Clouds, then fog, then heavy rain, then clouds, then sun. That’s the menu for a recent day in Bernal Heights, compressed into this 1 minute, 29 second video.
Scenes from Wednesday’s Surreal Sunset Over Bernal Heights
There have been some rather lovely sunsets around Bernal Heights of late.
Neighbor Rally snapped this fabulous profile shot of Bernal Hill on Wednesday evening. Then, not far away, Neighbor Seth captured the view from the eastern side of the park:
Meanwhile, just down the hill, I took a photo of Harvest Hills Market, as seen from Precita Park, at almost the same moment:
And though I can’t personally vouch for this, Neighbor James assures us that the sunrise on Wednesday morning was also rather impressive:
The 2016 District 9 Supervisor’s Race Is Already Underway
Our most recent citywide election happened just a month ago, but the race is already on to replace District 9’s Supervisor, David Campos, who terms-out next year. Progressive columnist Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez looks at the line-up of candidates so far:
[Edwin] Lindo, vice president of political affairs for the local Latino Democratic Club, joins Hillary Ronen, who is Supervisor David Campos’ legislative aide, as the only publicly known candidates for Campos’ seat.
Ronen filed a candidate intention statement on Nov. 16.
Lindo said he filed Nov. 2, though the documents are not publically available online.
Ronen told the San Francisco Examiner she’s running because she has “a deep love of the district,” and, “the knowledge and experience of how to fight and move legislation.”
Now that there are two progressives in the race, however, the vote to beat back moderate opposition may be split. And though ranked choice voting may less that impact, a split may shuffle endorsements, allegiances, and overall campaign power – all which will be key for progressives to topple any moderate candidate who comes out of the woodwork.
Campos, a noted progressive, will term out in 2016. The District 9 seat he now occupies is one of three famously left-leaning supervisor seats up for election, as progressive supervisors John Avalos and Eric Mar will also term out.
With Supervisor-elect Aaron Peskin now on the Board of Supervisors, the board majority favors left-leaning progressives, with a 6-5 split. The 2016 elections then would give center-right moderates the chance to take back the board.
The real District 9 opponent is still waiting in in the wings: Joshua Arce. An attorney who works with the Laborers International Union, Arce has long been rumored to be running for the seat with the support of The City’s political “moderates.” Though he has not officially announced candidacy, a “personal endorsement” from a local San Franciscan for Arce’s candidacy has surfaced online.
Neighbor Jeanne Carstensen Reports on the Refugee Crisis on Lesbos
Journalist Jeanne Carstensen just returned home to Mullen Ave. in Bernal Heights, but not long ago she was on the Greek island of Lesbos, reporting on the Middle Eastern refugee crisis. A sample of the experiences she had there:
Asas doesn’t have enough money to pay the smugglers and worries how he will be able to work in Turkey, where Syrians have no legal status. Nour checks his cell phone frequently looking for a message from his contact. He shows me the life jacket under the table. He had expected to take a bus to the boat the night before but the hook up was called off due to iffy weather. Now he doesn’t know for sure when he will leave.Yet they both insist on inviting me to tea. This detail — of hospitality offered in a moment of extremis — sticks with me. I had gone to the Basmane neighborhood with some trepidation. After all, it’s the center of human trafficking, as it’s called, the business of moving people illegally across borders. Looking around me I wondered who was who, who was a trafficker, or a middleman, or a refugee. But when I sat down to interview Asas and Nour and others with my microphone held close to their faces I quickly felt at ease.
I offered to pay for the tea but they would not accept. And when beggars came by our table, the refugees reached into their pockets for coins. No one was turned down.
In this video filmed on Lesbos, Neighbor Jeanne explains how the refugee situation there has unfolded:
Hat Tip: Neighbor Mark
PHOTO: Scene at the Sindad Cafe in Lesbos, by Jeanne Carstensen
Northeast Bernal Neighbor Exasperated by Property Crime
Neighbor Daniel lives on Holliday Avenue in northeast Bernal, just above the US101/Cesar Chavez interchange. He says property crime in that corner of the neighborhood is getting out of hand.
Neighbor Daniel tells Bernalwood:
We have had a rash of crime, especially car burglaries involving my car and cars none of my neighbors recognize. I’ve written Captain McFadden and Supervisor David Campos about it. Here is the letter I sent:
From: Daniel
Date: November 30, 2015
To: “joseph.mcfadden@sfgov.org”
Cc: david.campos@sfgov.org
Subject: Bernal Heights CrimeDear Captain McFadden,
I, Daniel W. – homeowner at XXXX Holladay Avenue, am writing to express my concern with the recent car burglaries and other crime on Holladay avenue in Bernal Heights. The first incident occurred on November 9, 2015; a car burglary I witnessed resulting in an arrest by SFPD.
The second car burglary incident occurred on Holladay avenue today November 30, 2015. This incident was called in by my neighbor at XXX Holladay Avenue. The perpetrator of this incident involved him threatening my elderly neighbor and resulting in his arrest. The arresting officer stated the SFPD had found a weapon in the car, and the weapon had previously been used to commit a crime.
A month and a half ago ago, my car was broken into on Holladay avenue. I did not call the police regarding that incident.
Several months ago, I had to call the police when a homeless couple with a dangerous dog were walking in my neighborhood creating a public safety issue. The responding officer had to discharge his weapon to stop the dog and apprehend the suspects.
I am very concerned with this uptick in crime in my neighborhood. I do not feel safe, and I would like to know what SFPD plans to do with regards to the rash of crime on my street in Bernal Heights.
Sincerely,
Daniel
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
Thursday: City Hall Hearing to Review PG&E Safety in Bernal
There have been several electrical transformer explosions in Bernal Heights recently, and PG&E’s equipment has been responsible for the accidents.
In 2013, a transformer exploded on Coleridge. Last September, another transformer exploded on Heyman Avenue, leaving two people with serious injuries. Throw in a disheartening series of blackouts, and confidence in PG&E’s Bernal Heights infrastructure is at a low ebb.
On Thursday afternoon, Dec 3, 2015 , District 9 Supervisor David Campos will hold a hearing in City Hall to investigate the safety of PG&E’s systems. His legislative aide, Sheila Chung Hagen, tells Bernalwood:
In response to the September PG&E transformer explosion in Bernal Heights that injured two people, Supervisor Campos called for a public hearing to understand what happened in Bernal Heights and what is happening across the city with PG&E’s transformers. Through the hearing, we want to learn what happened, and what safety measures will be put in place to ensure no harm comes to the public again.
What: A hearing on measures to ensure public safety around Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company Transformers citywide
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2015
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee (Room 250, City Hall
Agenda: Here (See Item 2)
PHOTOS: The SFFD responds to the scene of a Dec. 8, 2013 PG&E transformer explosion on Bocana that left a PG&E employee badly burned. Photos courtesy of a Bernal Heights neighbor.
You’re Invited to the Secession Holiday Party, Thursday Eve
Neighbor Eden Stein from the fabulous Secession Art and Design shop on Mission (near Valencia) is spreading the word about Secession’s holiday party, happening tomorrow, Thursday, December 3:
Please join us at our holiday party on Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6-9pm.
Our brand-new show features original art by Hilary Williams and abstract paintings by Andrzej Michael Karwacki.
Shop from over 60 independent makers, carefully curated with you and your list in mind. Hand-made treasures let you give a gift that has personality. Small warm wishes come in the shape of soy candles, Bernal decanters, prints, and ceramics. Add a little sparkle from our locally-made jewelry collection. Let us dress up your babies, toddlers, and everyone in the family with our unique clothing.
Supernatural is Supernormal at Bernal’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
Chris Roberts recently paid a visit to the tiny little Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at 3255 Folsom in North Bernal, where encounters with the supernatural are considered perfectly normal. Writing for SF Weekly, he reports:
Near the tail end of services on Sunday at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, the well-dressed middle-aged woman sitting in the pew in front of me handed me a business card.
On one side was printed the question: “Do you have Supernatural FAITH?” On the other, written in black ink in her hand, was a direction: “ASK THE FATHER ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS GREEN CROSS THAT APPEARED IN THE KITCHEN WINDOW.”
There is a certain amount of mysticism — what many might call “hocus pocus” — in any Catholic Mass. With the wave of a priest’s hand, bread and wine become the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.
At this tiny, colorful, and low-ceilinged chapel on the north slope of Bernal Heights, odd phenomenon even church theologians cannot explain are normal.
It was here, 20 years ago, that a parishioner first observed a Marian apparition. One day after services, someone noticed something on the copper-topped gables of the church roof — an image of the Virgin Mary. Frequent scrubbings could not remove it. Word spread, and eventually, so many people came up Folsom Street to see the “miracle” that police had to close the street.
At the center of this house of the unexplained is a quiet man in his 80s who is so small in stature that, when celebrating Mass, he barely peeks above the altar. Mystery and coincidence have followed Immaculate Conception’s Father Guglielmo “William” Lauriola his entire life.
PHOTO: Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, by Rosabell M. on Yelp. (Four stars!)
Today: Grand Opening Party for Neighbor Darcy’s “Heartfelt Ampersand” Boutique
It’s been a few weeks since Neighbor Darcy Lee of Heartfelt fame opened “Heartfelt Ampersand,” her new boutique a few doors up the street at 409 Cortland.
Now that she’s settled in, Neighbor Darcy is finally ready to have a proper opening party, and word on the street is you’re invited. She says:
We’re having an opening party!
Please stop by for a bit of bubbly, some tasty treats, and live tunes, Tuesday December 1st, from 4 to 8pm.
