Potrero View 2023: September

Fire Erupts at Potrero Terrace-Annex Housing Complex

BY REBEKAH MOAN

A one-alarm fire erupted at 74 Dakota Street at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 27. No injuries occurred; the blaze took place in a vacant unit. The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) is investigating the cause of the conflagration, but this reporter witnessed an individual intentionally set the fire and rush out of the apartment.

Intentional burnings set by squatters regularly occur at the 38-acre Potrero Terrace-Annex housing complex. Trespassers also verbally assault residents, which happened to Turner Terrace resident Stella Scott, who was yelled at by someone holed up in the building’s utility room.

BRIDGE Housing, the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA), and Eugene Burger Management Corporation (EBMC), which is under contract to oversee the site, assert that they’re taking steps to remove squatters. SFHA has

overall responsibility for safeguarding the City’s public housing stock.

At a July Government, Audit, and Oversight Committee Hearing called by District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, SFHA said it’s walking the property with San Francisco Police Department officers, providing squatters with public housing vouchers to live elsewhere. The Authority admitted at the hearing that it hasn’t been going as well, or as quickly, as hoped, but offered few details. SFHA did not respond to multiple requests for an interview with the View “We’re still not where we would like to be and where we are going to be,”

SFHA Chief Executive Officer Tonia Letiju admitted during the hearing. “And I take it to heart. Each and every day I wake up with this on my mind and I go to bed with this on my mind.”

As reported in the View, EBMC failed SFHA’s January and February

San Francisco Flower Market to Bloom Next Year

BY DWIVECK CUSTODIO

After a decade of evolving relocation plans and construction delays, the San Francisco Flower Market will open at its new Potrero Hill location the first half of 2024. The move has stirred diverse feelings and plans for new ways in which the Market may interact with its neighbors.

According to the California Historical Society, in 1884 the Domoto brothers opened a flower nursery in Oakland, which was incorporated as the San Francisco Flower Market in 1912. Today the Market includes family-owned farming businesses that sell locally grown plants, as well as wholesalers which offer domestic and international products.

Over the years the Market survived the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, an ordinance banning street sales, two world wars, Japanese Internment camps, which affected Japanese American flower growers and managers, and two pandemics. The Flower Market also endured seven moves, including in 1956 from Fifth and Howard streets to 12th Street, and then to Sixth and Brannan streets.

Kilroy Realty Group’s acquisition of the Sixth and Brannan streets site instigated plans for a new place for the Market. After it moves, its current location will be redeveloped into office and retail space, according to the San Francisco Flower Market project website, though the present state of the City’s commercial real estate market casts doubt on that plan. The initial idea was for the Flower Market to shift twice and end up back South-of-Market (SoMa), underground

in a busy office area. Instead, operations are being transferred to 16th and Mississippi streets under a 27-year lease with Kilroy Realty, according to Jeanne Boes, the Market’s general manager and Chief Operating Officer.

The Flower Market serves about 4,000 small Bay Area businesses, including retail flower shops, hotels, caterers, wedding planners, restaurants, and interior decorators, who purchase flowers, wreaths, pumpkins, Christmas trees, and such items as ribbons and planters. A committee of vendors is advising on the new space’s layout. A naturally lit mezzanine will house tropical plant vendors along with offices and a multipurpose room to be used for education and design work, with vendors arrayed on the first floor.

“Personally, I will cry like a baby when this place closes,” Boes said. “I grew up here and knew the old vendors… everyone who shops here and works here will hate it initially because change is hard for people.”

Boes is working to ease the transition through communication and hands-on support, as well as a soft opening for the trade. She’s enthusiastic about being in a neighborhood known for boasting many creatives, in an area zoned Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR). Inhabiting a PDR space that’s freeway accessible, with a loading dock, will allow for more efficient operations. She hopes that adjacent businesses will rely on Flower Market vendors for their supplies.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet to Celebrate its 30th Anniversary Next Year

BY JESSICA ZIMMER

With nearly $5 million budgeted for the 2023-2024 season, its largest ever operating expenditure level, Smuin Contemporary Ballet is working to make up a roughly $112,000 funding reduction from San Francisco Grants for the Arts (GTFA). GFTA, which is Smuin’s biggest single donor, reduced its commitment to the dance company due to a decline in tax revenues and new grantmaking scoring criteria.

“We will be putting in a new application with GTFA, paying attention to changes in the scoring criteria, tighten-

ing our belts, and welcoming donations in kind, like wine for auctions. We will also continue offering access through streaming digital video, which we started during the pandemic. Further, we will encourage giving outside the City by performing in other areas,” said Lori Laqua, Smuin Contemporary Ballet managing director. “Dealing with this shortfall has made us more resilient and creative. We have so many wonderful performers, choreographers, and students at Smuin. That motivates us to be optimistic.”

Smuin artists Brandon Alexander (front left) and Ricardo Dyer (front right) rehearsing Kate Skarpetowska's "Sextette".

PHOTO: Chris Hardy

Smoke billows out from 74 Dakota St. while firefighters rush to the scene.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Rebekah Moan

FIRE continues on page 9

PUBLISHER’S VIEW SHORT CUTS

Beyond Buzzed

It’s 1:30 a.m. Debbie and I are sound asleep, naked under the covers, when our daughter, Sara, along with her cousin, Sophia – both college seniors home for the summer – burst into the bedroom and flip on the lights.

“Mom, Dad! I need your help! Logan is missing!” Sara shouts.

“Sara!” I shout back, startled by the loud brightness of her entrance.

“What?” says Debbie groggily, emerging from sleep.

I pull on my pajamas and walk past Sara and Sophia, who crowd around Debbie, crouched under the covers.

“I called his phone and the bouncer answered!” yelps Sara, in a voice anxiously stoned. “He said he found Logan’s phone on a bench in the bar! Then I thought we’d better get your help!”

“Let’s go downstairs,” I say to Sara and Sophia, to give Debbie a chance to wake up and get dressed.

Sitting in the living room, eyes round as raccoons, Sara and Sophia stumble through an explanation. They’d been partying at DNA Lounge, Southof-Market, when Sara exchanged a series of texts with her cousin, Logan, who graduated from an East Coast college a few months earlier and was visiting from his largely Jewish Michigan suburban home. The texts:

Logan: Outside Ims o drunk

At tue edible

Sara: we’re at the bar

Logan: Can w/o hop

Sara: what where are you right side

Logan: Going hom

Sara: Inside Inside

Did you leave we are leaving

Sara and Sophia hailed an Uber, expecting to find Logan at home. He wasn’t. Sara called his phone, which was picked up by the bouncer.

“Which is why I woke you up!” Sara exclaimed. “It was the right thing to do, right?”

“I’ll call Josh,” Logan’s father, Debbie said.

“No, it’s like five in the morning in Michigan,” I said. “It’ll freak him out. I’ll go look for him.”

It was agreed that Sara and I would go back to the club to see if we could find Logan.

“I have no idea how to conduct this search,” I said to Debbie as I put my

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Tapped Out

Harmonic Brewing will close its Dogpatch taproom at the end of October, a few months after Potrero Hill’s Anchor turned off its taps. Harmonic founders Jon Verna and Ed Gobbo couldn’t agree on a new lease with their landlord. In 2019, San Francisco was home to more than 30 independent craft breweries, one-third of which’ve closed. Still, it’s not all bad news. Cameron McDonald and Jesse Hayter recently opened Enterprise Brewing Company at 1150 Howard Street in a space formerly occupied by Cellarmaker Brewery’s taphouse. McDonald previously worked at Bay Area brew houses Seven Stills and Standard Deviant; Hayter was at Presidio-based Fort Point Beer Company, where the pair met. The original Enterprise Brewing Co. opened in 1873 in a Mission alleyway about eight blocks from its new location. It survived the 1906 earthquake before the 18th Amendment forbidding alcohol sales shut it down in 1920. McDonald, a Palo Alto native whose father and grandfather were born in San Francisco, hopes to help revive the City’s beer-making identity and honor Southof-Market’s industrial heritage with a friendly neighborhood watering hole offering “approachable beers.”  The 10 barrel-brewery with 16 draft lines and 1,500 square feet of serving space has the capacity to produce 2,000 barrels a year. Enterprise vends pilsners, lagers, pale ales and India pale ales.

condominium complex in Mission Bay that’s been vacant since its completion, a victim of sluggish municipal permitting processes, lethargic Pacific Gas and Electric Company hook-up services, rising interest rates and a challenging real estate market. Avid Bank took ownership of the 603 Tennessee Street building from developer Sol Properties , which carried $15.4 million in debt.  Arcon Construction Group, the structure’s general contractor, previously filed a lien claiming roughly $1.07 million in unpaid construction fees. The 24,000-square-foot property, located a block from the Chase Center, was designed by noted San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz. The condos were initially meant for individual sale, a strategy that morphed into an attempt to sell the property as a whole.  A website notes that the 24 residential units – nine one-bedrooms, 14 two-bedrooms and one three-bedrooms – “can be leased immediately or re-designate as condominiums.”  An initial listing price of a bit less than $19 million has dropped to $16.2 million.

Robot Parade

Those of us who’ve encountered a driverless vehicle traversing city streets have been annoyed, delighted, and concerned, not necessarily in equal measure. The cars have prompted such questions as, how do you make eye contact with it before crossing a street, or flip it off when it acts dangerously? While technology marches to the beat of venture capitalists, in many ways it was

Steven J. Moss

ACCOUNTING MANAGER Catie Magee

MANAGER Richard Romero

MANAGER Helena Chiu

Condo-nomium

Lenders seized a newly constructed

$68 Subscription $132 Subscription-Benefactor Other contribution amount $ Please send my one-year subscription to: FULL NAME EMAIL ADDRESS STREET ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP CODE Enclosed is my check. Please send, along with this form, to: The Potrero View, 1459 18th St., #214, S.F., CA 94107 I am sending my payment via PayPal to office@potreroview.net. I love the View and would be delighted to support it by being a subscriber. YES! www.potreroview.net/product/subscribe or complete the form below SUBSCRIBE RealTrends list of Realtors Top 1.5% Nationally! I’M HONORED TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS YEAR’S Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Claudia Siegel, Realtor® 415.816.2811 | ClaudiaSiegel.com | DRE 01440745 Check out more testimonails on Claudia’s Website Contact me for details on buying and selling property in San Francisco.

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PUBLISHER

Letters to the Editor

Editor,

As a longtime Potrero Hill resident I’ve seen a lot of changes in our neighborhood. We’ve faced many challenges from greedy developers and municipal agencies. For example, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency proposed in 2011 to install parking meters all over the Hill and eastern Mission. Through grassroot efforts, a coalition of Hill, Dogpatch and Mission neighbors challenged these plans, which were ultimately scrapped.

During my time here we transformed a vacant lot on the corner of 18th and Pennsylvania into a thriving, beautiful garden right next to Interstate-280. I enjoy Pennsylvania Gardens every time I step out of my house.

Unfortunately, just north of the garden on Pennsylvania something sinister has been going on. In 2017 the old industrial buildings on this site that formerly housed Center Hardware & Supply Co. and Brickley Production Services were torn down to prepare for construction of a multi-story apartment/condominium complex. Drawings were rendered, plans made, letters sent, meetings held. But now here we are, six years later, with a gigantic hole in the ground, an unsightly blight on our neighborhood that in the last several years has become a magnet for the homeless, drug dealing and criminal activity; a dangerous corner where someone was held up at gunpoint – suffering shooting wounds – last summer.

It’s hard to know who to hold responsible for this situation. I certainly don’t blame the homeless; they’ve been abandoned by our political leaders, who seem to lack the courage or imagination to come up with a solution to their manifest, multidimensional, problems. What about the property owners? Do they owe nothing to our neighborhood? I guess the attitude of the William Spencer Company, headquartered in Brisbane, California, is that they can leave their blighted property vacant for as long as they like. Municipal government places no constraints on their behavior. It’s only us as neighbors who must live with the consequences of their actions, as reprehensible as they are.

James Wilkins Pennsylvania Avenue

Dogpatch, Mishpot, Mission Bay, and Potrero Hill Have Younger Populations, Newer Housing, More Renters

POTRERO VIEW STAFF

Dogpatch and Mission Bay are amongst the last neighborhoods to be settled in San Francisco. More than 50 percent of these communities’ housing stock was built in the 21st Century, compared to 12 percent citywide. Eightynine percent of Mission Bay’s residences were constructed over the past 23 years, on land that’d previously served as a rail center. Mission Bay has no housing built before 1940, compared to 46 percent citywide. Seventy-two percent of homes in Dogpatch, an industrial node during the 20th Century, were built in the 21st Century.

While Potrero Hill and Mishpot have a higher than city-wide percent of new housing, 42 percent of the Hill’s and 60 percent of Mishpot’s housing was built pre-1940.

residents fall within that age range. Thirty-seven percent of Mission Bay inhabitants are 20- to 34-year-olds, with Potrero Hill at 32 percent and Mishpot meeting the city-average of 28 percent.

Mission Bay features wide sidewalks and a network of paths and green spaces – including Mission Creek Park –that provide pedestrian and bike access along the waterfront. These amenities, along with ready access to the Muni TLine, would seem to reduce the need to rely on a car. However, a bit more than half of residents in the four neighborhoods own an automobile, far above the city-wide average of 42 percent. In Mission Bay 57 percent of households own one vehicle, with another 11 percent possessing two. Mission Bay’s household income is akin to that in adjacent neighborhoods, as is the crime rate.

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Lyft and Uber that ushered in Cruise and Waymo, by degrading the taxi business with poor quality vehicles driven by inexperienced and sometimes scary drivers. Women who depend on these services are chronically confronted with the need to navigate inappropriate conversations, and ocassional bad behavior, including drivers abruptly pulling

over on a freeway shoulder claiming they needed to make a phone call, or dropping passengers off far from their destination. The idea of getting into a clean machine that will transport them to where they need to go without undue hassle or risk is quite appealing to many women and men. The consequences to newly unemployed professional drivers will need to be addressed.

Green Benefit District | GreenBenefit.org

Stop by Woods Yard Park and check out the 2023 Dogpatch Music Series on Saturdays, September 9 and 23, and October 7. Live music, ice cream, makers’ pop up, Museum of Craft & Design Make Art, temporary tattoos, face painting and more. Details about performers and vendors online at GreenBenefit.org/ dogpatch-music-series-2023

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association | potreroboosters.org

The Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association informs, empowers and represents the residents of the Potrero on issues impacting our community in order to develop and maintain complete, vibrant neighborhoods. We’re continuing to meet via Zoom on the last Tuesday of each month. Go to www. potreroboosters.org to learn more about how to join us!

The Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association | potrerodogpatch.com

The Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association promotes and advocates for independent, locally owned businesses while actively supporting our neighborhood and our wonderful communities.

PREFund | prefund.org

PREFund brings neighbors together to support education and build community. We are accepting new members to our Community Advisory Board this Fall! Learn more prefund.org/volunteer

Starr King Open Space | StarrKingOpenSpace.org

Please join our monthly volunteer days on the second Saturday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This month it is September 9th. If you can, please donate to help keep Starr King Open Space open, accessible, and well-maintained for our neighbors. StarrKingOpenSpace.org

Mission Bay is dominated by tenants, with 62 percent of residences rented. Dogpatch’s fraction is even higher; 64 percent renters, with Mispot’s at 60 percent. The Hill is 50 percent renters, with 40 percent of homes owner-occupied. Vacancy rates throughout these communities consistently hover around the citywide average of 10 percent.

In the four neighborhoods combined 37 percent of residents are between the ages of 20 to 34. Dogpatch drives this demographic trend; 44 percent of its

The Potrero View utilized Mission Local’s “Explore: Your Neighborhood in Data” interactive tool to examine built environment and demographic characteristics.

PUBLISHER'S VIEW from page 2 shoes on.

“Me neither,” she replied. “But I’m calling Josh if you don’t find him in the next hour or so.”

DNA Lounge sits on 11th Street, between Harrison and Folsom streets, a short strip that features other latenight places, like Audio Nightclub and Oasis, bobbing in a surrounded sea of auto shops, warehouses, and freeway overpasses. As we drove from Dolores Heights Sara whimpered.

“We’re going to find him, right? It’s my fault. This is all my fault!”

“It’s not your fault. And, either five minutes from now, or five days, this’ll be a funny story.” I said, repeatedly, in response to her ongoing guilt-worry mantra.

We parked around the corner from DNA Lounge, walked past bubbles of young people intoxicated from a night out, found a bouncer sweeping outside the recently closed club, and explained our business.

“Yeah, he might be the guy who vomited,” he said. “I have his cellphone. I can get it for you.”

“Where do you think he might’ve gone?” I asked.

“Well,” the bouncer rubbed his chin. “He could’ve gone that way,” he pointed towards the Central Freeway, “which would be bad.” He slow-pivoted to face the direction of the Tenderloin, “Or, he could’ve gone that way, which would be way worse.”

