NOTE: This email may be clipped for Gmail users. Please click "view entire message" at the bottom to see all content.
|
|
SF Pride Celebration Brought Joy, Entertainment and Love to Civic Center
SF Pride Weekend brought out hundreds of thousands of revelers to the SF Pride Celebration in Civic Center Plaza, an event full of love and fun, with stages of entertainment and various community booths; many revelers brought their picnic blankets with them and grabbed food and drink and stayed from beginning until end.
Also, the City noted that at the SF Pride marriage event on June 23, they married over 250 couples! See a wonderful clip of the day's festivities on the SFGovTV Instagram page. #LoveisLove
|
|
The Heart of the City is a Cornucopia of Great Things
A recent feature in the SF Examiner takes a delicious dive into all the wonderful foods shoppers can find at the Heart of the City Farmers Market: "Asparagus, cherries, avocados, berries, leafy greens, herbs,”berries, leafy greens, herbs," starts Steve Pulliam, Director of the HOTC; also noting some of the harder to find items the market carries: "Citrus Buddha’s Hand, and 'sugar cane, kaffir lime leaves, pomelos, many types of Asian squash and greens, mountain potatoes, specialty mushrooms [and] mulberries'." He also shares delicious options for lunch, such as Estrellita’s Snacks, which he declares are "The best pupusas in town."
|
|
New Restaurants: Kiln, Market Street Gyros, Peacock Pansy, Teakwood & More Dining News
Featuring 8-20 course tasting menus, and aiming for Michelin stars, Kiln has opened in the former Cala space at 149 Fell. They note their abbreviated tasting menu is perfect for theater goers.
Also a new place to grab a gyro, wrap or baklava! Market Street Gyros (1400 Market) opened in April and is already garnering great Yelp reviews.
Featuring a beautiful dining room, Peacock Pansy (392 Fulton) opened in June; they're serving brunch and lunch, with dinner to come.
Burma Love's latest restaurant Teakwood (399 Grove) opened in June, featuring Burmese and neighboring countries' cuisines.
Cafe Valor at the War Memorial Veterans Building as reopened. Stop by for breakfast, lunch, coffee or a quick snack!
Also making news in the restaurant world, the old Burger King spot on Market Street will transform into a CloudKitchens location. Part of a new venture from Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, the SF Business Times notes: "CloudKitchens offers delivery-only restaurants and chefs spaces to prepare food sans a brick-and-mortar-dining room."
|
|
Development & Streetscape News |
|
|
|
Grove Street Lighting Project Progresses |
The Grove Street Lighting Project continues as the design portion of the project progresses. We're working with a lighting designer, with active and enthusiastic participation from Grove Street stakeholders. We also received the two grants we noted in the quarter one recap: a Community Challenge Grant and the Avenue Greenlight Grant.
|
|
|
|
Better Market Street Construction Updates |
Better Market Street Phase 1 Construction was hampered by bad weather, but continued as spring rains finally moved on, QTR 2 saw:
- Install of electrical conduits, which will help power the 5 new traffic signals they will be installing later this year
- Finished work on the concrete gutter and loading bays on the north side of Market in May, south side in June.
- Soil Cell installation completed on Market between 7th and 8th streets in May; installation of three more soil cells at the southern edge of UN Plaza and in front of 1170 Market Street followed in June.
-
Detours for cyclist remain in place: Eastbound can detour off Market at 11th, 10th or 8th Streets. Westbound can detour at Ellis, Cyril Magnin, Taylor, or Charles J. Brenham Place. If continuing on Market Street after detour points, they ask you please dismount your bicycle and walk along the sidewalk.
|
|
|
|
Surface level work for the Civic Center BART station is almost compete. BART is in the process of laying the last of the sidewalk bricks, and the fencing outside the Hotel Whitcomb and across the street on Market at 8th is set to come down shortly. The latest updates can be found here.