The infamous Brian Belknap will be playing, and there will be champagne and cookies from Dianda’s.
Bonus: Wear a frock or sundry from Ampersand and get a 25% discount on a new purchase. See you there!
PHOTO: Courtesy of Heartfelt &
Healthy Spirits Now Open on Cortland, with a Grand Opening Sale on Saturday
It’s finally open. After weeks of curiosity and voyeuristic speculation, the Healthy Spirits liquor store has opened at 249 Cortland, inside the former Chuck’s Grocery space.
The opening of a liquor store would not typically warrant much attention, but Healthy Spirits is not a typical boozemonger; The new Cortland branch is the third outpost in the Healthy Spirits family, which is regarded as one of the City’s more esteemed purveyors of whiskey and agave spirits.
Store manager Nate Breed brings Bernalwood the 411, and extends an invitation to a special grand opening sale on Saturday, Nov. 28:
We’ve now officially opened Healthy Spirits Cortland.
So we are absolutely thrilled to be a part of the Bernal Heights community, and we look forward to what we can add to the neighborhood. Our first shop was founded in 1998 in the Castro District, so we’ve had about 17 years to perfect and evolve who we are and what we do. Our main areas of expertise are beer, whiskey and agave (tequila and mezcal), but everything we carry is hand-selected and extremely quality-focused.
One of our most important goals is consumer education. We strive to have the most knowledgeable and dedicated staff that can make beer and spirits consumption into an immersive, informative and exciting experience. This notion over the years has helped us provide great customer service, but it also breeds an environment that’s accessible for both the novice and connoisseur alike.
Another chance for education lies in our Beer, Bourbon and Agave Clubs, that feature advanced monthly selections with detailed write-ups and interviews with the distillers and brewers themselves. The clubs come with an awful lot of perks, including discounts, first shot at limited releases and occasional free tickets to beer and spirit events. We also strongly believe in supporting local breweries and distilleries while seeking out the esoteric and saving a special place for the classics. It’s important for us to not only understand how something is made and what it tastes like, but also where it’s made and by who.
Anyway that’s Healthy Spirits in a nut shell. And we’d like to extend a special invitation to all your Bernalwood readers to attend our Grand Opening Celebration on Small Business Saturday November 28th at 11am.
We will be giving away free swag all day and having some unbelievable sales: 10 to 40% off everything in the shop. We’ll also be raffling off the right to buy extremely rare bottles of whiskey like Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace Antique, Four Rose Limited 2015 and St George Single Malt the first 5 hours, and putting other rare and vintage beer and whiskies on the shelf when the doors open. Come early, as the best deals and rarest selections tend to go fast.
Store hours are:
Monday-Thursday: 11am to 10pm
Friday-Saturday: 11am to 11pm
Sunday: 11am to 9pmSee you at the shop!
Nate
PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics
Then and Now: Remembering Wild Days at the Motorcycle House on Moultrie
The Big Old Goofy World blog recently shared some vivid memories about the residents who used to live in this storied house on Moultrie, south of Cortland:
What a difference two or three decades makes. We called this “the Hell’s Angels house” or “the Cheech and Chong house.” On the top we see it c. 1980s, and on the bottom today.
This house had so much drama that my brother and I, who didn’t have a TV, would often turn out the lights in our living room and watch the fighting and drunkenness. Guns, knives, family disputes, and high speed chases ended up here. These guys were straight from the cast of Sons of Anarchy. But they were also good neighbors, when they were sober. Dave, the main occupant in the 80s, was handy with motors and installed our garage door, still in use today. And we were told to knock on his door if we were in trouble. After the 89 quake, when portions of the city were burning, he rustled up a flat bed truck, big TV, and generator, and the whole block watched the news there on Moultrie Street.
Sadly, Dave was murdered in a drug deal a few blocks away in the early 90s. The house remained a haunt of motorcycle enthusiasts until the early 2000s, I think. It then went through a series of improvements that gradually made it look a lot more respectable (such as removing that big chained dog visible in the lower left of the top photo).
Hat tip: MissionMission
PHOTO: Big Old Goofy World
City Outsources Lundys Landing Tree Problem to Irate Bernal Neighbor
This year, San Francisco’s Department of Public Works has been pursuing a euphemistically-named Tree Maintenance Transfer Plan that makes San Francisco homeowners responsible for tens of thousands of streetside trees that were, until recently, maintained by the city.
DPW says the crux of the plan is to “standardize maintenance responsibility such that, in general, fronting property owners will be responsible for the maintenance of street trees in the public right of way.” In plainspeak, DPW is basically outsourcing its tree problem to taxpayers, under force of law.
That’s how Neighbor Laura Gold of Lundys Lane, a schoolteacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann, ended up getting hit with a massive tree-maintenance bill recently. Neighbor Laura tells Bernalwood:
We are fighting the city’s unfair assignment of tree care to the neighbors on Lundy’s Landing.