As Sara and I continued our search, asking the bouncer at Audio Nightclub whether anyone was passed out inside – “If they’re passed out, we put them out,” she said – at home Sophia found some blankets and promptly fell asleep on the family room sofa. Debbie called San Francisco General Hospital’s emergency room and the police station; when neither had a record of Logan being admitted or booked, she called Josh. It was 6 a.m. Michigan time, an inauspicious hour to learn about one’s missing son, though there’s admittedly no perfect moment to hear such news. Josh was soon joined by Rebecca, his wife, who shared a text she’d received from Logan earlier that morning.

It read: “Save me.”

Parents of the Gen-Z generation tend to know too much about their children. While previous cohorts largely kept their salacious young adult humiliations and self-inflicted wounds from their moms and dads, Gen-Z likes to show off their emotional injuries, like a skinned knee in first grade. Parents are briefed, often breathlessly, about their kids’ bad dates, bad drug trips, awkward social moments, and deep feelings of inadequacy. While we appreciate the closeness, it can lead to a profound sense of parental powerlessness – are we supposed to kiss it and make it better? – and chronic frustration, the kind that prompts the hoary “in my day…” refrain.

In my day… I had many ugly experiences with drugs and alcohol that nary no one knows about, though one did appear in a comic book (True Travel Tales, by Justin Hall, another story entirely). So did Debbie. So did probably you. But Gen Z lives with their skin inside out, prone to quick feelings of mortification. They struggle to rescue themselves from emotional trauma. Who is responsible for making them so vulnerable? We parents, of course, further leavened by social media waterboarding. It’s hard to admit that we loved them too much, but maybe we did.

Debbie felt immediately nauseous, and not a little bit faint, when she read the “save me” text from Logan, which Rebecca had frantically screenshot and texted her. Was he being assaulted, mugged, worse? Two thousand-four hundred miles away, Josh and Rebecca felt a rising sense of panic. Debbie desperately scrolled through Sara’s texts, trying to match the timing of events.

To her substantial relief she discovered that Logan’s “Save me” message came before his interactions with Sara. He must have sent it while he was still in the club.

Sara and I circled the blocks around DNA Lounge. Logan was wearing a white jacket. Every time Sara spotted someone wearing white, she’d shout, “Logan?!”

“No, that’s a Latino guy,” I’d say, squinting at the figure. “No, that’s a Black guy… No, he’s a homeless dude.”

More than an hour in, we called Debbie and told her we were ready to give up.

“Wait, I have Josh on the phone. Let me add him in.”

Josh clicked on. I repeated that we’d run out of search ideas and were coming home.

“Can you please look a little longer,” Josh asked, in a voice no parent wants to hear themselves make.

“Sure,” I said. We kept driving in circles.

When our kids were younger, prompted by such Disney movies as Brother Bear, we’d talk about their spirit animal, their guardian guide. Sara’s was a wolf, due to her keen eyesight and excellent sense of direction. Mine was a turtle; steady, patient, and, I’d like to think, wise. But along with spirit animals our children – perhaps all of us - are dogged by spirit demons, the clammy hands of ghostly self-doubt and self-loathing. Sara’s is insecurity – no one likes me; I’ve done something wrong – perhaps the creation of middle-school bullying. Logan’s is shame and fear, possibly bred by growing up silently gay in a homogeneous suburb.

We all hope that in times of stress, when we need them most, our spirit animal will emerge to guide us. Sometimes they do. But so too do our spirit demons. Especially, if we’re in an altered state. If turned in the wrong direction, the medicines – alcohol, cannabis, whatever – track our weaknesses like a cheetah prowling after a Dik-dik. And then they pounce.

Debbie and Josh three-way called the police department to file a missing person’s report. The officer asked Josh to email photographs of Logan, a devastating request. Another hour passed. We called Debbie and told her we’d exhausted our search possibilities and were coming home, defeated.

As we walked into the house, I heard Debbie shouting on her cell, “Logan, where are you!?” She called out a Market Street address.

“I’m on my way!” I yelled and ran back to the car.

Logan has only hazy memories of what happened. Under the influence of a self-stirred cocktail of alcohol and marijuana, chased with underlying medications he regularly took, he’d vomited, gotten separated from his phone, was kicked out of the club, and, unable to get back in, stumble-ran screaming towards mid-Market, begging those he encountered to use their cell phone

along the way. One can’t blame people for declining to hand over their expensive technology to a vomit covered intoxicated kid. He ended up a mile and half from DNA Lounge, oddly, at the not-yet-open Ikea store – though perhaps not so oddly, given the company’s tagline, “Home is where it all begins” – banged on the door, and was taken in by the security guard, who let him use his phone to call the only number he remembered: his father’s.

I parked alongside small clumps of wayward individuals – perhaps they’d once been a Logan – and walked the half-block to the Ikea store. Logan burst

out, followed by James, the security guard. Logan ran over and hugged me fiercely, for not a small amount of time. After I released him, I walked over to James, a large Black man who looked bemused.

“Thank you for taking care of my nephew,” I said, shaking his hand.

“No problem,” said James, calmly. “Sometimes we all have to grapple with our humanity.”

