RIP Stephen, Familiar Resident of Precita Park

/ Todd_Lappin / 13 Comments

RIP Stephen

Stephen's Bench

Sad news: Stephen, the homeless gentleman who lived in the western end of Precita Park, died on January 20.

Neighbor Jennifer fills in the backstory:

Stephen – a longtime resident of Precita Park (he lived at the picnic tables on the park) – passed away last week.  I noticed a flyer near the tables while I was out walking the dogs this morning.  Not sure how the readership feels about the homeless, but to me Stephen felt like a real part of the neighborhood.  His memorial is this coming Sunday @ 11 am.

From the note posted near the picnic benches, it sounds like he died of multiple organ failure while in hospice. Last I saw of him was Christmas morning (or the morning after?) when the ambulance came to pick him up. As you may know, he was jumped while sleeping in the park this fall and injured badly. He recuperated in the hospital and in the house(s) of neighbors, and came back to the park briefly before leaving for good. I am not sure he really ever recovered.

Super sad. He has been a mainstay of my daily dog walks in Precita Park for the past ~ 7 years. I always appreciated his friendly smiles and greetings. He looked out for me – kept me posted on chatter in the neighborhood, let me know if sketchy things were going on. I always felt safer and happier with him around.

I’ll second that. Stephen was unfailingly polite and always particularly gracious to Bernalwood’s Cub Reporter — as a fixture in the neighborhood, he was also a fixture in my daughter’s life from the time she was born. “She’s getting big! So fast!” he would say. It made my daughter blush.

As Neighbor Jennifer mentioned, there will be a remembrance for Stephen on Sunday, January 29 at 11 am, at the picnic benches on the west end of the park where Stephen enjoyed passing the time.

Lastly, and sadly, I was unable to find any photos of Stephen. If you have one that we can post here, please send it to us at bernalwood at gmail.com. Thank you.

PHOTOS: Top, sign in Precita Park. Below, the bench where Stephen often rested. By Telstar Logistics

“Bernal Heights” + Asteroid Space Battles, Together At Last!

/ Todd_Lappin

When you awoke this morning, did you think to yourself, “What I’d really like to see right now is an extended remix of Jhameel’s song “Bernal Heights” augmented with videogame footage of a laser-equipped spaceship navigating through a field of digital asteroids?”

Well, lucky you! And in a totally weird way, the mix kind of works. But maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

City Meeting About Bernal Hill Trail Restoration – Tonight!

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

Bernal Heights Park

Neighbor Joe Thomas call our attention to things afoot in the park up the hill.

The San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a meeting about trail improvements on Bernal Hill, tonight (1/25) at 6 pm in the library on Cortland.

The Recreation and Park Department is hosting a series of community meetings to discuss future trail restoration improvements to the Bernal Heights Trail.

Your input is important and will help us to improve the Bernal Heights Trail in a way that is most beneficial to the community.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Project Excerpt: Bernal Hill rises out of the Mission District, offering 360-degree views of San Francisco and the bay. This grassland has outstanding wildflower displays in spring, and provides abundant hunting grounds for hawks, owls, and coyotes. The Urban Trails Program will improve access and safety throughout Bernal Hill by routing trails away from cliffs and unstable terrain while continuing to provide access to multiple points of interest. To the extent possible, trails will be realigned to grades of 10 percent or less. Park entry points and trailheads will be clearly marked by plants and wayfinding signs.

Joe also points out that this project is budgeted to cost $750,000 (!!!). In the handbill below, note also that future meetings are still to come”

PHOTO: Daniel Ramirez. 

Sandbox Bakery’s Spinoff at 903 Cortland Now Open

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

903 Cortland

903 Cortland

903 Cortland

Tasty news. 903 Cortland, the new spinoff from the tastymakers at Sandbox Bakery, opened this week. The Inside Scoop blog brings the, er, inside scoop:

Now open for breakfast and lunch service (with more soon to come) is 903, a new Bernal Heights eatery from Mutsumi Takehara and her folks at nearby neighborhood favorite Sandbox Bakery. As you may know, Takehara was the pastry chef at places like La Farine, Chez Panisse, Rubicon and for 10 years, the Slanted Door.

Unlike the smaller Sandbox, there’s some indoor seating here, plus a refrigerator case with prepared items. Hours are 8am to 3pm for now. On February 1, Takehara says dinner will begin, with hours extended to 7am to 8pm.

Click through to read what’s on the launch menu. Yum.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

“Everyday Sights” from a Walk Around Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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Bernal Neighbor Chuck B. runs a lovely blog called My Back 40 (Feet). He often writes about flora and horticulture, or his travels to distant and exotic lands. But recently he went for a simple walk around the neighborhood.

The result was a post called “Everyday Sights in Bernal Heights,” and it reveals that even though Chuck B. lives here, he still sees this place with fresh eyes.

Check out all of his pictures, right here.

PHOTOS: Chuck B.

House Portrait: Carlos Santana’s House on Mullen

/ Todd_Lappin / 27 Comments

Santana House

Santana House

The Mission District usually gets the credit for having been home to Carlos Santana, but the truth of the matter is that Santana commuted to the Mission from Bernal Heights.

Specifically, according to longtime Bernal resident Peter Wiley, Santana lived in this house on Mullen Avenue. Here’s how Neighbor Peter guided me to it:

The house is on the north side of Mullen just east of the Franconia steps. There is a Franconia cul de sac that runs south from Mullen just east of the bend as you drive up (east) Mullen from Franconia. The first house to the east of the steps is an old storefront. The second house is a shingled cottage. Maybe not shingled. That’s the one. It is flanked to the east by a cottage that is set back from the street.

Neighbor Peter confirmed to Bernalwood that the home shown here was indeed the Santana House. Carlos, if you’re out there… care to chime in???

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Amphibious Creature Discovered In Bernal Heights Back Yard

/ Todd_Lappin / 15 Comments

Neighbor Todd recently put on his pith helmet to embark upon an animal expedition in his back yard. He made a shocking discovery: creepy amphibians!

Your recent dispatch on Jerusalem crickets had me wondering what else lived in my yard, and not long ago, I found a pair of salamanders — yes salamanders — hiding out beneath a board. One of them found more private accommodations before I could return and take a picture, but I wanted to share the photographic evidence for your local wildlife files. Who knew salamanders lived in San Francisco? According to my research, this specimen is a California slender salamander.

Fascinating. Though the creature looks somewhat snake-like, this closeup of a California slender salamander grabbed from Wikipedia reveals that they actually walk on legs, and are actually rather cute (in that salamander sort of way):

However, latent cuteness cannot allow us to overlook the potential public safety menace posed by these delightful Bernalphibians. Because they are, after all, amphibious reptile-like creatures. And for all we know, they could potentially be cross-species allies of another amphibious reptile-like creature whose presence here would be much less charming:

Bernalzilla!

PHOTOS: Top, Todd Dayton; middle, Wikipedia; bottom, Telstar Logistics

Precita Park to Receive Glamorous Upgrades

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

Neighbor Demece from Precita Valley Neighbors brings some happy infrastructure news. It seems that the devotion and hard work of neighborhood volunteers has earned a grant from the City’s Community Opportunity Fund to pay for Precita Park upgrades.

Demece explains the details:

The Community Opportunity Fund Grant for Precita Park is in the $50-$75K range. It covers tougher seed for the middle of the park (where an underground stream makes the park a swamp), a patch up for the paved trail where the acacia tree roots have broken it up, and more signage (consistent with Dolores Park in style and language).

Also, for the Children’s Playground, we’ll have a **water fountain**, a community kiosk where non profit groups can post news/issues, fixed up play structures (yep, no more broken boards and cracked bolts), new sand (and here I thought all sand was old), solid rubber matting under the swing set and tire swing areas to replace the cracked open rubber gulches we have now, new paint for the play structure, disability access into the sand, and the satellite merry-go-round is **saved**.

We will volunteer to distribute the sand once the trucks come and we’ll help pick the paint colors and do the painting when the time comes.  As for start time, it looks like late February or early March, and the duration is about six months.

Since Demece basically made all this happen, we would like to extend our thanks to her, on behalf of all the Citizens of Bernalwood.

PHOTO: Precita Park, by Precita Valley Neighbors

Get Help Planting a Sidewalk Garden in North Bernal

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

Neighbor Kim writes that Friends of the Urban Forest is offering assistance to North Bernalistas who want to install sidewalk gardens in front of their homes:

Friends of the Urban Forest is doing two sidewalk plantings in Bernal in Feb/Mar and May. If people are interested they should contact Karla Nagy (karla@fuf.net or 268-0788), the FUF project coordinator.

Here’s how Friends of the Urban Forest can help:

Improve your block and meet your neighbors by installing a sidewalk garden with Friends of the Urban Forest. Dealing with the permit process, designing a garden and coordinating all the materials can be expensive and overwhelming on your own. Friends of the Urban Forest coordinates neighborhood plantings, brining neighbors together to share materials and work together to install sidewalk gardens on your block on a Saturday morning.

What does FUF do?

  • Review the sidewalk to determine the best location for a sidewalk garden
  • Locate underground utilities
  • Garden design and site plan
  • File permit paperwork and act as a liaison between the city and the homeowner
  • Arrange for the removal of concrete
  • Coordinate the delivery of all materials, including soil amendment, mulch, plants & trees
  • Provide volunteer support and tools for planting day
  • And most importantly, we help secure funding to subsidize the cost of concrete removal, planting materials and the cost of the permit.

