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Bernal Supper Club Expands Schedule at Cafe Cozzolino

/ Todd_Lappin / 5 Comments

The Boys of the Bernal Supper Club

While running an errand on Sunday afternoon, I ran into the manly men from the Bernal Supper Club as they were locking up the doors of their new part-time home at Cafe Cozzolino. They were in jovial spirits, and for good reason: The first two “pilot” dinners at Cozzolino were sell-out successes, and the future of their pop-up restaurant looks bright.

The Bernal Supper Club has clearly tapped into a deep vein of pent-up demand for a delicious place to dine on the North Slope, so now the experiment is set to continue.

For the rest of January, the Bernal Supper Club will pop-up at Cafe Cozzolino on Monday and Tuesday nights. And if things continue to go well, the fellas say, it may become even more regular in February and beyond.

In the meantime, check out the menu for this Monday and Tuesday January 9-10, stop in to sample to fare, and set your taste buds to “Yum.”

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Christmas Carolers Light Up Virginia Street, Demand Figgy Pudding

/ Bronwyn Ximm / 1 Comment
Carolers visit a house on Elsie Street.

’Twas the week before Christmas, the kids were in bed, when all of a sudden, my dear husband said, “Hey, is there, like, someone singing carols outside?”

Indeed, there was! From our front porch we spied a couple dozen carolers, faux candles in hand, fa-la-la-ing a house down the hill from us on Virginia Street. It was quite the touching tableau.

Away to the scene I flew like a flash… and managed to micro-interview the organizer of the merry band. As it turns out, that person is none other than my neighbor Vail, famous around these parts for her gregarious cat Bill.

Bernalwood: Hey, this is great! How long have you been doing this?

Neighbor Vail: About 25 years, I think. My son is 32 now, and we started when he was 5 or something. We’d put a bow on our dog, and we took him around too. We just decided it would be a fun thing to keep doing. Different people come every year as we get more friends.

Bernalwood: Can I come next year?

Neighbor Vail: Yes, absolutely. Come right now!

… and so I did for a bit, singing with my across-the-street neighbor and his lovely young daughter on one side of me, and the youngest caroler in the bunch, one baby Rio, on the other. And yea verily, my heart was filled with joy and gladness.

In case you didn’t manage to catch Virginia Street Carolers, here’s a tiny bit of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (I wish it were longer, but my battery was dying), sung on the corner of Virginia and Eugenia. Never mind the differing factions on the figgy-pudding lyric – “bring it right here,” “bring it right now” – whatever, it’s clear this crowd is serious when it comes to holiday merriment!

Free Download: The Bernal Heights Architectural Coloring Book

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

When he’s not snapping pictures of Speedo-clad fitness buffs, architect Mason Kirby lives in Bernal Heights and works from a cozy little office on the corner of Bocana and Cortland.

Not long ago, Mason hit upon the rather brilliant idea of repurposing some of his elevation renderings to create a “Bernal Heights Architectural Coloring Book,” which he handed out to eager kiddies during the recent Fiesta on the Hill.

I loved the coloring book when I saw it, so I asked Mason if he would create a downloadable version of it for Bernalwood. He cheerfully agreed. The result is a cool collection of color-ready renderings of real Bernal homes, in styles that range from classic Victorians and Edwardians to midcentury mod-boxes.

But as Mason explains here, he also wants neighborhood artists to show off their stuff…

Bernal Architectural Kids Coloring Contest!

I just overheard a young couple outside my office window: “… a four day break from school next week?? What the hell are we going to do??” My sentiments exactly. So just in time for a rainy Thanksgiving break, we are launching a kids coloring contest.

We’ve been living and working in Bernal for the better part of eight years years, and our firm has worked with many neighbors to enlarge, modify, or otherwise update their home-sweet-homes. Recently, we repurposed various drawings from neighborhood projects to create a snappy little kids coloring book. Here for your children’s coloring pleasure is a version that you are free to download, print-out, and color-up.

To raise the game over the Thanksgiving break, I’m are holding a Bernal Kids Coloring Contest. If you’d like to participate, here are the rules:

Official Bernal Heights Architectural Coloring Contest Rules:

  1. Download the coloring book. (pdf file)
  2. Print out the coloring book on a computer printer
  3. Pick your favorite house(s), and color, inside or outside the lines.
  4. On the back, write down the name and age of the person who did the coloring. Provide a way for us to reach you. (No carrier pigeons, please.)
  5. Turn your kids’ masterpieces in at our office mail box (301 Bocana @ Cortland) no later than Monday, November 28th. We’ll hang them in our window.