Yes, James. Sometimes, we do. All events described in this article are true, though some names have been changed

Car parked on the 300 block of Missouri, near 19th Street, last month. Perhaps the victim of a car jacking or one of the neighborhood’s worst parking jobs. A note on the windshield, written on a restaurant napkin, says "Do Not Tow… Owner Is Down The Street" PHOTO: Potrero View Staff

COMMUNITY |SEPTEMBER

Community: West SoMA Cleanup

Join the Civic Joy Fund, RefuseRefuseSF, Shine On, San Francisco Public Works, and TogetherSF for afriendly neighborhood cleanup! Volunteers will clean for one hour, then enjoy afree drink and socialize. 4 to 5 p.m. Meet at Driftwood, 1225 Folsom Street. For more information and to register: https://bit.ly/cleanup-westsoma

Community: “Secondhand Saturday” at The Park Market Sunset Mercantile features local makers, merchants, artists, food artisans, food trucks, children’s activities, live music, storytelling, community causes, beer and wine tasting, and more. Small group paddle board lessons will be offered by the San Francisco Parks Alliance and Dogpatch Paddle. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crane Cove Park, 18th and Illinois streets. For more information and to register for paddle board lessons: https://bit.ly/secondhand-sat

Theater: Cymbeline

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents the epic romantic adventure Cymbeline, featuring a dazzling mix of comedy, tragedy, and fairy tale. King Cymbeline of Britain has banished Posthumus, who has secretly married his daughter, Princess Imogen. A series of unimaginable misadventures ensue that test the strength of their commitment, concluding with inventive scenes of revelation and joyous reconciliation. 2 to 3:30 p.m. Free. Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, 40 John F Shelley Drive. For more information: https://bit. ly/cymbeline-mclarenpark

Art: Pay What You Can at Museum of Craft and Design

Visitors can experience “Fight and Flight: Crafting a Bay Area Life” for whatever amount they wish. Admissions for Pay What You Can Wednesdays must be purchased at the front desk. Museum of Craft and Design, 2569 Third Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/mcd-wed

Rosh Hashanah: A Golden New Year

Immerse yourself in an unforgettable evening filled with beautiful melodies, and meaningful reflections. Enjoy a tapestry of music, blending Italian and Jewish traditions, the soul-stirring sounds of klezmer music, paying homage to the timeless classic Fiddler on the Roof alongside traditional Jewish songs with fresh arrangements and genres, symbolizing the spirit of new beginnings. The musical journey will also encompass the compositions of Mahler, Verdi, Mendelssohn, and Meyerbeer, adding a touch of grandeur to this special occasion. Indulge in a delectable array of traditional Rosh Hashanah food, perfectly complemented by themed cocktails and exquisite wines. 7 to 9:30 p.m. $60 to $100. The Green Room, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Second Floor. For more information: https://bit.ly/ golden-new-year

9/7 Thursday through 11/11 Saturday

Art: Ana Jotta: Never the Less The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts is thrilled to present Ana Jotta: Never the Less

a groundbreaking exhibition that defies all forms of classification and identification, unveiling Jotta’s personal artistic language. For Jotta, the act of drawing transcends the confines of a pencil and paper. Breaking free from the page, her drawings exist as table linens, collaged leather, woven textiles, cut felt, and objects. Free. CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, 360 Kansas Street. For more information: wattis.org

Film: Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema: Film Crawl on Cortland

Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema celebrates 20 years of independent film screeningswith its yearly festival weekend starting withFilm Crawl. Enjoy popup film screenings on Cortland Avenue from Anderson to Bocana streets. 7 to 9:30 p.m. Free. For more information: https://bit.ly/ cortland-film-crawl

9/8 Friday through 9/12 Tuesday

Music: Flower Piano at the Botanical Garden

The San Francisco Botanical Garden is transformed into the City’s own alfresco concert hallwhere everyone is invited to play and listen. Twelve pianos will be located throughout the 55-acre living museum. At each piano, there’ll be scheduled professional performances, open play time for participants, and community partner performances reflecting a range of genres, ages, and cultures. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets: $7 to $15; free for San Francisco residents. Advanced tickets recommended for all. San Francisco Botanical Garden, 1199 Ninth Avenue. For more information: https://bit.ly/ flower-piano

Food: Art of Sushi Making

Tips and tricks from a professional sushi chef in this hands-on class. Learn to prepare the perfect sushi rice, select fresh ingredients properly, and the art of rolling. This casual and easy to follow class will surely engage your senses. Participants will make three variations: a spicy tuna Temaki roll, California and Futomaki vegetarian roll. 1 to 3 p.m. $59. Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Building. For more information and to register: https://bit.ly/art-of-sushi

9/16 Saturday & 9/17 Sunday

Art: Etching and Aquatint Workshop

Learn etching and aquatint at a great space for making art in Dogpatch. Copper material is etched by ferric chloride. Aquatint is a way to add tonal effects. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $250 tuition plus $25 material fee. For more information: Toru Sugita, toppi@torusugita.netor 415-5051564. Graphic Arts Workshop, 2565 Third Street, Number 305. https:// graphicartsworkshop.org/

Gala: One PlayGround Gala

One PlayGround Gala — taking place in person and online — will honor three individuals/organizations who have made a notable impact on the PlayGround community over the past three decades. The honorees are: 17 year-long PlayGround funder, The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation; 2008 June Anne Baker prize-winning playwright,Lauren Yee; and legendary Bay Area director, actor, and long-time

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PlayGround company member, Joy Carlin. Tickets: $250 general, with host level options. 5:30 to 8 p.m. Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street. For more information and to purchase tickets: https://bit.ly/one-playground

9/22 Friday through 10/15 Sunday

Film: San Francisco Dance Film Festival

74 films from 22 countries, with 16 Bay Area movies, will be featured in San Francisco theaters and streamed online. At the festival close an invited jury will announce its award selections in six categories. Single tickets and passes from $8.99 to $75. Founded in 2010, Dance Film SF is a nonprofit organization that brings dance to new audiences through the presentation and development of dance-based media. For more information: https:// sfdancefilmfest.org/

9/23 Saturday & 9/24 Sunday

Festival: Annual Autumn Moon Festival

For two days, historic Chinatown, on Grant Avenue between California and Broadway, will be filled with arts and crafts sellers, food stalls, live music, local contemporary entertainment, mooncakes, lion dancing, and familyfriendly fun. Activities include Martin Yan demonstrating moon cake making, dragon parade, young Asian, AsianAmerican, and Pacific Islander-owned vendors between California and Sacramento, and more. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. Grant Avenue between California and Broadway. For more information: https://www.moonfestival.org/

Gardening: Gardening with Native Plants

Discover San Francisco native plants in this two-hour workshop. Learn why growing them benefits wildlife. 1 to 3 p.m. $25-$50. Garden for the Environment, 1590 Seventh Avenue. For more information and to register: https://bit.ly/native-sfgarden

Film: Legally Blonde

Sundown Cinemapresents a free outdoor movie night, featuring Legally Blonde, with food trucks and themed pre-show entertainment.