Also, the Market at 7th Street entrance to BART was closed for 4 weeks for an escalator upgrade, but has now been reopened.
|
|
|
|
New Grants for Small Businesses |
The Mayor announced new grants through the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, of $25k-$50k to small businesses who are in negotiation for a storefront lease in selected neighborhoods, which includes portions of Civic Center. Grant details and application here.
|
|
|
|
Facade Inspections by The City on Newer 15-Story+ Buildings |
The Department of Building inspection has announced as part of DBI’s Façade Inspection and Maintenance Program, buildings that are 15 stories or more and built after 1998 will be required to submit a full facade evaluation by a licensed engineer or architect by November; more here.
|
|
|
|
The Kelsey -- a 100% affordable 8-story apartment building featuring 112 units -- officially broke ground in June. Following this, soil off-haul has continued as they prepare the site for the start of the concrete foundation. They're also installing underground piping for storm and sewer lines, and will be erecting a tower crane at the end of July.
See their site for the latest information.
|
|
|
|
The Latest on the Maya Angelou Monument |
On Maya Angelou's birthday in April, the SF Arts Commission shared an update on the monument in her honor: it will be installed on the steps of the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library in 2024.
|
|
|
|
More Theater, Music and Fun! |
The SF Symphony summer season brings the familiar music of blockbuster movies to the Davies Symphony Hall with the return of their Film with Live Orchestra movie nights, with Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Batman.
Broadway SF continues to bring award winning musicals to the Orpheum stage, such as Aladdin (Aug. 2-13) and Hadestown (Sept. 12-17).
|
|
|
|
Governor Newsom & Speaker Emerita Pelosi Address Fentanyl Crisis in SF |
In April, Governor Newsom announced a partnership between "California Highway Patrol (CHP), California National Guard (CalGuard), San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA) to assist the city in its ongoing efforts to address the fentanyl crisis. This agreement will lead to the formation of a new collaborative operation between all four agencies focused on dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city by holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable."
Following this, Speaker Emerita Pelosi requested AG Merrick Garland to approve Operation Overdrive, in order to use federal backing to combat the crisis; and in mid June, Speaker Emerita Pelosi noted it had been approved. In a press release she stated: "...the Department of Justice has approved an Operation Overdrive designation for San Francisco, which will soon unlock new federal resources to combat the City’s fentanyl trafficking epidemic."
|
|
|
|
SF Sheriff Dept. to Focus on Open-Air Drug Use and Dealing |
In early June SF Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced during a press conference that starting at the end of the month the Sheriff Department would be deploying 130 deputies in teams of 8 to arrest drug dealers and those using drugs in the open air in parts of the Tenderloin and SoMa over the next 6 months, with the goal of getting people into services. Following this, DA Jenkins noted that starting July 3, that upon a second arrest for drug use or dealing, a person will be routed to Community Justice Center court system.
|
|
More Health & Safety News
If you missed our latest Civic Center Safety & Update, detailing the efforts of the Civic Center CBD, private sector organizations, and City, State and Federal agencies on issues undermining public health and safety in our District, please read it here.
|
|
Clean & Safe Services - Q 2 |
|
|
|
Civic Center Ambassadors Connect with the Community |
Our evening Community Ambassadors can be found adjacent to the arts and theater district buildings and at the Civic Center Garage on Tuesday-Saturday nights, 6-11pm, helping theater goers get to and from public transportation, area garages and restaurants. In the adjacent photo they're seen outside the SF Opera to help patrons find their way after a performance. |
|
You may have noticed a new street sign on Linden between Franklin and Gough. In this image of Randall Kline with the street sign bearing his name, SF JAZZ notes: "In honor of 40 years dedicated to introducing diverse audiences to the full spectrum of jazz expression, SFJAZZ and City of San Francisco honor SFJAZZ Founder Randall Kline by unveiling 'Randall Kline Alley' street sign on Linden Alley, which runs north of the SFJAZZ Center."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