Judging:
Drawings will be judged by a highly decorated and independent panel of judges based on age groups (0-3, 4-6, 7-10, 11-105) based on GENERAL LEVEL OF ARTISTIC MERIT.

Prizes:

Every entrant will receive a prize which will range from a piece of local chert all the way to a pony. Just kidding about the pony– its really all about participating right?

Questions? Need crayons?– call or visit us and we’ll hook you up.

Got that? Just download the Bernal Heights Architectural Coloring Book, print it out, and color like a fiend.

Last night, Bernalwood’s Cub Reporter prepared her first entry:

She’s going for gold.

Your November 2011 SFPD Crime Report for Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin

SFPD

Neighbor Sara was unable to attend, so the valiant Neighbor Rita stepped in to bring us the summary from this week’s SFPD Captain’s Meeting for the Ingleside Precinct. There’s lots of great detail in here, so read on to stay street-smart:

Hi Everyone, I filled in for Sarah on the reporting, so it might be a little different format than what you have been used to!

Thank you,

Rita

Ingleside Community Meetings are held on third Tuesday of every month from 7 to 8 pm in the Community Room of the Ingleside station.

Captain’s report by: Captain Mahoney

There is now a Police Department General Order 1.08 for spelling out Community Policing Policy. Captain Mahoney believes it is great that it has been incorporated but says that this is exactly how he has been policing anyhow, so doesn’t see that it will change his policies. He believes in working with the community, holding meetings, staffing community events and creating community forums.

1. In general, this is the second month in a row that violent crime is down. However there is an uptick in the Alemany Housing area. There was a shooting, (possible drive by.) There was a pistol-whipping (suspect in custody) as well as robbery on the sidewalk/attempted carjacking (suspect in custody).

2. There have been a fair number of stolen autos. Generally they are taken from Noe/Mission area and are recovered in the Outer Mission. The police believe a team is involved. If you have a Honda or Acura, use multiple locking systems, as these are the targeted cars.

3. Robberies have included 3 chain grabs in 48 hours.

4. Hit and runs are up, but not only do you have to get the license but you have to see the driver to be able to id them, or the DA can’t do much with the case.

5. Smoke shops have been selling bath salts that some people use to get high (who knew?) The State has just passed a law regarding this issue and the officers are visiting smoke shops to have them pull the salts. However there is still some uncertainty regarding which salts are now illegal for the shops to sell.

6. There was a successful drug bust on Tiffany Avenue. As one of the 3 neighbors from Tiffany Avenue at the meeting, we were very interested in hearing about this bust. There was 3 suspects taken into custody and one suspect was charged.

6. Realignment is the upcoming issue that could affect our neighborhoods. The State is required to reduce the over-population in their prison facilities. As non-violent felony offenders are released by the State, they may be held in our county facility (San Francisco has 2000 beds, 1400 of which are currently in use) or may be released on parole or under some form of house arrest. The community may be absorbing many former inmates, in a tough economy where there are few jobs to be found. The Captain expects to see an uptick in crime as a result, especially in property related crimes. The Captain intends to see if the use of stay orders will work to help remedy these issues that may be created by realignment
. Learn more about it: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/

7. There was a human trafficking case in the district. The Captain was out on patrol and noticed one of the fruit vendors on the sidewalk. He has heard a lot of complaints from the business owners regarding the vendors, so stopped to talk. They sent him on his way, but something didn’t feel right about the situation to the Captain. Later, they saw the same vendor and earned his trust. It turned out he was 14 years old had been brought to San Jose from Mexico as a 12 year old and had been working ever since. He wanted to go home but was unable. So, they got the guy who had brought over 20 kids, 5 of whom made it over the border, and was working these kids to pay off their debt of transportation. The former vendor was turned over to Social Services and the Mexican Consulate was able to return him to his home.

8.Gang graffiti is on the rise in the Alemany area. Lots of houses are getting tags and they think it might be the same guys who are breaking into cars. For a graffiti arrest, they need to be caught in the act or have the materials on them.
9. Bike thefts continue to be are up in the district. Most bikes are being taken from inside buildings, so be careful to lock bikes, even inside your buildings. The Police are using a decoy bike and have managed to get someone to try and take it. They will continue with the decoy program.

