. It may include vibrantly colored play areas for children of various ages, along with boulder climbing, a tunnel slide, a creek, a tower and what landscape architect Jeffrey Miller called “the world’s longest monkey bar.”

“We think it’s going to be full of fantasy and fun,” Miller said.

The conceptual plan for the park makeover was developed by city staffers working closely with the Friends of Lafayette Park and other local residents. Many of the people who participated in the planning sessions appeared before the Rec and Park Commission December 16 to praise the process and support the plans for what several called “the crown jewel of the park department.”

But some concerns were raised.
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Battle cry on Union: bring back the fun

Posted on September 1, 2010 by editors

New restaurants have helped Union Street businesses rebound.

With the opening of a number of new restaurants, Union Street is showing signs of recovery from the economic doldrums that led to a spate of shuttered shops on the street. But a new group of young residents and business owners says more aggressive change is needed in the neighborhood, and has formed the Union Street Enrichment Association to do the job.

“Save Union Street” is the battle cry and the name of a new Facebook page, which proclaims: “Union Street in Cow Hollow has gone from a busy street with lots of businesses to a ghost town filled with boarded-up remnants of days gone by.”
(more…)

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Elite private school will live on

Posted on June 25, 2010 by editors

Stuart Hall High School: new life after a month of drama

Stuart Hall High School, the all-boys Catholic school at Pine and Octavia Streets, in recent weeks has experienced its own death and resurrection.

In early June, word spread rapidly through the school community that a move was afoot to shut down the school because of declining enrollment and dwindling finances. Supporters quickly mobilized their resources and their checkbooks. By the end of the month, they had raised more than $3 million to solve the immediate financial problems and put forth a long-term plan to save the school that was unanimously endorsed by its board of trustees.
(more…)

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Prop 13 on the Gold Coast

Posted on May 26, 2010 by editors

2901 Broadway may be one of the world's most valuable homes, but taxes are minimal.

The Bay Citizen — the new nonprofit news website financed by neighborhood investor and philanthropist Warren Hellman — launched today. Its lead story focuses on the wildly varying property taxes paid by the owners of the mansions on Outer Broadway.

Included is an interactive graphic that is something of a star map to Pacific Heights, describing who lives where and offering a bit of history about some of the finer homes in the neighborhood.

Filed under: Civics, Locals, Neighborhood History | Leave a Comment »

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