Two New Japanese Restaurants Planned for Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 17 Comments

Teaser sign in the window at 433 Precita

Sugoi! Bernalwood has learned that two new Japanese restaurants are (hopefully) coming to Bernal Heights; one is planned for Mission Street and the other will bring sushi and sashimi to Precita Park.

Let’s start in La Lengua, where the burgeoning Nano Tokyo District around the intersection of Mission and 29th Street is set to grow a little bigger with the addition of RakiRaki at 3282 Mission Street, in the space formerly occupied by Neighbor Tim and Erin’s Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar.

RakiRaki Ramen is a Japanese restaurant with two locations in San Diego. A power-call to RakiRaki’s power-lawyer yesterday confirmed their intention to open a branch here in Bernal.  Their website says:

Rakiraki Ramen & Tsukemen opened its doors in October of 2012 to it’s first location in the heart of Kearny Mesa in San Diego, California. Now with a second location in San Diego’s Little Italy, Rakiraki specializes in serving authentic Japanese cuisine including curry, tsukemen, or dipping noodles, and specialty sushi rolls, but is best known for its great-tasting ramen.

Interesting! The original RakiRaki outlet in San Diego has a four-star rating on the Yelps, where people speak highly of the “tonkotsu black edition” ramen made with fermented garlic oil.

Of course, this means RakiRaki will be located right across the street from the satisfyingly authentic Fumi Curry and the surprisingly impressive Coco’s Ramen, so we may soon have an even more robust Japanese street-food cluster happening on the west side of our Bernal territories. Ganbatte and lucky us.

Meanwhile, at the east end of Precita Park, a “modern Japanese” restaurant hopes to open at 433 Precita, in the space formerly occupied by the organic pet food shop.  A quick call to the proprietor revealed an effort is now underway to convert the retail space for restaurant use, although the restaurant does not plan to have an exhaust hood or grill. Bernalwood is told sushi and sashimi with anchor the menu. A name for the restaurant has not yet been selected.

(Sidebar: Don’t be misled by the fact that the little red lantern shown in the photo at the top of this post says “yakitori.” Absent an exhaust system, the restaurant’s proprietor confirmed they don’t plan to serve Japanese grilled chicken skewers, which is a bot of a shame, because proper, low-key yakitori is very hard to find in San Francisco and Precita Park would be a lovely place for it. Oh well.)

Anyway, sushi would be a great addition to the Precita Park food mix, and even more so because the proposed Red Apron Pizza at the east end of the park is stalled because of an ongoing dispute with the property owner.

Neither the sushi place in Precita Park nor RakiRaki has planned opening dates yet; both establishments were reluctant to set a target given the fickle nature of San Francisco’s labyrinthine bureaucracy and permitting process.

Itadakimasu!

 

Special thanks for Jessica Park at Hoodline for reporting assistance on this article.

PHOTO: Teaser sign posted in the window of 433 Precita, courtesy of Neighbor Brandon.

UPDATED: 95 Year-Old Woman Assaulted by Tent-Dweller at Proposed Residential Shelter Site

/ Todd_Lappin / 43 Comments

A 95 year-old woman was assaulted Saturday morning by a man living in the tent encampment outside 1515 South Van Ness, the site of a proposed residential homeless facility.

The assault took place at approximately 9:30 am on Saturday morning. The victim is a 95 year-old woman who has been a Mission resident since the 1930s.  According to several sources familiar with the incident, the victim saw two people drinking at a tent on the corner of 26th Street and Shotwell, and chastised them for their insobriety. A verbal altercation ensued, and when the elderly woman reached for her phone to call the police, one of the tent-dwellers reportedly grabbed her arm and began twisting it.

Two bystanders who were walking near 26th and Shotwell witnessed the scene, and began yelling at the drunken man to release the elderly woman. The perpetrator tried to run away. One of the bystanders gave chase, catching the man on Horace Street and detaining him until police arrived.

Meanwhile, the other bystander stayed with the elderly woman and escorted her home to her family. Police soon arrived, along with an ambulance, and the victim was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital. Along the way, the victim reportedly drove by the incident scene to positively identify the man who had assaulted her. The two bystanders who intervened to help the victim also served as witnesses in the police report. At St. Luke’s, the victim was treated for bruises and sprained arm.

The victim’s family says they intend to press charges against the perpetrator.

“It’s really scary when I think what could have happened if not for those two witnesses,” said the victim’s daughter, who lives near the incident scene.

“They don’t allow alcohol or drugs inside Navigation Centers [like the one proposed at 1515 South Van Ness], so we’ll have more of this happening on the sidewalks,” she said. “To have this happen now is very distressing.”

According to several sources familiar with the incident, an officer on the scene reportedly said the perpetrator would likely be released from police custody within 24 hours. Bernalwood contacted Capt. Bill Griffin from Mission Station for an update on the case over the weekend, but we have not yet received a response.

This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.

UPDATE: May 9: Reporter Filipa Ioannou from the San Francisco Chronicle spoke with the SFPD about the incident:

The woman got into an argument around 9:30 a.m. Saturday with two people that escalated into an assault when a man grabbed and twisted her arm near the intersection of 26th and Shotwell streets, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The woman was not seriously injured, but was taken to a hospital for treatment partially because of her advanced age, according to Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

A man suspected in the assault was arrested, but his name was not immediately released.

That said, the Chronicle misstates the victim’s age. Her family confirms that she is 95, and not 92, as reported in the Chronicle.

PHOTO: Encampment at the incident scene, 1515 South Van Ness, Sunday, May 7, 2017, 5 pm, by Telstar Logistics

 

To Prepare for Another Decade, Avedano’s Launches Crowdfunding Campaign

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Avedano’s Meats at 235 Cortland is a culinary treasure and a Bernal Heights success story. Founded in 2007 in a space that has reportedly been a butcher shop since 1901, proprietors Melanie Eisemann, Tia Harrison, and Angela Wilson were true pioneers, opening Avadano’s several years before the idea of whole-animal, artisanal butcher shops became a well-understood thing.

But San Francisco is tough on our small businesses, so Avedano’s is now launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise additional capital needed to maintain the viability of the store in the years ahead.

This week, in an email to customers, Team Avedano’s wrote:

For 10 years this neighborhood, Bernal Heights, has trusted us to bring you nothing but the best. We know our sources, personally. It’s been an amazing 10 years, this business has provided us with a multitude of caring friends and neighbors. We’ve watched you and your families grow and change just as you’ve watched our’s do the same. Avedano’s has been a cornerstone of a thriving community on our strip that our neighbors always generously compliment. We are always humbled when we can provide the best quality, locally sourced meats, in the Bay area, to you the community we care so much about. We are very proud of what we do. We do it because we love and believe in it. We’ll never be rich, but it’s a rewarding life and we work with great people.

When Avedano’s opened it’s doors, we had 3 employee’s. Since then we have grown and improved and stand 10 members strong. We have been voted “Best in the Bay” 6 times in 3 different publications. However the food industry is NOT easy, and exists on razor thin margins. It has always been a challenge for us to maintain high standards, pay our employee’s a fair wage, repair facilities, and maintain equipment. So we do everything we can to keep it going.

To finance the growth, we’ve invested the small amount of profit we generate back into the business each year improving equipment, fixing our historic building, and maintaining our commitment to small farms and quality products. In this city and industry one needs to grow and evolve to stay alive. Now at the start of our second ten years we need to find new ways to continue to meet your needs. Please invest in your neighborhood butcher shop ensuring we can hit the next decade strong and vibrant, meeting you nourishment needs.

We are raising $50k to help us explore various avenues of growth and secure our future, while keeping the doors open for you. We would love your help; please visit our GoFundMe campaign!

You can learn more and contribute to the crowsdsourcing fund here.

PHOTO: Avedano’s during the March 2015 Orangepocalypse, by Telstar Logistics

Tonight: Design Review Meeting for Northeast Bernal Housing Proposal (CORRECTED)

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futurehousing

For several years decades, the owner of a large, interior lot bounded by Hampshire, Peralta, York and Cesar Chavez streets in northeast Bernal Heights has been trying to build new housing on the property. The last round of planning to build the infill homes took place in 2014 and 2015, but now the project is active again, with an all-new proposal and a design review board meeting slated to happen tonight, Thursday, May 4  beginning at 7 pm at the Bernal Heights Library. lower level(500 Cortland)

The new plan envisions eight small homes on the site, with access via the street-facing lot at 1513 York Street. A mid-April memo from project architect Stephen Antonaros summarizes the proposal:

The new layout responds to the topography much more, requiring significantly less excavation and this savings is more than made up by the extent of new landscaping, patios, pathways and stairs needed to access the cottages which all have grade level entries and are not close to the reduced car parking. But there is substantially more opportunity for ground level gardens and open space development.

The new arrangement responds separately to each of the two street and parcel grids which come together at the center of the site, separated by a slight angle. Four cottages align with each orthogonal grid, leaving the center space open for the main entry paths and more accessible green space.

The new smaller dwellings are 2 stories and around 1300 sq ft each as are the two units fronting York Street which remain unchanged from the previous design. The steepest part of the site is used to accommodate circulation and provides for an abundant amount of bike parking tucked into the hillside and covered with ramped access from either the street via the parking garage or residential door off of York Street.

Correction: Bernalwood was initially provided with an incorrect location for tonight’s meeting. The text above has been corrected to show the proper location.

IMAGES: Top, aerial view of proposed housing site. Below,1513 York project renderings, via Stephen Antonaros.

Thursday: Second Meeting on Planned Homeless Facility at 1515 South Van Ness

/ Todd_Lappin / 30 Comments

Amid mounting community concern about D9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s effort to use the existing building at 1515 South Van Ness as a temporary residential homeless facility, Supervisor Ronen plans to hold a second meeting about the plan tomorrow, Thursday, May 4 at John O’Connell High School (2355 Folsom at 20th St.) beginning at 6 pm.

In an email obtained by Bernalwood, Ronen wrote:

Dear Mission resident,

I am holding a second community meeting next week, on Thursday May 4th at 6:00pm at John O’Connell High School to provide more space for community discussion on the proposal for a temporary Navigation Center at 1515 South Van Ness Ave. The content of this meeting will be identical to the content of our first meeting at Mission Cultural Center this past Monday.

I will be joined by the Director on the Department of Homelessness Director Jeff Kositsky, the San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, the Captain for Mission Station Bill Griffin, and representatives from both Public Works and the Mayor’s office.

For those of you who may not be able to attend this second meeting, I will be holding community office hours (first come, first serve) to discuss this proposal at Rincon Nayarit on Monday May 8th from 8:00am-10:00am.

Please see details bellow.

Community Meeting

Thursday May 4th, 2017
6:00-8:00pm
John O’Connell High School
2355 Folsom St, SF 94110

Community Office Hours

Monday May 8th, 2017
8:00-10:00am
Rincon Nayarit
1500 South Van Ness Ave, SF 94109

If you have any questions about this meeting or my community office hours, please contact my Legislative Aide Carolina Morales at 415-554-7743 or via email at Carolina.Morales@sfgov.org.

The proposal to use the existing building at 1515 South Van Ness as a temporary homeless shelter emerged from a deal Supervisor Ronen made with the Lennar Corporation last March.

Under the terms of the deal, Ronen agreed to unblock Lennar’s plan to build 157 units of permanent, mixed-income housing on the site, with 25% of the units designated affordable, in exchange for a $1 million payment to a “cultural stabilization fund” operated on behalf of Calle24, a Latino cultural organization with close ties to Supervisor Ronen.  The deal also allowed the City to use the existing structure on the site as a temporary residential homeless facility.

The homeless facility, which the City calls a Navigation Center, would feature 120 shelter beds.  It would operate until Lennar obtains the permits needed to demolish the building and begin construction of the housing development. The facility would operate 24 hours a day, and Hoodline reports “the property’s parking lot will be configured to encourage shelter clients to congregate there instead of on the adjacent sidewalk.”

Though Ronen describes the May 4 event as a community meeting, she’s also indicated  it may largely be a one-way conversation. During a contentious April 24 meeting about the proposal, Supervisor Ronen told critics that community input on the matter would have no bearing on the proposal. “The decision has been made,” she said, according to a MissionLocal reporter who attended the meeting.