We all want a green city with an appropriate canopy. That is one of the many reasons we promptly pay our city taxes and support new ones when they are designed to beautify or improve our city. However, this shifting of responsibilities to citizens puts an unfair burden on already strained wallets. It also makes public spaces unsafe as homeowners scrape to come up with piecemeal solutions for city streets, easements and open spaces. Our budget is already strained by having to pay for the costs of replacing the sidewalk in front of our house and by caring for the street tree near our front door. We, in no way, can afford to take on the city’s responsibility nor its liability for a large shared public area that falls between our house and several of our neighbors.
I am a public school teacher in the Mission. I work 10-12 hour days. I make less than $3800 a month; my husband and I have put thousands of dollars of our own money and countless hours of our free time into providing materials (books, school supplies, snacks) for my classroom, since despite the fact that I work with kids whose families lack the basics to survive in this city, San Francisco has decided that it doesn’t want to take responsibility for them.
Now, it seems like city government has also abdicated its responsibility to the homeowners. A year ago, it was reported that due to high tax revenues, San Francisco was running a budget surplus of $22 million dollars — where is the money in this city going? It’s not helping the kids, and it’s not providing basic services to homeowners that other cities take for granted. Is it to further subsidize Google buses at the expense of the neighborhoods? I don’t teach math, but I know when things don’t add up.
Here is what my husband and I have done so far:
1) We have emailed and called Director Mohammed Nuru of DPW and requested a meeting and had no reply or return of our calls. Instead we have received yet another computer generated letter saying the trees are our problem. (see email below and feel free to quote as needed),
2) We have also contacted Supervisor Campos’s office, and while we have had responses, we have no evidence that anything is in the works, and the clock is ticking. (we were informed in a letter dated 10/30 we had 30 days to deal with the issue), and finally we have contacted people at the SF Chronicle, and are hoping they, too, can raise awareness about the issue.
Apparently both Supervisors Avalos and Weiner are taking up the cause, The issue may end up on the ballot next year.
At what point does city government stop existing to benefit the citizens, and instead exist to provide a steady source of income for a few powerful people? What does that make the rest of us who thought we were participating in the San Francisco community, not working for San Francisco, Inc.?
This is the letter I sent to Director Nuru:
From: lauragold
To: “Mohammed Nuru”
Cc: “David Campos”
Sent: Sunday, November 8, 2015 2:14:40 PM
Subject: Trees on Lundy’s Landing Public SpaceDear Director Nuru –
I am writing to request an immediate meeting with you at Lundy’s Landing (DPW property at Lundy’s Lane and Esmeralda) with regard to our ongoing request for the city to maintain its trees on its land, and the patently false posting of signs designating that the owners have “requested to remove” the trees in 30 days from city land.
As I have indicated in my 311 request, we are asking the City of San Francisco to honor their responsibilities. As I indicated in my 311 response:
1) This is not our property. It is the City of San Francisco’s property. It is listed as a street and therefore the City of San Francisco’s obligation.
2) We did not plant these trees, put in stairs, etc. It belongs to the city.
3) We pay taxes for the care of public space. This is public space and therefore not our responsibility as homeowners.
4) Finally, and perhaps most insultingly, the city is asking us to request and pay for a permit to do work on THEIR land. We do not plan to request this permit.I am also a city employee. A public school teacher that can barely afford to live here and pay taxes. I cannot afford to take on the city’s multi thousand dollar obligation.
I look forward to hearing from your office in the next 48 hours in order to arrange a meeting.
Yours,
Laura Belfiglio Gold
Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8
Teacher, 7th grade, National Board Certified Teacher
PHOTO: The tree assigned to Neighbor Laura, by Neighbor Laura
Help a Bernal Artist Find the Art That Was Stolen With Her Car
You might remember Neighbor Carrie Ann Plank; she played a starring role last April’s post about Bernal Heights artists at the Hunter’s Point Shipyard. Well, Neighbor Carrie Ann’s car was stolen on Saturday night, and some of her art was in it. Grrrrrrrr.
She tells Bernalwood:
My car was stolen from in front of the house last night over on Bronte. I’m an artist, and unfortunately, several pieces of valuable artwork were inside the car.
Car thieves probably are not interested in art pieces, so I’m hoping they were dumped somewhere nearby. Can we put out a call to my fellow Bernal dwellers in case anyone sees them? I’m desperately hoping my good neighbors have some information that may lead to recovery! Additionally, I’m the artist in residence currently at Bullseye Glass and all of my notes and sketches were in the trunk. Would love to get those back too!
Fingers crossed! Thank you for the assist in getting the word out.
Here are the details:
2007 graphite Prius with a carseat, and here’s a few images of the missing work:
Bernalwood 