Reader Christina shared these fun photos of her friends Stella and Molly. She did not, however, specify which one is which.
PHOTOS: tweetsweet via Flickr
Reader Christina shared these fun photos of her friends Stella and Molly. She did not, however, specify which one is which.
PHOTOS: tweetsweet via Flickr
Cyril_at_sf took this nicely Instagrammed iPhone pic on Richland near San Jose Avenue.
There are many things to love about this photograph, but what I love most is that at first glance, it’s pretty much impossible to tell if the image was captured in 1950 — or just last week.
The green-thumbs at Friends of the Urban Forest are on one of their tree-planting sprees. If you live in South Bernal, and want to get a tree planted (for cheeeeep!) in front of your home, here’s the tip:
Friends of the Urban Forest is working to get enough commitments to plant trees to enable us to have a tree planting in South Bernal Heights neighborhood and in almost every other area of the City.
When we get up to 30 trees committed by property owners we’ll be able to schedule a community tree planting. Your neighborhood currently has 8 trees signed up to plant. Can you help create the necessary demand? In so doing you will create a legacy right here in our “front yards” — one that can be enjoyed by yourself and the children and grandchildren of the neighborhood. And at just $75 for the tree and periodic maintenance for 3 years the price is a real bargain.
Research shows that trees increase property values, help the environment and improve our quality of life in many ways. So please plant a tree in front of your house or talk with neighbors or local business about planting one (or two) in front of their property! If you know the owner of a site that could plant several trees please let me know — we would love to help them start reaping the benefits of having trees. Plantings are fun and literally bring neighborhoods together.
What FUF Offers:
Our $75 tree planting package includes:
– Concrete Removal (if needed)
– Tree and periodic maintenance for 3 years
– Tree planting (as part of a community planting)
– Staking/Support
– PermitFor more information contact me:
Doug Lybeck
Friends of the Urban Forest
Community Outreach Manager
415-268-0773 or douglybeck@FUF.net
PHOTO: A 2008 tree-planting in Bernalwood, by Friends of the Urban Forest

True confession: It took me a while to clue in to what’s going on at the 331 Cortland food market. It’s basically six gourmet kiosks congregated under one roof, but there’s more to the concept than just fancy food; 331 Cortland also acts as a kind of incubator for budding food entrepreneurs who want to get a start in the business with lower risk and relatively lower cost. They build their businesses, and we get to taste the R&D. Very cool.
331 Cortland is marking its First Anniversary this week, and you can join the celebration during an open house party on Friday evening, April 22, from 6 to 9 pm. There will also be a series of classes and presentations on Saturday the 23rd, beginning at 12 noon. Check out the complete schedule.
Meanwhile, Tablehopper brings a tasty status report on the 331 Cortland Class of 2011:
The one-year mark comes with some changes too as both El Porteño Empanadas and ICHI Sushi are ready to move on from the small business incubator site. El Porteño will focus on expanding their market presence at the Ferry Building and in Whole Foods Markets, while ICHI is busy with their new sushi bar.
Within the space, Paulie’s Pickling and Bernal Cutlery will be expanding their kiosks. Bernal Cutlery plans to offer a larger inventory of knives, and Paulie’s Pickling will increase their sandwich offerings (they’ve already grown from 4 to 12 sandwiches, including “Bernalogna” and beef brisket) and will add new items, like cookies from Debbie Does Dinner and rugelach from Black Jet Bakery. By the way, you can also nab Paulie’s pickles at Whole Foods Market on Haight, Home Restaurant, Smoke BBQ, Lilah Belle’s, The Liberty Café, and a couple local bars (The Dogpatch Saloon, Marlena’s, Stray Bar, and Wild Side West).
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
What?! You couldn’t make it to the community meeting at the San Francisco Police Department’s Ingleside Station on Tuesday night to get some facetime with Captain Louis Cassanego? Lucky for you, reader Sarah attended… and she took some excellent notes. Here’s her invaluable summary of Captain Cassanego’s Bernal Heights crime report:
Notes from Community Meeting at Ingleside, 4/19/11
– There was a sexual assault in Crocker-Amazon Park around 4:30 on 4/1. An arrest has been made.
– They are still seeing lots of thefts of iPhones and iPods around Glen Park and Balboa Park BART stations. They have plainclothes officers at each station to try to catch the folks involved in this. Asian females seem to be common targets of the thieves. They think the people involved are from outside SF. Thieves can get $200 for an iPhone, so when you are using email or talking on your phone, it’s as if you were waving $200 around. Also, of course, you are distracted and more easily victimized. (The stolen phones are apparently often sold at 7th and Market, where there is a robust black market.)
– They are also seeing thefts on MUNI in which a thief grabs a victim’s purse /backpack/bag right as they are exiting through the back door of the bus.
– Burglaries are slightly down for the year. But 50% are front-door entry, meaning observant neighbors are especially essential.
– Auto thefts are high and trending up. Shaved keys can get a thief into a car in seconds, especially 1990s Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, and Acuras. Steering-wheel clubs strongly advised.
– Car break-ins are up 44% on the year. The most heavily targeted areas are Precita Park, Glen Park, Noe Valley, and Miraloma Park. Sparkplug chips can silently break glass, and thieves like quiet, winding streets where they can hear a police car coming blocks away. In one-third of break-ins, nothing is taken (because there is nothing to take).
