Bernal Hill

Behold, an Elegant New Photo of the Mysterious Tree-Shrub Thing on Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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Over on the Twitter, Neighbor Tim shared this super snap of the spooky tree-shrub thing on the eastern slope of Bernal Hill summit.

It’s long been known that Bernal’s tree-shrub thing has supernatural powers and functions as a gateway to the afterlife.

Some say it’s a California Buckeye, but no one seems to know exactly definitely for sure.

What we can say for sure is that Neighbor Tim has captured the beauty of the mysterious tree-shrub thing, in a very elemental way. Lovely!

PHOTO: Neighbor Tim

Bernal Hill Stars in the Most Epic Display of Giants Pride the World Has Ever Seen

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

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Holy schmokes!  While things were going badly for the Giants last night, Daniel Leu, our favorite Bernal-watcher on Potrero Hill, noticed that we looked rather stunning during the sunset.

Daniel writes:

While the San Francisco Giants were battling the Kansas City Royals, the sky over Bernal Heights had its own spectacular show.

We may have lost the game, but it can now be said Bernal Hill put on the most epic display of orange-and-black Giants Pride the world has ever seen.

PHOTO: Daniel Leu

Sunset Timelapse from Bernal Hill Is a Preview of Tonight’s Coming Attractions

/ Todd_Lappin

It’s going to be beautiful in Bernal Heights today — a warm and clear allocation from our limited annual ration of summer-like days.

During a similar day earlier in the week, Jamie Fausto created a gorgeous time-lapse video of the sunset, as seen from the north-facing vantage point that looks straight up South Van Ness Avenue. It’s awesome.

Enjoy Jamie’s video in full-screen mode, and if you want to experience the real thing for yourself, be advised that sunset will happen tonight at 6:49 pm.

PRO TIP: Bring a cocktail.

Here’s the View of Bernal Hill from the Other End of South Van Ness

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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Yesterday I went to a meeting at 1455 Market Street, a big high-rise right at the corner of Market and 11th Street. The office was in one of the building’s upper stories, and it had incredible views of Our Faire City.

As I gazed south, I realized I was staring straight down South Van Ness to Bernal Hill, which looked particularly rakish and handsome.

In other words, I was basically eye-to-eye with Bernal Hill from a vantage point directly opposite those stone benches at the curve in the closed section of Bernal Heights Boulevard. You know… the ones that look straight up South Van Ness. Because when you sit on one of those benches, here’s what you see:

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That’s South Van Ness slicing through the center, and the photo at the top of this post was taken from the building highlighted by the arrow.

To see both vantage points, let’s take in the view from the Bernalwood SkyCam:

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Bonus Fun Fact! As the crow flies, the distance between the benches on Bernal Hill and 1455 Market is about 11,427 feet, or 2.16 miles.

And now you know how we look from that distance when workers inside 1455 Market look back (enviously) at us.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics. Aerial image courtesy of Google Earth

Medical Examiner’s Report in Alex Nieto Case Details 10+ Gunshot Wounds, Mental Health History, Taser Discharge

/ Todd_Lappin / 20 Comments

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After a long and disgraceful delay, the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office finally released its report on the March 21 officer-involved shooting death of Bernal resident Alex Nieto on Bernal Hill.  Yet in the style of a politician or corporate bigwig who seeks to disclose information while blunting its impact, the medical examiner’s report in the Nieto case was released on Friday — just as San Francisco headed into the low-attention weekend.

So now, on a paying-attention Tuesday, let’s consider what the report says, and what it might tell us about the case of Neighbor Alex Nieto.

If you’re a primary-source kind of person who wants to read the medical examiner’s report in unfiltered form, you can find the full text of the report right here (courtesy of KQED).

If you want the digest, we’ll share the SF Appeal’s version, which highlights both Nieto’s injuries and the section of the report detailing his mental-health history:

The San Francisco medical examiner’s office released a full autopsy report Friday for 28-year-old Alejandro “Alex” Nieto that confirmed he was struck by at least ten bullets when he was fatally shot by police at Bernal Heights Park in March.

Nieto, a San Francisco native who lived on Cortland Avenue in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, was a security guard who attended City College of San Francisco. He had aspirations of being a probation officer.

Nieto was killed on March 21 by San Francisco police officers and the autopsy report indicates that Nieto suffered as many as 15 gunshot wounds from as few as ten bullets.

The Nieto family’s lawyer, civil rights attorney John Burris, said Friday that he has never seen an autopsy report that released so much information about the deceased’s alleged history regarding mental health problems and police contact.

The medical examiner’s office notes numerous details in the autopsy report, such as an incident in 2011 in which Nieto was not taking his medication and received 72-hours of involuntary psychiatric treatment after allegedly “attempting to burn his parents’ house down.”

Burris said he was surprised to see that the medical examiner’s office included medical records from San Francisco General Hospital that, according to the autopsy, “revealed a history of aggressive and bizarre behavior, auditory hallucinations,” as well as Nieto’s noncompliance to prescriptions for two atypical anti-psychotic drugs.

The medical examiner’s office reported traces of cannabinoids in Nieto’s system at his time of death and no trace of anti-psychotic medications.

The other item of note in the report is the assertion that Nieto’s pistol-shaped Taser had been discharged at some point during his confrontation with the SFPD. Here’s how that section reads in the report’s case history:

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Justice for Alex Nieto, the committee formed by Alex’s family and friends in response to his death, has published a lengthy response to the medical examiner’s report that seeks to refute many of its key assertions. Here’s an excerpt:

There is no reason or authority for the Medical Examiner to act as a police detective investigating any possible rationale for anything that happened on Bernal Heights on Friday, March 21. Their job is simply to conduct an examination of the body and notify the public of the medical examination concerning the cause of death. The San Francisco Medical Examiner is not a detective agency; if they were, then they should also be investigating the background and disciplinary records of the police officers who killed Alex Nieto, yet we still do not even have those officers’ names. The San Francisco Medical Examiner is supposed to be unbiased and transparent in safeguarding the public good, yet here they are obviously attempting to besmirch the character of Alex Nieto, even though that is not their job.

The report also claims that Alex brandished his taser, yet it is not the medical examiner’s job to make any determinations on possible brandishing of tasers. In an unbiased manner, they are simply supposed to determine cause of death. Their statement about brandishing obviously shows that they are using the police account as fact, which is not part of the medical examiner’s job.

The long-awaited release of the medical examiner’s report is an important milestone in the Nieto case, because it’s first time in almost six months that new information about the shooting has been officially released. Moreover, the medical examiner’s report plays an important role in the parallel (but opaque) investigations underway to ascertain if officers acted legally when Nieto was shot on March 21.

The investigation process as a whole is slow, cumbersome, secretive, and far from ideal. Unfortunately, it’s also the only process we currently have.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

“Gatsby Complex” Yields Beautiful Photos of Bernal Hill from Noe Valley

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

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It’s a well-documented fact that many people in Noe Valley experience  a “Gatsby Complex” when they gaze at Bernal Hill — our proud-but-distant profile seems to trigger deep-seated feelings of admiration and longing among our neighbors to the west. That’s perfectly understandable, of course, given Bernal’s famous glamtasticness. But it must be hard to live that way.

Fortunately, Noe’s Gatsby Complex tends to generate some wonderful photography, and these two images prove the point. The photo at top was captured at dusk last weekend by Luke Spray, and the one below was taken at dawn on Sunday by Steve A.

Frankly, we don’t envy them — the whole Gatsby Complex thing must be a difficult burden to bear. Yet at least these shutterbugs have found a productive way to transform their psychological torment into beautiful art. Lucky for them — and even more lucky for us.

Hat Tip: MissionMission

Sad and Shameful: Alex Nieto Memorial on Bernal Hill Plagued by Vandalism

/ Todd_Lappin / 94 Comments

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For those who knew Alex Nieto, the young Bernal resident killed during an officer-involved shooting on Bernal Hill last spring, the last few months have been unrelentingly sad — and at times, deeply alienating.