If you’re interested, you might want to attend the meeting at Charlie’s Cafe on Wednesday evening at 6:30 pm:

PHOTO: Friends of the Urban Forest

Air Passenger Snaps Sweeping Aerial Photo of Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin

We’ve told you about the Highways in the Sky, and how they traverse Bernal Heights from high above. And we’ve told you how to identify the airliners you might see passing overhead.

So it was fun to find this photo recently over on the Twitter. It’s a very clear view of San Francisco, looking north with Bernal Heights in the foreground. While we look up at them, they gaze down upon us. Here’s the annotated version:

PHOTO: @mrmeschi

An Inventory of Services Offered on the Good Life Bulletin Board

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

For the benefit of potential clients, prospective homeowners, cultural anthropologists, and future archaeologists, Bernalwood presents this comprehensive inventory of services offered via the Good Life Grocery bulletin board, as it appeared on January 7, 2012 at 4:43 pm:

  • Academic Editing (2x)
  • Acupuncture
  • Construction
  • Drawing Lessons
  • Hypnotherapy
  • K-12 Tutoring
  • Pregnancy Counseling
  • Marijuana Addition Counseling
  • Moving and Delivery
  • Prenatal Yoga
  • Salsa Dancing
  • Spanish Tutoring
  • Website Development
  • Writing and Editing

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Your January 2012 SFPD Crime Report for Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Car 040

Neighbor Sarah, our saintly correspondent who attends the monthly meetings at the San Francisco Police Department’s Ingleside Station, has delivered the goods yet again. Here’s your crime report for January 2012. Over to you, Neighbor Sarah…

Notes from Ingleside Meeting, 1/17/12

This was a bit of an unusual meeting for a few reasons, so my notes are fairly brief.

Lt. Jennifer Dorantes was filling in for Capt. Mahoney, who was away for training. She didn’t hand out the crime statistics, but she directed me to the Ingleside website, which contains some of them in the captain’s message.

First, Jana Clark from the City Attorney’s office spoke. She works on the code enforcement team and is assigned to the Ingleside. The codes they enforce include fire, building, health, planning, police, and public works. They also deal with blight, which is written into one of the codes. They are focused on civil matters (vs. the DA, which focuses on criminal matters). They deal with code violations that rise to the level of being a public nuisance — affecting a block, neighborhood, etc. (not disputes between individuals, for example). They receive referrals from different city department and also get complaints from the general public. The police also alert them to issues where the threat of a lawsuit might help solve a particular situation.

She suggested that people call/email her with any problems, as well as to call 311 and get a tracking number. This has come up before — 311 is a great resource because (a) you get a tracking number and (b) 311 sends the problem to the relevant city departments. This all gets recorded and can be followed up on.

At this point, the meeting focused for some time on the problems that several members of the Ingleside community (not from Bernal) had been experiencing with drug houses on their block. I won’t go into details for confidentiality reasons, but a few interesting things came out of the discussion:

One, the city attorney’s office deals with exactly these sorts of things — in this case, there were some absentee landlords who were renting to drug dealers, and Ms. Clark thought that this was the sort of situation where the threat of a lawsuit often works the best. There is a law called the drug abatement act, which lays out penalties for anyone allowing their house to be used for drug dealing, including that the house must be left vacant for a full year following the clearing out of the drug dealers.

The second interesting point that came up on the discussion was that you CAN take videos on your property and its surroundings (one person thought you were not allowed to), and the police like getting these videos and will send them out to other stations. Videos have allowed them to solve several crimes. Someone in the community said she’d gotten a security video camera at Costco for $150.

Lt. Dorantes said that crime in aggregate was down 15% in 2011 vs 2010. There was a spike in assault/domestic violence in the Ingleside in November/December. There have also been many stolen vehicles, especially in Bernal Heights. They tend to be recovered in the Outer Mission or in Bernal Heights (this explains the cars recovered on Folsom).

Theft from vehicles continues to be a problem, and she mentioned that thieves are taking registration papers (possible identity theft, etc). She said you can black out your address on the registration (who knew?). Residential burglaries, especially bicycles stolen from open garages, continue to be a problem.

iPhones, especially the 4S, are still popular in robberies. They can be sold for $100 at 7th/Market, where these goods turn up. Get Find My iPhone — this continues to help the police locate stolen iPhones and solve crimes cross-district. Often, if they track down one stolen phone, they will find a trove of other stolen items.

The captain is running a Distracted Driving campaign, in which officers will ticket people for texting, etc. If you know of any areas where SFPD should run a pedestrian sting, email the captain.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics