April 2008Short CutsCheez it, the Cops! The San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) Tactical and Motorcycle Units are eyeing the 17th Street buildings formerly occupied by Jamba Juice and the Sports Basement as a possible new home. While their presence would undoubtably reduce area crime, the Tactical Unit comes with some heavy artillary, which would prompt the need for an unfriendly fortress-like enclosure. District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell has been alerted of SFPD’s interest, and is likely to encourage them to go elsewhere. Perhaps they should move in with Kink.com at the well-protected armoury; afterall they have the right drag…Speaking of crime, after making steady improvements in reducing noise levels and dampening down overly-spirited patrons, Dogpatch residents are again complaining about the late-night disruption caused by Club Cocomo, located at 18th and Minnesota streets. The problem isn’t inside the club, but the outdoor urination, loud car stereos, and multiple traffic infractions caused when the partying spills into the streets. San Franciscans like to think of themselves as being delighted to live amidst multiple entertainment venues, but when it comes to getting some sleep we’d all really rather live next door to a child care center.
The San Francisco Housing Authority has reached an agreement with Bridge Housing Corporation to replace the decrepit Potrero Terrace-Potrero Annex complex with 605 public housing units and 1,151 affordable and market rate rental units and homes. However, don’t expect things to change fast: it’ll take a couple of years to draft architectural plans, obtain environmental approvals, and develop a financing plan, and another few years after that before the project is completed…Dogpatch resident David Siegel noticed that the San Francisco Planning Department was showing incorrect boundaries for the Dogpatch Historical Neighborhood District in its draft plans for the Central Waterfront. It took almost two months, but the department finally corrected its mistake, restoring history to its rightful place…In the meantime, historical or not, Dogpatch is soon to change in a big way, with the proposed opening of the 130-seat A16 Restaurant at Homes at Esprit Park next year. The restaurant will be the biggest dining facility this side of Market Street. Meanwhile, the Showplace Square area is poised to become the largest new residential development in the City; and the University of California, San Francisco, as well as an estimated 20 biotechnology companies, are expected to generate more than 100,000 jobs in Mission Bay. Potrero Hill used to be islanded as a result of being bisected by two freeways and poor transportation infrastructure. Soon enough we’ll be the lone patch of 20th century building stock in a sea of modern day high-rises.
The Potrero Hill Association of Merchants and Businesses hired Dogpatch resident Jamaica Maxwell last month to help the Association encourage more folks to buy local. The increased capacity may be just in time, as a number of Potrero Hill parents have recently engaged in a spirited debate about the value, and weaknesses, of some of the Hill’s most cherished businesses, including Farley’s Café, Goat Hill Pizza, Moshi-Moshi, and M&M Market. Maxwell, who will be working part-time while also teaching yoga at World Gym, has upwards of a decade experience consulting with nonprofits and environmentally-oriented businesses, and was most recently a Program Officer at Roots of Change. And no, she’s not related to District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.
In San Francisco’s increasingly segmented gay culture – in which every scratch gets itched – “bears” – sizeable men and the people who love them – have come out of hibernation. Seizing the moment Mike Doherty recently launched the online retail store The Complete Bear: Celebrating the Bear Life in Style. Doherty wants to create an online community and shopping experience for oft-hairy gay men “without masculine trappings.” The website, which sells G-rated bear-wares with paw logos, including mugs, wine holders, and bear-branded bedding, is already a hit, with 30,000 furry creatures on the mailing list. Doherty has also created Bear at Home, a woman’s rustic line, and the Twisted Bear, which is “not for your average bear.” With a children’s clothing wholesaler located across the hall from The Complete Bear’s Dogpatch headquarters, the City remains ground central for tolerance and fashion suitable for every beast.
Elizabeth Falkner, founder of Citizen Cake, has opened her newest resty-patisserie Orson on Fourth Street in SoMa. The menu suggests a smattering of random food groups never before combined on the same plate, but Falkner promises that the texture and juxtaposition of ingredients will leave you craving more. Try the duck-fat french fries for starters, followed by parmaggiano pudding with piquillo pepper jam, and then —why not — give the beef tongue salad a go. Still up for a novelty item? The creator of Demolition Desserts offers bacon ice cream, blue potato ravioli with white chocolate slates, rose crème brulee with pistachio crema and chili saffron. Or you can try and find the invisible dessert.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed a complaint against the owners of the Independence, which was last seen being towed from its berth on the Central Waterfront earlier this year. EPA contends that the ship is contaminated with toxic PCBs. Although the vessel’s destination is unknown, it’s most likely headed for the scraps yards of India or Bangladesh, and it’s illegal to export PCBs without a permit. The 57 year-old ship, which was recently rechristened the Oceanic, is owned by Global Shipping and Global Marketing Systems, Inc., headquartered in Maryland. Its exact location is unknown, though EPA officials believe that it’s at sea somewhere between Guam and Saipan. Perhaps we’ll be seeing it again soon…
The City and County of San Francisco recently approved a financing plan which adds another $3,000 to $5,000 for homes and up to $10,000 for businesses to existing state and federal incentives to install solar systems. The highest home subsidies, termed “Environmental Justice Incentive” payments, are exclusively available to households located in Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Dogpatch. Perhaps it’s time to join Potrero Hill Association of Merchants and Businesses President Keith Goldstein, Bayview-based Pet Camp – who’s seven-year old system has already paid for itself – and Hill resident Nancy Anding in investing in long-term energy independence while reducing polluting air and greenhouse gas emissions. City and state funds are available first come-first served.
Apropos of solar, that light you see emanating from downtown San Francisco at 3 a.m. is not from the sun, but rather from thousands of lights left on in high rise buildings. Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. the City’s center typically draws 250 megawatts (MW) of electricity, roughly 15 percent more than what can be generated by the Potrero Power Plant. Downtown continues to suck 100 MW of power even during the wee hours of the morning, when all the stockbrokers, bankers and lawyers are tucked in their McRoskey beds dreaming of wheat futures. A goodly portion of this juice is needed to light the way for the night shift; another slug is required for security reasons and to power refrigerators and the like. But a sizeable chunck is wasted on inefficient lighting and appliances and unnecessarily illuminated offices and equipment. Perhaps it’s time to revise our understanding of what a stunning downtown view looks like at night: mostly dark, with a small constellation of lights reminding us that while we sleep others work.
Bayview-based nonprofit Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) has named David Katz as its Interim Executive Director (ED). Katz, the co-founder and former ED of the Farallones Institute, will lead the organization while LEJ conducts a national search for a permanent ED. Katz is replacing Potrero Hill resident Sudeep Rao, who in turn took over the organization two years ago from LEJ founder Dana Lanza. In the meantime, after seven-years of struggling with community politics and construction challenges, LEJ will break ground on its EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park on April 22.
First 5 San Francisco is offering a free parenting toolkit – valued at $75 – to help new and expecting parents negotiate their child’s early years. The kit includes advice on nutrition, child care, health, discipline, and early learning. It also features an extensive list of San Francisco organizations that provide low- or no-cost resources for young children. You can get your kit at San Francisco General Hospital, or call 800.KIDS.025.
The San Francisco Arts Commission and Municipal Transit Agency are looking for a few good artists to help beautify the emerging Central Subway system, which will extend light rail service beneath Fourth and Stockton streets, and through the South of Market, Union Square, and Chinatown neighborhoods. The transportation expansion will ultimately include three subway stations, an above-ground platform, and an underground pedestrian concourse between Union Square and the Powell Street Station. They’ll be lots of blank canvasses to fill-up with artworks, though the art may have to compete with billboards selling sex toys and real estate. For more information: www.callforentry.org.
Add San Francisco-based Green Water to the lengthy list of bottled water vendors who claim they’re, well, green. According to the company’s website, “Bottled water is an indispensable part of our lives and culture...” Setting aside the indispensable nature of single serving sized plastic enshrouded H2O, the only thing green about Green Water is that it donates its proceeds to such environmental nonprofits as Friends of the Urban Forest. Rocky Anderson, the mayor of that bastion of liberal politics, Salt Lake City, recently scoffed at the “total absurdity and irresponsibility, both economic and environmental, of purchasing and using bottled water when we have perfectly good and safe municipal sources of tap water.” Bottled water is an incredibly wasteful product. Manufacturing the 29 billion plastic bottles used for water in the United States annually requires the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of crude oil, and that doesn’t count the giant sucking sound created by the many more millions of barrels of oil used to transport the stuff around. Back in the olden days grandma and grandpa drank out of drinking fountains, brought a thermos with them, or asked for a cup of (free) water at the local diner. Would it be too much to ask for us to do the same?
You’re stranded on the proverbial desert island, near starvation, and in need of all of your mental capacities to get yourself out of the situation. You find a pot brownie you’d forgotten about in your jacket pocket. Do you eat it? You’re sitting in the middle row of last class early on a 12-hour flight to Mumbai when a flight attendant taps your shoulder and invites you to sit in first class. You don’t know why, but you revel in your good luck until the same flight attendant hands you a note from another passenger asking if you’ll provide them with an autograph. They think you’re a celebrity of some kind. Do you give the passenger the autograph? You’re at a formal dinner party at a professional colleague’s home, and, while using the facilities, accidentally knock a tooth brush into the toilet. Do you tell them?
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This Month's StoriesResidential Areas Exempt from Parking Meter Plan, According to MTA Official City Hopes America’s Cup Runneth Over Starr King Elementary Leads SF Schools in Improved Test Scores Southside a Center for Metal Harvesting History Lives on Wisconsin Street San Francisco Breweries Chug Water Dogpatch Hosts Design Residency Project Monte Cristo Club Serves-Up Salty Fish UCSF - Mission Bay’s Scientist Dave Morgan Studies Segregation Foreclosure Crises Lingers in Bayview Black Population Continues to Dwindle Bayview Foreclosure Fighters Take a Stand Radio Africa & Kitchen Puts Down Roots in Bayview Downtown High School Teaches Environmental Lessons San Francisco Firefighters Distribute Toys, Just Not Through Chimneys Hill Resident Publishes Book About Apple’s Post-Jobs Future Henry Joseph Judnick 1927 ~ 2011 On-going FeaturesCrime & Safety Report: Potrero Hill Resident Works Cases at District Attorney’s Office
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