Bernalwood recently described how the official investigation into Neighbor Alex’s death seems unlikely to provide much factual insight or emotional closure — ever. Which is horrible. Yet more immediately, the family and friends of Alex Nieto have been infuriated by multiple instances of vandalism targeted at the ad hoc memorial to Alex constructed at the site where he died on the north side of Bernal Hill, just west of the Folsom gate.

(Preemptive Sidebar: In the recent Bernalwood update on the Nieto investigation, some readers were unhappy about the presence of this private memorial on the public land of Bernal Heights Park.  Bernalwood reader Adam K. very graciously and compassionately addressed this by placing the memorial within the Latino tradition of creating temporary memorials to honor those for whom death has come suddenly and unexpectedly. Adam’s comments are consistent with Bernal values in the best possible way, and are highly recommended.)

The first report about vandalism of the Nieto memorial appeared on the Justice for Alex Nieto website on July 13:

We are sad to report that in the past two days the memorial altar to Alex Nieto has been vandalized. Someone first took the banner that said “No Más Violencia de la Policia” (No More Police Violence) and last night, the cross (with his portrait) set close to the site of his death was removed. Alex’s parents —Elvira and Refugio Nieto— tirelessly refresh flowers and maintain the banner and altar. Yesterday, knowing about the mysterious loss of the banner, we gathered with Windsong (a City College student, a Bernal Hill dweller since childhood, and the original designer of the banner) to design another one that we intended to place again today. We suspended any judgement about why the banner disappeared, but with the loss of the cross, it is a clear malicious act.

The damage was quickly repaired, but the memorial was vandalized again on July 22, and yet again on the 23rd. A vigil was started to keep watch over the site, but during a lapse in coverage during the early morning hours of July 26th, the memorial was vandalized a fourth time. The vigils resumed, and with them came a stronger sense of solidarity — and community:

In the wee hours of Friday July 27th, Maria and Adriana [from the Justice and Amor for Alex Nieto Committee] watched the sunrise over the Bay. By 6:30am Refugio Nieto arrived with La Gorda (the 3 year old family blue pitbull.) They drank coffee made by Adriana and chatted and chatted. Harried dogwalkers of all sorts began to roam the hill. La Gorda whined for the other dogs to come visit her, and they often obliged. We began laughing about how everyone, even little old ladies, looked suspicious to us. We have our favorite suspect (one who seemed to be holding a can of spray paint).

There comes a moment during the morning on Bernal, when the stream of dog walkers and joggers becomes continuous and the Memorial is kept by the same life on the hill.

The last weeks on Bernal have been illuminating. We have learned that we have countless of anonymous supporters among the daily walkers on the hill. Even before the vigils began, while we were on the hill repairing the site, pedestrians often stopped to thank us for keeping the Memorial alive: Russell expressed how much he loved the Hill for its diversity and neighborliness, and expressed his sorrow at Alex’s shooting. Homeboy Reynaldo stopped to stay he’d be happy to cover Alex’s Story in cholo magazine. Adriana and Maria even met one of the last people to have seen Alex alive on the hill. (Don’t worry, he already gave his witness statement.) All in all, the more time we spend on the hill, the more people who come around respectfully and curiously to ask us questions and learn about Alex’s Story.

Yet once again, on July 29th, the site was vandalized, as someone removed the photo of Neighbor Alex that hung on the memorial cross.

Last weekend, Justice and Amor for Alex Nieto Committee posted photos and a video of a man whom they believe may be responsible for the vandalism. They seek community input to help identify the alleged vandal.

Yet to anyone who may have defaced the Alex Nieto memorial on Bernal Hill, we would simply say this:

Stop.

Please.

Just stop.

The death of Neighbor Alex Nieto brought immense pain to his family, his friends, and our community. Let the grieving run its course. Let the healing commence. Let it be peaceful, and let it remain undisturbed. Please. Just stop.

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ALL PHOTOS: Justice and Amor for Alex Nieto Committee

Car Overturns Under Suspicious Circumstances on Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

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Drama!  Bad driving! Vehicular inversion! A suspicion of crime! On Bernal Hill!