5 p.m.; film screening at 6:30 p.m. Free. San Francisco Ferry Building, The Embarcadero and Ferry Plaza. For more information: https://bit.ly/ sundown-legally-blonde

Community: Bay Area Chuseok Korean Harvest Festival

The Bay Area’s largest public event celebrating, showcasing, and promoting Korean culture, cuisine, music, arts, and community. Performances will include K-pop dance, traditional Korean drumming, taekwondo demonstrations, and more. Korean food and drink. Discover local Korean artists, makers, businesses, and nonprofits serving the Korean community. Family-friendly activities include tug of war. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. Presidio Main Lawn, Graham Street and Keyes Avenue. For more information: https://bit.ly/chuseokfestival

Dear Readers

Josephine Firpo Alioto achieved the age of 102 on September 1. She was born on Kansas Street in 1921, raised on 20th Street, where she grazed her family's goat on a patch of ground then called Burkes lot at 20th and Carolina streets, now part of Victoria Mews. The goat's footprints in cement can be seen in front of Goat Hill Pizza. Josephine attended Daniel Webster School and married her neighbor, Frank Alioto, at St. Teresa's Church in 1944. She holds the mortar and pestle her mother, Angelina Firpo, used to make pesto and brought to Potrero Hill from Genoa in 1901. Happy Birthday, Josephine!

Served

Cafe Da Fonk!

BY DANNY PHAM

Rising expenses, labor shortages, equipment failures, COVID hardships, and the impending sale of the 300 De Haro Street complex in which her bakery was located prompted Yasmin Points to close My Good Pie in 2022.

“It was a desperate situation, with no place or time to take or sell equipment, and we were in deeper debt each day since operations were closed,” said Points. “In my moment of desperation, I reached out to the landlords, who were incredibly understanding about our predicament.”

Points planned to start fresh in a new location but was unable to secure an affordable rent.

“This turn of events forced me to reevaluate everything. I had to create a concept that I could handle on my own, with fewer resources and less equipment, but one that still stayed true to my heart and soul,” said Points.

Out of this adversity the idea for Cafe Da Fonk!, which opened in July in the same 300 De Haro Street complex, was born.

“It’s about being better to ourselves, each other, and our world. Beyond just serving food and drinks, Cafe Da Fonk is a vision to revolutionize how cafes, restaurants, and individuals approach their daily lives. It’s about reimagining the cafe experience and creating a more harmonious lifestyle,” said Points.

“Things like zero waste, low impact living, functional ingredients and methods of preservations, are just a few things we hope to carry forward.”

Cafe Da Fonk’s menu reflects Point’s values, life experiences, and heritage, including her California upbringing coupled with living in Europe for nearly a decade.

“The path leading to this juncture taught me profound lessons in the art of self-preservation, the authenticity of embracing imperfections, and the deep value of forging meaningful connections,” said Points. “Family recipes, cultural inspirations, and a commitment

CAFE DA FONK continues on next page

Presented by Dogpatch & NW Potrero Hill Green Benefit District Funded by a grant from Avenue Greenlight Event Partners: Dogpatch Neighborhood Association, Dogpatch Business Association, Jazz in the Neighborhood, Museum of Craft and Design

to doing better all around, converged into a culinary landscape that transcended traditional boundaries. It’s not confined to any one cuisine but driven by the belief that we can do better for the coming generations. We aim to excite people by using meaningful ingredients and methods that tie us back to each other and the earth.”

The café’s approach is influenced by eateries in Central Europe, where Points’ partner, Pasquale Kress, is from. Along with sandwiches and breakfast dishes, Cafe Da Fonk offers specialty teas and coffees. The Matcha Bliss Remix features matcha with fresh ginger and zesty lime in creamy oat milk.

“Beyond tantalizing your taste buds, this delightful blend enhances the bioavailability of matcha, maximizing its health benefits,” said Points.

Zadie’s Breakfast Masterpiece Sando, named after Points’ and Kress’ youngest son, consists of a house-made sourdough discard biscuit with fluffy scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, crispy halal beef bacon, and fresh microgreens. It’s one of the restaurant’s best sellers.

“Our commitment to sustainability is reflected in our house-made fermented condiments and meats, like the red cabbage kraut and lacto-fermented onions,” said Points. “These flavorful and gut-healthy additions elevate our sandwiches, such as the beloved Fonky Arnold Rueben, served on toasted sourdough for added nutrients and digestibility. We are determined to bring a positive force to the cafe experience, offering something different from the quirky, usual spots.”

Their eldest son, Ismael, helps with restaurant operations on weekends with his friends. Kress, who works full-time in cybersecurity, pitches in as needed.

DM Development purchased 300 De Haro Street in 2022, with plans to demolish it and construct a 450-unit residential project later this year. Points’ decision to move into a temporary location was influenced by a mix of considerations.

“The De Haro space, priced affordably and already tailored to our needs, still permitted with SFHD, presented a golden opportunity. We saw the chance

to test our ideas, learn the intricacies of operating a physical establishment, and gauge the market’s response,” said Points. “Currently we are on a month-to-month lease but there may be a good chance we can stay until next year, midyear. Right now, our best bet is to make a successful run while we still can. Potrero Hill is not just a location for us; it’s a community we cherish deeply. We have woven a strong bond with this vibrant neighborhood, embracing its history and spirit with open arms. We are grateful for the unwavering support from our loyal customers, the Center for the Books, SFPD, and the DA’s Office, neighbors and Bay Area Halal Foodies among others, those who constantly back us up and drop in to show their love.”