The next next day,  Ronen introduced an ordinance at the Board of Supervisors to expedite the creation of the shelter:

170467
[Temporary Housing for Homeless People During Shelter Crisis – LMC San Francisco I Holdings, LLC – 1515 South Van Ness Avenue]
Sponsors: Mayor; Ronen

Ordinance approving an agreement between the City and LMC San Francisco I Holdings, LLC, to allow the City to use the property at 1515 South Van Ness Avenue to utilize and operate a facility to provide temporary housing and services to homeless persons; directing the City Administrator, Public Works, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Department of Building Inspection, and other City departments to make repairs or improvements, consistent with health and safety standards, to use the property for temporary housing to address encampments in the Mission District; authorizing Public Works, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and Department of Public Health to enter into contracts without adhering to competitive bidding and other requirements for construction work, procurement, and personal services at the facility; and affirming the Planning Department’s determination under the California Environmental Quality Act.
ASSIGNED to Land Use and Transportation Committee.

UPDATE, May 3, 7:30 pm According to the Bay City Beacon, further evidence that “the decision has been made” emerged from today’s meeting of the SF Board of Supervisors. The Beacon reports:

Supervisor Ronen and Mayor Lee’s agreement with the developer Lennar Multi-family passed the Board of Supervisors today, establishing a temporary Homeless Navigation Center at 1515 South Van Ness. 1515 South Van Ness is currently owned by Lennar, who is loaning it to the city for homeless services.

PHOTO: 1515 South Van Ness at 6:32 pm on April 19, 2017, by Telstar Logistics

Bernal Coyote Hit By Car, But Recovers Quickly

/ Todd_Lappin / 21 Comments

Last Sunday, the Bernal Coyote was hit by a car on Bernal Heights Boulevard. Ack! That’s the bad news. The good news, according to San Francisco coyote-whisperer Janet Kessler, is that the coyote wasn’t badly injured. Janet tells Bernalwood:

These days the Bernal Coyote has been spending the bulk of her time hunting now instead of panhandling. She still travels up the street and still sometimes approaches cars, however much less frequently than previously. Removing the garbage and food left on the street each morning and talking to people seem to be paying off.

On Sunday a neighbor told me the coyote had been hit by a car.

I spotted the coyote on the hill and immediately noticed something wrong: Something wasn’t right with her balance, and she lay down and closed her eyes. That wasn’t normal behavior for this time of day for her. IF she lies down in the morning, her head bobs up continually as she scans the environment. But on Sunday she wasn’t doing this.

Then a dog found her and chased her and the coyote ran off as best she could, but she tumbled head over heels down the embankment with her limbs flying in all directions. Finally she reached the street and stood there. She was able to trot several hundred feet further down the road, but she was stiff, and her body kept buckling under her:

She was able to catch herself and not fall to the ground. She probably couldn’t keep trotting, possibly because of the pain, so she chose the closest safe-place around, which was up.  She made it up the cliff, wobbling and buckling at several points, but not falling. Then she settled down at the top of the hill, mostly hidden by the grasses.

We called Animal Care and Control (ACC) and they sent one person out.

That wasn’t enough to catch a coyote, so he called two more people out. Unfortunately they were not effective and the coyote ran off and was able to evade them. ACC would not try again, saying that she was *mobile* so they were going to leave it.

The next day, I saw her walking on the sidewalk and hunting by herself, She was limping a little on her back leg, but I also saw saw her leap high during her hunt. She’ll be fine. I think she is healing on her own quite well.

PHOTO: Bernal Coyote the day after the accident, courtesy of Janet Kessler from Coyote Yipps

Residents Evicted from Warehouse at 992 Peralta

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

992 Peralta in June 2016, via Google Street View

After months of legal wrangling, sheriff’s deputies were on hand yesterday to evict six residents of an unpermitted warehouse at 992 Peralta, near the Alemany Farmer’s Market.

The San Francisco Examiner writes:

A San Francisco judge issued the eviction order earlier this month after a jury ruled in favor of the landlord in an unlawful detainer case last month in San Francisco Superior Court.

The six artists had until Wednesday morning to leave their home at 968 Peralta Ave. in Bernal Heights, according to a notice to vacate from the Sheriff’s Department. A group of deputies locked the artists out of the warehouse before noon Wednesday.