There was an accident on the north side of Bernal Heights Boulevard late Saturday morning that left a vehicle overturned in a rather unlikely place. Neighbor Benjamin shared his photos, and this report from the scene:

On Saturday at about 11:20 AM, while waiting for the bus at Bradford and Esmeralda, I heard a terrific crash, and went to investigate.  This is what I saw when I arrived.  Witnesses said the four occupants of the car had all run off, which I take to mean they were probably up to no good.  Though on the plus side, that also probably means they were unhurt.  I tuned in to the Bernalwood blog this morning to get the details and was dismayed to find no mention of these events.

No further details on this yet, but Bernalwood will update this post as additional information becomes available.

PHOTOS: Neighbor Benjamin

Saturday: Band Called “View From Bernal Hill” Is Not From Bernal Heights, But Will Perform Near Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

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The View from Bernal Hill is a “chamber-flavored jazz” group that used to be called the Camille Mai Trio, until recently, when they decided to change their name to “The View from Bernal Hill.”

This is confusing, because the musicians in The View from Bernal Hill do not live in Bernal Heights — they just think we’re rather sexy and inspiring.

Band member Camille Mai tells Bernalwood:

Well, we don’t live in Bernal, but I had an out of body experience for the first time while on that hill.. and Fred, who shoots our videos, lives there, so I spend a lot of time over there editing video and going to progressive grounds 🙂 We actually just shot a music video on the hill too! It’s such a truly amazing place…

Still confused? Don’t worry, it’s not you — it’s just confusing. But so what. Let’s just roll with it. Because we’re famous like that, and we do this to people. Especially creative-types.

Anyway, The View from Bernal Hill will perform at 7:30 pm on Saturday, July 26 at the Red Poppy Art House (2698 Folsom at 23rd) — which also is not in Bernal Heights, although it is, admittedly, sort of nearby.

In the meantime, you can also listen to this beautiful song, which was originally recorded by the Camille Mai Trio but is now performed by The View from Bernal Hill, which is the same thing, only different and a little more confusing. Plus, there’s a Bernal name-check at around 02:16…

PHOTOS: Poster by Telstar Logistics. Band by The View from Bernal Hill.

Bernal Hill Cleanup Was Successful — and Social

/ Todd_Lappin / 11 Comments

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Neighbor Sarah, who helped organize the Bernal Hill cleanup last weekend with the (super sexy) Bernal Go Team, shares this Executive Summary of the cleanup party’s effort:

It went great! Good turnout, nice to meet neighbors. The scene wasn’t as bad as last year (probably because of the fog), but we still picked up many bags of fireworks, bottles, trash, and fossilized dog poop (shocking quantities of this). We also met some neighbors who didn’t even know about the official cleanup but were cleaning up on their own anyway.

PHOTO: Bernal Go! Team

Bernal Hill Escapes Fourth Unburned, Despite Efforts of Dimwits

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

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With Karl the Fog providing a practical assist, the Fourth of July came and went uneventfully last Friday, and Bernal Hill survived the holiday unmolested by flames.

That’s not to say the Forces of Unsmartness stayed home for the holiday. On Saturday morning, Neigbor Valjoy discovered this sad tableau on Bernal Hill during the (completely awesome) Hillwide Cleanup organized by the Bernal GO Team.

As she aptly put it, “Fireworks + dry grass = what could possibly go wrong?”

*whew!*

PHOTO: Valjoy9

Bernal Heights Featured on Cover of Aspirational Fitness Magazine

/ Todd_Lappin / 25 Comments

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Well, isn’t this rather stylish?

Neighbor Travis just got his July 2014 issue of Runner’s World, and — wouldn’t you know it! — the cover shot shows some buff-looking dude standing astride our very own scenic-looking Bernal Hill.

Run Strong! Stay Cool! Avoid Dog Poop!

Meanwhile, if you want to know what a homegrown Bernal Hill running superstar looks like, ignore the guy shown above, and instead look for this fleet-footed guy cruising around the neighborhood.