10. Ingleside will be running traffic speed enforcement. It will move around the district. First the radar trailer will be placed in an area. After that, there will be officers with radar guns and they will be writing tickets. They have been instructed to position themselves near a speed limit sign, so the drivers can’t say they didn’t know the speed limit. So, be warned!

11. Ingleside will also run a Pedestrian safety enforcement program in Noe Valley.

12. Brain drain: Many high level, experienced officers will be retiring in the next few years. There will be 267 personnel lost by the time American’s Cup happens. We are not running training classes as we used to. There will not be another training until next April and out of the class of 50, they expect to end up with only 41 new officers.

13. Other challenges to staffing are occurring. There is Occupy SF and all districts have been sending officers to the site regularly during the week, which then means fewer officers are available in the districts. Of course, we are also down as the district needs to send officers to a CAL game or a 49ers game as well.

– Two questions from the Bernalsafe group were addressed:
One question from the North Slope asking what they can do regarding someone who disturbs the peace by honking at 5:30am (7-8 times) and then returns about 7 am for a repeat of the honking. The Captain unfortunately had no suggestions to this issue.

There was another question regarding the athletic shoes over utility wires (typically a sign of a drug house nearby) located at Mission & Crescent as well as at Ellsworth near the Alemany Housing and what the police will do about the drug houses before the problem intensifies and it brings other violence. As the drug houses themselves were not indicated, the Captain said that he would contact PG&E and provide security so the shoes could be removed.

CRIME STATS:
28-day period, October 16 – Nov 12
Crime/Number of Incidents/% change (month)/% change (YTD)/# arrests
Aggravated Assault/21/-19%/-31%/9
Robbery/28/-12%/1%/9
Sexual Assault/1/0/25%/0
Burglary/34/13%/-15%/3
Auto Theft/49/-16%/-13%/1
Theft from Auto/48/-8%/-6%/0

Thank you, Rita!!

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

ABC7 News Team Makes Bernal Heights Sinkhole Disappear

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Dan Noyes is the Chief Investigative Reporter at ABC7News, and he’s probably feeling pretty good about himself right now. That’s because he decided to unleash his investigative kung-fu on a nasty Bernal Heights sinkhole, and he made it go away.

No, we’re not talking about that expanding sinkhole on Ellert that has recently been under repair. This is a different one: There was another sinkhole on Holladay and Costa, and it was making the neighbors on the east side of Bernal rather unhappy. Luckily, the ABC7News uFixIt crew swooped in to embrace the cause:

We have the story of a sink hole that’s been sinking for years and people in the neighborhood are fed up with the inaction over getting it repaired, but when the ABC7News I-Team showed up things got rolling.

People who live near the sink hole tell us the ongoing patch job is a quick fix that’s not safe and it’s a waste of tax dollars. They wanted the sink hole in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights fixed the right way, once and for all, so they contacted uFixIt for help.

Voila!

In other news, a baby was born in Bernal Heights, and ABC7News UFixIt Team made it happen. Elsewhere, Little Timmy on Tompkins Avenue used to walk only with the aid of leg braces, but thanks to the ABC7News UFixIt Team, Timmy just finished in the top 10 during last weekend’s New York City Marathon. And when the sun rose this morning, bringing light where formerly there was only darkness, did you think that was just a coincidence? Ha! As if! Please send your cards and thank-you notes to the ABC7News UFixIt Team.

Reporting live from Bernal Heights, this is Bernalwood Action News.

Bernalwood Action News

Sutrito Tower Now Available for Google Earth

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Sutrito Tower, the microwave antenna array atop Bernal Hill, has been an icon of our neighborhood for generations. Now now you can add a digital model of it to Google Earth to make the virtual 3D map of Bernal Heights even more realistic.

For this we must give a nod to Joe Thomas, aka Jobius, the neighborhood gentleman who also gave the tower its quasi-official name. As Joe explains:

It’s possible to create models in Google Earth using photo textures with an “alpha channel,” so you can see through parts of the building.  That’s exactly what we want here, so I went out to take a few pictures on this beautiful blue-sky weekend. The blue made it easy to “chroma-key” out the background. I only had a good angle on the southwest-facing side of the tower, so I cloned that onto the other sides. I think this exaggerates the number of antennas, but I’m okay with that.

You can see the results above. Slick!