– The fire at 3214 Mission on 4/6 was started by a cigarette and fed by the high winds that day.
– Police arrested a 14-year-old male in possession of an assault weapon on 4/18/11 – he was seen at 30th and San Jose behind the Safeway, and numerous people called 911. They now think he was also behind a recent robbery in which a similar weapon was used (Kel Tec 223, which is like an M-16).
– I asked about Sergeant Miller, and he is returning to Ingleside in the next two weeks.
– I asked about the recent shooting on Holly Park at Appleton (a man was shot in his car around 6:30pm). They are looking into a drug deal gone bad and/or a gang connection. He couldn’t say much more about it at this time because the investigation is ongoing.
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
As Bernalwood reported earlier, it looks like the renovation of the storefront that will soon become the Precita Park Cafe has finally started at the corner of Precita and Alabama. The plywood is up, construction has started, and we assume all sorts of magic is happening inside.
On a related note, I ran into the always-affable Charlie from Charlie’s Cafe (on the Folsom side of Precita Park) last night while I was taking the photo above. We got to talking about how the Precita Park Cafe might fare, and if it will make Precita Park itself a more sexy and glamorous destination. Time will tell, of course, but I certainly hope that a rising tide will lift all boats.
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
Andy Taylor took this photo inside Avadano’s on Cortland Street. This Easter, it looks like they’re serving up a blend of Hello Kitty cute, carnal omnivorous pleasure, and Catholic guilt. A delicious combination. Happy Hossenfeffer!
From the ever-fabulous photo archives of Dave Glass (whom we last met right here), comes this typically fabulous photo of Bernalwood’s west slope, taken during the mid-1970s. Dave’s caption explains:
Foreground is Mission Street near Fair, Bernal Heights district,
One of San Francisco’s working class neighborhoods, Pentax H3v with Kodak TriX film, photograph taken 1975
So how does this working class neighborhood look today?
I went back to recapture Dave’s photo, but it seems he took his shot from an upper-story elevation on the western side of Mission Street. I couldn’t recreate that altitude, so this is what I got. (If you need a consistent point of reference, use on the barn-shaped house roughly in the middle of both images.)
Executive summary of the last 36 years? There’s been a whole lot of remodeling going on!
PHOTOS: Top, Dave Glass; bottom, Telstar Logistics
Judging from his blog, it seems that Twitter user @rallyp is relatively new to Bernal Heights. But judging from this lovely photo, I suspect he (and his dog) will fit right in.
A day in the life of San Francisco:
Early morning dog walk before sunrise in Bernal Heights.
Welcome!
PHOTO: Going West via @rallyp
Have a crime or public nusiance concern? Want to talk directly to our precinct’s top cop? Then you may want to attend the community meeting tonight at 7 pm at the SFPD’s Ingleside Station.
From the Bernalsafe mailing list:
The monthly community meeting at Ingleside Station is tonight, Tuesday, at 7pm. I encourage folks to attend since Bernal is often underrepresented. Last month, there were maybe 12 people total, so you can express your concerns directly to the captain very easily.
The information is here. The community room is to your left as you walk towards the main building.
(Ingelside Station address and directions right here.)
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
7×7 Magazine has answered a question I’ve been wondering about: In light of the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, should we be concerned about where our sushi comes from?
Happily, if you get your sushi at Ichi Sushi on Mission, you probably don’t need to worry:
When the Fukushima nuclear crisis — now ranked at level 7 — banned certain Japanese exports, we all wondered what effect the disaster would have on something San Franciscans love to eat: sushi. Henry Icinose of San Francisco’s ABS Seafood Inc., the fish supplier to ICHI Sushi in Bernal Heights, tells 7×7 that most of the fish his company purchases comes from the Fukuoka area of Japan, far south of Fukushima, below Tokyo and Sendai. “To put it into perspective,” he tells us, “the distance from Sendai to Fukuoka is roughly the equivalent of Seattle to San Francisco.” Ichinose also says that the radiation levels in fish are checked every 6 hours in Japan, and that the FDA is closely monitoring imports from Japan, including seafood from areas other than of the Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures.
PHOTO: Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, by Telstar Logistics
While I’m glad to see that Bernal Heights “made the cut” in Asterisk Magazine’s
San Francisco meat map, our friends at the The Tender noticed something very wrong about it:
It’s kinda weird that SOMA and Mission are connected together but South Beach is shown as being separate from SOMA, the bigger question is, where in the bejesus is the Tenderloin?
Great question. Someone at Avedano’s would probably know.
I live on Precita near the St. Anthony’s church and parochial school, and I’m glad to have them as neighbors. For one, St. Anthony regularly plays church bells, which provides this part of Bernalwood with an excellent old world soundtrack. Also, the church parking lot occasionally plays host to badass car shows, which are a great scene.
The most recent show took place last weekend, and it was fabulous. A bunch of the local car clubs showed up to represent for the St. Anthony’s School Benefit, including The Last Originals, Inspirations, and The Road Lords,
The sun was out, the cars were beautiful, a live band was playing, the colors were popping, and the people were looking so so good.
PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics