Political Fallout
Farley’s has been a Potrero Hill small business stalwart for coming up on 35 years, fostering community by sponsoring an annual Halloween pet parade, inviting artists and musicians to share their craft, and creating a homey place for families and friends to enjoy a cuppa and a snack. It has a newsstand! Which made it one of the most unlikely establishments to become the center of accusations of antisemitism at its Farley’s East location, fostered by a graffiti-strewn bathroom and weirdly tone-deaf staff, who were filmed acting badly…Farley’s has historically taken a laid-back approach to bathroom scrawls, which may have lulled the café’s owners into a false quiescence about the ugly nature of the messages. Once made aware, however, that the graffiti was part of a staff-driven political propaganda effort, they promptly, publicly, and persuasively apologized, and discharged the offending individuals… Employees have a right to their opinions, but not to hijack their employers’ shop in service of asserting them. Small enterprises mostly just want to do what they’re in business to do: sell coffee or the like. Farley’s has gone out of its way to nurture neighborliness. Keep community in their cup.
Money Missing
The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is behind on its 2023 fundraising goals by about one-third, in the face of what appears to be increasing need. A recent survey of 9,000 Food Bank participants found that 61 percent couldn’t cover a $400 emergency expense, 83 percent worry about running out of food, and 54 percent have had to buy less fare because of rising grocery prices. Meanwhile, as reported in the August View, public sector funding is diminishing. The Food Bank serves, and wants to continue to serve, 50,000 families every week.
Minnesota Mired
A Potrero Hill resident contends that a proposed permit for 945 Minnesota Street doesn’t comply with the San Francisco Planning Code, further delaying progress to renovate the structure (see “Minnesota Street Building Blight,” December). Construction that started in 2019 stalled because the owner went beyond the scope of their permit, was forced to stop, and is still working to bring the building into compliance, while also paying Department of Building Inspection enforcement fees for the unpermitted work. According to the Hill resident, there should be a minimum of 33 feet of rear yard setback/mid-block open space. The Planning Department counters that the minimum rear yard depth should be 25 percent of the lot’s total depth, or 15 feet, whichever is greater, because the property aligns with a rear building wall. The Historic Preservation Commission will make the final call on who’s right, but only if the property owners pay their outstanding bills.
Bridge to Nowhere
The Islais Creek Bridge, a 73-year-old drawbridge on Third Street, connects Dogpatch in the north to Bayview in the south. Muni’s T-Third Street light rail line runs down the bridge’s center. The span needs to be renovated; the California Department of Transportation has identified structural deterioration and other troubling issues. But a forthcoming $60 million project to replace the aging bridge would sever a main thoroughfare connecting Bayview to the rest of San Francisco and halt light rail service in the historically underserved neighborhood for up to two years, with potentially devastating economic consequences to the tattered Bayview commercial district. The plan is to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a fixed-span bridge with a center 26-foot-wide dedicated light-rail transit lane, four lanes for vehicles, two for pedestrian traffic. While work is being done cars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians would be detoured around Third Street to surrounding routes, with light rail temporarily replaced by bus shuttle service. Construction could start as soon as spring 2025. A Planning Commission hearing on the project is scheduled for January 4.
No Visa
Following a February 2023 “Publisher’s View” titled “Privilege,” Voice of America aired a news feature outlining systematic racism associated with the U.S. State Department’s student visa process. International students who want to study at a school in the U.S. must apply for an F-1 visa, allowing them to live in the states while studying. A July 2023 report from an alliance of higher education leaders found, however, that African students are denied visas at a higher rate than those from other continents, Report: F-1 Visa Denial Rate Highest for African Students (voanews.com)