PROGRAMS OF CommunityLivingCampaign

UpcomingActivities

September7

PotreroHillNeighborhoodHouse, 953DeHaro Street 10:00am:Drop-InTechSupport 11:00am:FreeSeniorChairYogaExercise Class 12:00pm:NeighborSocial

Contact:Kuzuri@sfcommunityliving.org(415)955-7239 1663MissionSt.,Suite525SanFrancisco,CA94103415-821-1003 www.sfcommunityliving.org

evaluations of the Potrero TerraceAnnex and the Sunnydale public housing complexes. The sites were beset with excessive trash, abandoned vehicles, and unfulfilled work orders. According to multiple residents, Terrace-Annex conditions have improved since EMBC fielded Lance Whittenberg to manage the complex several months ago. EMBC did not respond to repeated View requests for interviews.

By any measure the Terrace-Annex and Sunnydale buildings are worn out, having hastily been constructed in 1941 and 1955. Launched in 2011, HOPE SF, a public-private partnership to improve public housing, is the City’s answer to the problem. BRIDGE, which owns 24 properties in San Francisco, has made slow progress reconstructing Terrace-Annex. To date it’s completed 1101 Connecticut Street, with 53 of 72 units occupied by long-term TerraceAnnex residents. “Potrero Block B,” 1801 25th Street, is scheduled to be finished next year, with 117 of the 157 units reserved for existing TerraceAnnex residents.

According to Uzuri Pease-Greene, who is a BRIDGE employee, and executive director of Community Awareness Resource Entity, Terrace-Annex and Sunnydale residents are contending with issues that were problems long before EBMC came onto the scene.

“It’s not a Eugene Burger only prob-

lem,” she said. “It’s an inherited mess.” For instance, mice and rats have been a consistent problem for years at the sites, and due to construction, the problem is only getting worse. She added, “We’ve had mice for years, even before COVID. We’ve been dealing with it.”

Other consistent complaints at Terrace-Annex and Sunnydale center around landscaping and trash, according to Walton. At the July oversight meeting, EBMC said it has daily waste pickup. After determining that there was an insufficient number of garbage bins, the company worked with Recology to deliver 141 extra containers the same month the hearing was held.

Walton asked SFHA to give his office quarterly reports on the conditions of the public housing sites.

“I definitely want to make sure [EBMC has] the opportunity to fix their mistakes and to make sure the Housing Authority holds them accountable,” he said in an interview with the View “We’ll look at the quarterly reports to see if things change or get better.”

What scorecards and reports don’t reveal, however, is the way TerraceAnnex residents look out for one another. When the Dakota Street fire broke out, neighbors rushed to grab a hose to douse the flames even before SFFD arrived. They made sure kids and pets were

safe by encouraging them to stay on the other side of the street or by holding on to leashes.

FIRE from front page

Sometimes it's the smaller stages at big music festivals that offer the most satisfying experiences. Born and raised in Oakland, King Isis played the Panhandle stage at last month's Outside Lands, offering a joyful mix of rock, R&B, jazz and blues. The event itself was marked by the kind of cool fog that felt more like a slightly damp hug than a chilly rejection. Food concessions were diverse and tasty, if portions were generally small and expensive. At the big stages Kendrick Lamar skipped the patter to deliver the right kind of noise to an energized, tightly packed, crowd; Noah Kahan's fans sang his tunes at the top of their lungs, with artist and audience loving every minute. Good times, in a City that needs them. PHOTO: Steven Moss

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Muir Beach Studio and House

Walking distance to the beach, with the crashing waves visible and audible.

Studio: Cozy studio comfortable for two-people. Includes kitchenette and private patio. $200/night plus cleaning fee, two-night minimum. Editor@ potreroview.net or 415.643.9578.

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SF FLOWER MARKET from front page

According to Boes, the Market consists of 40 vendors, most of whom have been tenants for 10 to 40 years. Of these, 27 will migrate to the new location. Some who declined to relocate feel that the new venue, roughly one-third the size of the SoMa facility, isn’t ideal for their operations and have chosen to retire.

Advocates for increased housing in Potrero Hill expressed concerns about the Flower Market’s arrival, as covered in the January 2020 issue of The Potrero View. Previously, Walden Development had proposed that Kaiser Permanente facilities, and, later, housing, some at below-market rates, be constructed at the 16th and Mississippi streets space before abandoning these plans after challenges arose.

Former San Francisco Mayor and Connecticut Street resident, Art Agnos, said the “loss of affordable housing” was a disappointment for him, but that “as seen since then, housing has struggled because of interest rates, making this almost serendipitous… Now that the decision has been made, I welcome them.”

According to Agnos, there’ll be challenges, particularly related to traffic and noise from flower delivery trucks arriving at 2 a.m., but these can be managed through collaborative approaches. He’s confident that the Market will help the neighborhood’s economy as clients visit other businesses and management engages with the community through art displays and events.

“The neighborhood is generally excited to keep the blue-collar jobs that the Market provides in the City,” said J.R. Eppler, Potrero Boosters president. “Really and truly, in respect to the neighborhood, it’s up to the Flower Market to determine if the neighborhood is the net winner or net loser.”

The Flower Market is in conversation with a group looking to celebrate the opening, according to Boes. Though she declined to provide a name it seems likely that the Potrero Hill Archives Project is involved.

“Potrero Hill is lucky to have us,” she said.