Want a digital model of Sutrito Tower of your very own so you can zoom about like a virtual red-tailed hawk over Bernal Hill and Cortland dale? Just download a copy of the .kmz file, fire up Google Earth, and away you go.

Autumn Light in the La Lengua Liminal Zone

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Autumn Light

I drove down Mission Street last weekend, tracing the path of the Liminal Zone boundary that unites the Dominion of Bernalwood with the upstart La Lengua Autonomous Region.

Prickly geopolitics aside, what I noticed most was the gorgeous hue of the early evening light, and how it so clearly screamed AUTUMN! There’s something about it that felt so primal, so seasonal, and so right, which may also explain why I suddenly found myself craving hot cider.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Part II: A Brief History of the Unusual Building That Is Now Home to Bernal’s Best Ninja Equipment Shop

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

Earlier this week Bernalwood presented the history of Brendan Lai’s Supply Co., the kung fu equipment store on Mission Street near the Randall intersection. But just as intriguing as the business itself is the building that houses it — the structure clearly looks as if it used to be something else. But what was it? Supersleuth Vicky Walker of the Bernal History Project takes on Part II of the mystery:

Store manager Al Lai recently asked the Bernal History Project to help research the landmarked building on Mission Street that now houses Brendan Lai’s Supply. Several customers and neighbors had told him the building might have once been a movie theater, because of its distinctive overhang and window design. But was it?

BHP got to sleuthing. According to city records, the building was constructed in 1930. In 1932, it was the office of real estate agent Edward H. Reed, who lived with his wife, Mary, at 103 Holly Park Circle. Edward began his real estate business at 3835 Mission in 1925. By 1932, it had moved into 3579 Mission. Here’s a clip from the 1932 city directory:

Edward Reed Sr. passed away near the end of World War II. His son, Edward D. Reed (b. 1920), took over the family business in 1948. He lived in Millbrae and later San Carlos with his wife, Shelagh. The Reed family ran a real estate office at this address for more than two decades; here’s the 1953 directory

BHP found some more clues in the background of two photos from the collection of S.F. streetcar and movie theatre historian Jack Tillmany. Jack’s pictures show that Reed Realty’s frontage and vertical sign are visible in a 1938 photo, which also features the 23 streetcar barreling down Mission near Randall on its way to the Geneva car barn. (Click to enlarge.)

Next door is the Cortland Paint Co., while at 3593 Mission is Schifano Ladies Tailoring, a clothes-cleaning store and tailor’s run by Joseph and Mary Schifano of 91 Whitney Street. The apartment building below the Lachman’s sign is now the Shell gas station.

And then there’s this stunner: A 1944 color photo from a similar angle shows that the paint store is gone and Reed Realty’s sign has been revamped in black and white. Schifano’s, just out of shot, is no longer listed in city directories and seems to have been converted to a residence.

The 1954 city directory shows Reed Realty still going strong, with neighbors Jebbie’s Restaurant at 3583 Mission (sister restaurant to Jebbie’s Hot Dogs at 1131 Ocean) and a clutch of real estate businesses.

By 1956, the building had become a State Farm office, and it stayed that way until very recently, when Brendan Lai Supply moved in.

So, alas, there was never a movie theatre here, despite its elegant frontage. Instead, his building has had a prosaic and orderly life – until the ninjas came to town.

(Find out how you can learn to research your own Bernal building.)

HISTORIC PHOTOS: Courtesy of Jack Tillmany

AAAnother Glossy Magazine Article About Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Another day, another magazine article about how sexxxy and glamorous we are here in Bernal Heights. Only, this one was an inside job: Karen Zuercher is the managing editor at VIA, the glossy magazine that has been published for members of the California State Automobile Association since 1917. Karen also lives in the Dominion of Bernalwood, so she’s an expert on the subject, and that shows in the Nov/Dec issue of VIA, where you’ll find her Weekender’s guide to Bernal Heights.

Among the many local names that get a shout out: The Alemany Farmer’s Market, Ichi Sushi, 331 Cortland, Sandbox Bakery, and Kikker, the parakeet who lives inside Heartfelt.

Pro Tip: During the weeks ahead, if you see a lot of clueless tourists trying to navigate the narrow streets of Bernal Heights in lumbering RVs that are bigger than your house, remember to smile, wave rustically, and direct them toward the “must see” Bernal Heights gift shop located at the base of Sutrito Tower.