The artists lost in court after trying to make their space legal in the eyes of city officials, who flagged their home as a potential safety hazard since it is considered a commercial space.

The Fire Department issued a notice of violation Dec. 21 for the residential use of a commercial space and city planners issued a notice of enforcement a week later.

The Department of Building Inspection also issued three notices of violation for the building in late December for problems including unpermitted construction, non-compliant electrical wiring and improper plumbing.

While safety concerns in the wake of the deadly 2016 Oakland Ghost Ship fire were a significant  factor leading to the legal order to vacate the Peralta warehouse, SocketSite notes that complaints about residential use of the warehouse date back to 2003. SocketSite also adds that paperwork to build a five-story, 49-unit residential building on the site was filed in July, 2016.

SFMTA Faces Criticism During Tense Meeting on Northwest Bernal Permit Parking Plan

/ Todd_Lappin / 52 Comments

SFFMTA parking policy manager Hank Wilson at the April 18 community meeting.

“This is a really good focus group.”

That’s  what Hank Wilson, the manager of parking policy at SFMTA, told a crowd of Bernal Heights residents last week at a contentious April 18  community meeting about SFMTA’s proposal to implement a new residential parking permit program (RPP) on select streets in northwest Bernal Heights.

During the meeting, more than a dozen Bernal Heights residents took turns scolding SFMTA for failing to provide timely information to local residents, repeatedly contradicting or redefining its own data about non-resident parking in Bernal Heights, and arbitrarily changing the rules that  will govern the proposed RPP in northwest Bernal.

The net result, as one Bernal resident pointed out, is that “[SFMTA is] pitting streets against each other, and neighbor a against neighbor.”

That was a recurring theme throughout the evening, as Bernal neighbors who both supported and opposed the parking plan described how the RPP program seems to have been designed from the outset to fuel neighbor-on-neighbor antagonism.

Source: SFMTA

Quite rationally, neighbors who want RPP in northwest Bernal are thrilled that SFMTA seems determined to make the new permit parking zone happen, regardless how much the agency botched the process along the way.  Meanwhile, Bernal neighbors who either oppose the RPP zone, or who live on streets just outside of it, or who never ever heard about it at all because SFMTA failed to notify them, were told that the new zone is more or less a done deal.

“These people have more of a right to park here than those people,” explained SFMTA’s Wilson. “That’s the basis of the program.”

SFMTA data shows that 32% of cars that currently park on proposed RPP streets belong to other Bernal residents living within 1/4 mile. (Source: SFMTA)

And so, on that cheerful note, what’s next for the Northwest Bernal RPP?

In a strange concession to SFMTA’s mismanagement of the Bernal RPP process, Wilson said that the agency has re-opened the petitions used to determine whether or not individual streets will be included in the northwest Bernal RPP.

SFMTA’s rule is that at least 50% of the households on each block must sign the petition to be included in the RPP zone.  Yet because SFTMA decided to reduce the maximum permit allocations from four permits per RPP household to two after the original petitions were submitted, Wilson said the petitions would be re-opened until May 17.

That means residents who previously voted yes on the RPP proposal, but who now disapprove of the proposed change, could use this opportunity to change their votes from Yes to No.

Meanwhile, Wilson said, northwest Bernal residents who previously voted No, or didn’t vote at all, now have until May 17 to sign the petition to get their street included in the new RPP.

If at this point you’re wondering, “Since SFMTA seems hell-bent on on implementing the northwest Bernal RPP, who would possibly vote now to remove their own street from the RPP zone?” — well, you’re right to wonder that. At this point, simple self-interest dictates that keeping your street in the new RPP is the rational thing to do. (cf. The Prisoner’s Dilemma)

And likewise, if you previously voted No to the RPP, but would now like to change your vote to Yes, well, that’s also a very rational thing to do, because who wants to live on a non-RPP block right next to a street that’s part of the RPP program? When the RPP program is implemented in northwest Bernal, parking on streets included in the RPP zone may or may not get easier. But it’s quite certain that the establishment of the new RPP zone will make parking on non-RPP streets nearby significantly more difficult.  (cf. The Prisoner’s Dilemma)

Of course, if you didn’t attend Hank Wilson’s community meeting on April 19, you probably wouldn’t know any of this.  To date, SFMTA hasn’t sent out postcards to northwest Bernal residents informing them of the re-opened petition, and SFMTA’s Northwest Bernal Heights Parking Pilot website hasn’t been updated to explain the outcome of last week’s community meeting or to indicate the new petition deadline.

And beyond that?

Sometime after May 17, SFMTA will release the tallies of the re-re-revised block-by-block petitions. With the final list of RPP blocks in hand, SFMTA will then push the northwest Bernal RPP proposal through the legislative process.

Because SFMTA is treating northwest Bernal RPP as an experiment,  it will require approval by the full SFMTA board of directors as a calendar item at an upcoming SFMTA board meeting (exact date TBD).  By all indications, this is likely to be a rubber-stamp gesture; Hank Wilson told the crowd at his Bernal Heights community meeting that he has never heard of an instance where the SFMTA board voted against an RPP proposal.

Check Out Bernal Artist Toby Klayman’s Immersive, Two-Day Studio Visits

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

For the last few years, Bernal Heights artist Toby Klayman has been offering intensive two-day art immersion classes at her studio via Airbnb. Now that the program has found its rhythm, Neighbor Toby invites other Bernal neighbors to come check it out.

Toby tells Bernalwood:

Airbnb recently started this new offshoot: Experiences by interesting people living in different cities. I’ve been offering an art immersion experience for more than a few years here in Bernal while its been in beta mode. The program is not just for travelers, but for anyone interested in taking Experiences, which are fun, or interesting, or educational.

My Experience (which they named Toby Madame Renaissance) is a 2 day, 8 hour art immersion. I give a tour of our art collection, then do an extensive mixed media demo in my studio of dozens of art tools, then it is “hands on” and everyone makes art!

I provide all small-format materials. On Day 1 of my Art Immersion, we have a catered luncheon after studio time, and I conduct an Art Roundtable including Art History, cultural information and discussion about what art has been made. We also discuss what new supplies and tools will be covered in the Studio Deep Dive, which is a 3 hour session on Day Two.

Click here for further information, price, and reviews from prior students.

I love this program and we’ve met so many amazing and darling people because of it. I hope to take some of the Experiences myself,  Cities now include LA, New York, Capetown, Tokyo etc. Very exciting! I love it!

PHOTOS: Toby Klayman in her studio, via Airbnb Experiences

New York Times Exposes La Lengua’s Diabolical Climate Change Hoax

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

At long last, the simmering geo-political rivalry between Bernal Heights and those meddling rebel separatists from the La Lengua flatlands has reached the pinnacle of the mainstream media.

In the cover story of today’s Sunday New York Times Magazine, former Bernal neighbor Jon Mooallem reveals the shocking climate change conspiracy that prompted forward-looking Bernal Heights speculators to began hoarding prime beachfront property near the top of Bernal Hill.

Jon Mooallem writes:

A few years ago, a locally famous blogger in San Francisco, known as Burrito Justice, created an exquisitely disorienting map, with help from a cartographer named Brian Stokle, and started selling copies of it online. The map imagined the city in the year 2072, after 60 years of rapid sea-level rise totaling 200 feet.

At present, San Francisco is a roughly square-shaped, peninsular city. But on the map, it is severed clean from the mainland and shaved into a long, fat smudge. The shape of the land resembles a sea bird diving underwater for prey, with odd bays chewing into the coastlines and, farther out, a sprawl of bulging and wispy islands that used to be hills. If you lived in San Francisco, it was a map of where you already were and, simultaneously, where you worried you might be heading. “The San Francisco Archipelago,” Burrito Justice called it — a formerly coherent city in shards.

The map wasn’t science; it didn’t even pretend to be. I want to be very clear about that, because I worry it’s reckless to inject any more false facts into a conversation about climate change. Projecting the effect of sea-level rise on a specific location typically involves recondite computer models and calculations; Burrito Justice was just a fascinated hobbyist, futzing around on his laptop in his backyard. His entire premise was unscientific; for now, it is unthinkable that seas will rise so high so quickly. Even as most credible scientific estimates keep increasing and the poles melt faster than imagined, those estimates currently reach only between six and eight feet by the year 2100.