The San Francisco Flower Market will establish a nonprofit to support floral agriculture in Northern California as well as community initiatives, Boes said. She plans to develop a hands-on program for younger children and a mentorship initiative that connects high schoolers with experts to sow the seeds for youth to see the possibility of floral industry jobs in farming, logistics, wholesale, and art. She also may pursue a “block party with other PDR vendors” and “an art project blending the history of the buildings that we’re going to be coming into and the history of our market.”

Next year Smuin will celebrate its 30th anniversary, with a February program paying homage to the company’s founder, Michael Smuin, to be performed at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Michael Smuin danced with the American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet before serving as SF Ballet’s co-artistic director from 1973 to 1984. He founded the dance company that features his name in 1994, after choreographing works for film, Broadway, and Las Vegas productions. He died of an apparent heart attack in 2007.

Smuin’s approach to dance involved combining classical ballet training with the rhythms of popular American culture. The result was highly physical pieces that might include notes from Broadway. Smuin was known for injecting humor and liveliness into his ballets, as well as relying on a range of scores, including Gershwin, bluegrass, and the 1930s cantata Carmina Burana

Smuin typically holds more than 60 recitals a season, with ticket prices between $25 and $119. Most performances are presented at the Blue Shield of California Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, and Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Cowell Theater at Fort Mason and Sunset Center in Carmel also serve as venues. Approximately half of Smuin’s dancers teach ballet classes at the Smuin Center for Dance, the company’s Potrero Hill home, or other Bay Area sites.

Smuin is among many nonprofits impacted by reductions in revenues received by GTFA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. GTFA is funded by hotel taxes. In 2018, Proposition E, Hotel Tax for the Arts, passed with 74 percent of the vote, authorizing a 14 percent duty on lodging stays of less than 30 days. It was expected to generate more than $15 million a year by 2021. However, the pandemic devastated the hospitality sector, with associated reductions in hotel tax income. In fiscal year 2022, GTFA expected proceeds to be roughly 30 percent less than in FY 2020.

In 2022, GTFA changed how it granted funds to comply with 21G of the City’s administrative code, which requires departments to maintain fair granting practices. GTFA now gives higher priority to organizations that served communities in San Francisco, and ones that have a positive economic

LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY IN THE VIEW

impact on surrounding neighborhoods and the City as a whole.

“For granting cycle 2024, fifty percent of a nonprofit’s score will be their economic impact, 35 percent will be their community engagement and impact, and 15 percent will be their fiscal accountability. The term “economic impact” goes to whether the organization is based, has hired artists and staff, and is holding events in San Francisco. The term “fiscal accountability” looks at an organization’s fiscal health and if the organization has diverse funding resources ,” said Vallie Brown, San Francisco Grants for the Arts directors.

Smuin, which moved into the former home of Metronome Ballroom, at 1830 17th Street, in 2019, was significantly dependent on GTFA funding. Since it holds performances outside the City, it scored lower under the new criteria. The company also saw a drop in funding from other organizations that supported the arts, including the William + Flora Hewlett Foundation.

“The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 assisted us in getting through the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are thankful for that but want to be better positioned to connect with audiences as they return for live performances and classes,” said Laqua.

Friends of Smuin, an auxiliary and social group of “Smuin aficionados,” has been a driving force to encourage support for Smuin.

“Before the pandemic, we were a group of 10 to 15. Now we have almost 35 members. Together, we have encouraged donations and raised approximately $50,000 over the past two and a half years. We have also organized special shows at Roche Winery & Vineyards in Sonoma and pre-show get-togethers at the St. Regis Bar,” said Leslie Taglio, Friends of Smuin co-president.

Richard Binkoff, a Carolina Street resident, has offered his guest dwelling to visiting Smuin choreographers.

“Large ballets have budgets in the millions. Smuin’s budget is far less, and in-kind contributions help a great deal,” said Binkoff.

John Orr, founder of Jettison Creative, a San Francisco-based production agency and studio, films Smuin

performances for digital audiences to view pro bono. Orr, a Castro resident, is also a real estate agent, and sold Smuin the building in which it’s housed. He was a Smuin dancer from 2009 to 2013 and 2020 to 2022. His wife, Terez Dean Orr, currently dances with the company.

“It’s truly a joy to be close to Smuin in so many ways, for performances, to see my wife in the company, and film dancers as they practice and teach. For a time, I separated myself from dance. Now I see Smuin as a touchstone to which I can return,” said John Orr.

Benjamin Warner, community engagement manager and rehearsal assistant for Smuin Contemporary Ballet, said the company creates a lively and warm welcome to audiences and students.

“During the first years of the pandemic, online and hybrid performances through Stellar encouraged audiences to share experiences in real time. As we’ve come back to in-person classes and performances, that has resulted in real bonds,” said Warner. “Smuin is looking to form partnerships with other businesses on the Hill and in Dogpatch. We’re members of the Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association. Many of our dancers often visit local institutions like Connecticut Yankee.”

Smuin hosts movement classes for three- and four-year-olds attending Potrero Hill Montessori School, located across the street. Starting this month Smuin will offer a free weekly dance class, ConfiDANCE!, for six to nineyear-olds, funded by the Rotary Club of San Francisco. The program will expand to 10 to 13-year-olds later this year. Smuin regularly holds Class for a Cause dance fitness classes, which collect donations for local causes. Recent recipients included The Food Pantry at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church and the Bay Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“I’m very excited about being a part of Zorro!, a piece in which women dance with whips. I look forward to seeing The Man in Black, which features one woman and three men all performing in cowboy boots, to songs recorded by Johnny Cash,” said Cassidy Isaacson, a Smuin dancer.

SMUIN BALLET from front page

Saturday, September 16, 2023

6:00 pm-9:30 pm

Swedish American Hall 2174 Market Street San Francisco, CA

Please join Potrero Hill resident and Nepal SEEDS co-founder

Keith Goldstein in this celebration of 25 years serving Nepal’s remote villages.