That’s still potentially cataclysmic: Water would push into numerous cities, like Shanghai, London and New York, and displace hundreds of millions of people. And yes, there are some fringe, perfect-storm thought experiments out there that can get you close to 200 feet by the end of the century. But in truth, Burrito Justice settled on that number only because that’s how high he needed to jack up the world’s oceans if he wanted to wash out a particular road near his house. He has a friendly rivalry with another blogger, who lives in an adjacent neighborhood known for being a cloistered hamlet, and Burrito Justice thought it would be funny to see it literally become an island. So again: The map wasn’t science. It didn’t pretend to be. The point, initially, was just to needle this other guy named Todd.

Of course, even if the science remains unsettled, preparation is still the better part of success. That’s why Bernalwood urges all residents to again consider our 2013 proposal to adapt to our waterlogged, island future by redeveloping Bernal Heights as a fashionable beachfront resort destination.

bernalisle

Monday: Community Meeting on Proposed Homeless Facility at 1515 South Van Ness

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

1515 South Van Ness in Jan. 2017 (via Google Street View)

D9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen just announced plans to hold a community meeting about her proposal to establish a “pop-up” Navigation Center for the homeless at 1515 South Van Ness, near Cesar Chavez.

The meeting will be held on Monday April 24 at the Mission Cultural Center (2868 Mission) beginning at 6 pm.

Supervisor Ronen’s meeting announcement says:

I would like to invite you to a community meeting that I am holding this coming Monday April 24th at 6:00pm at the Mission Cultural Center regarding the proposal for a temporary Navigation Center at 1515 South Van Ness Ave.

I will be joined by the Director on the Department of Homelessness Jeff Kositsky, the San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, the Captain for Mission Station Bill Griffin, the Director of Public Works Mohammed Nuru, and representatives from the Mayor’s office.

For those of you who may not be able to attend the meeting, I will be holding community office hours to discuss this proposal at Rincon Nayarit on Monday May 8th from 8:00am-10:00am.

Please see details bellow.

Community Meeting
Monday April 24th, 2017
6:00-8:00pm
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St, SF 94110

Community Office Hours
Monday May 8th, 2017
8:00-10:00am
Rincon Nayarit
1500 South Van Ness Ave, SF 94109

If you have any questions about this meeting or my community office hours, please contact my Legislative Aide Carolina Morales at 415-554-7743 or via email at Carolina.Morales@sfgov.org

Best,
Hillary Ronen
District 9 Supervisor

Saturday: Celebrate Earth Day With the Kids at Paul Revere School

/ Todd_Lappin

Neighbor Marcia brings word that Paul Revere School in South Bernal is hosting a kid-friendly Earth Day celebration tomorrow, on Saturday, April 22. She tells Bernalwood:

Come celebrate Earth Day at Paul Revere School with our Copa Mundial on Saturday, April 22, 1-5 p.m. on the Main Building’s yard (555 Tompkins, between Folsom and Banks).

There will be food, games, and a raffle drawing for a chance to win tickets to see the San Jose Earthquakes, SF City FC, and SF Deltas. The grand prize is four park-hopper tickets to Disneyland!

There will also be a farmers market stand with seeds, plants, and veggies from our very own school garden! Proceeds to benefit our new turf field which will be open to the neighborhood on weekends this fall!

PHOTO: Paul Revere School, via Neighbor Marcia

Bache Street Residents Unsure How to Pronounce “Bache Street”

/ Todd_Lappin / 17 Comments

Bache Street is a residential lane nestled on the stylish south side of Bernal Heights, just off Crescent Avenue between Porter and Andover.

It’s a lovely place, but there’s a problem:  According to @RadioChert, not even people who live on Bache Street can agree on how to pronounce it. That’s why an ad hoc referendum is now underway to reach a consensus on the matter.

As of Wednesday morning, the pronunciation tally seems to be:

Bah-chee  – 2
Bay-shh – 1
Bach-ae – 0
Batch – 1
Bay-shee – 0
Bay-ch – 1
Bay-sh – 0

While the voting on Bache Street continues, historians and geo-genealogists are cordially invited to opine on this matter.

HAT-TIP AND PHOTO: Courtesy of @RadioChert