Let’s Enjoy Some Recent Bernal Heights Photography, Because We Look Totally Fabulous

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since we last did a roundup of Bernal Heights images submitted to the Bernalwood photo group on Flickr, so let’s remedy that.

Per usual, our local shutterbugs have been capturing some amazing scenes from around the ‘Wood, and as you know, we just keep getting sexier and sexier.

For example, Neighbor Markus took the gorgeous photo you see above. He also captured a shot of one of my favorite cars in all of Bernal Heights — that amazing old Pinto that lives on the east slope. Notice the awesome Keep Bernal Clean license plate frame? Love it:

Ed Brownson’s Flickr account is full of beautiful images, and this snap of a little ad hoc yoga session on Bernal Hill is wonderful:

Here’s another one from Ed, with a raven on Bernal Hill:

Neighbor Jane Underwood took this wonderfully Hopper-esque photo of the Moonlight Cafe on Cortland:

Here’s a rainbow view as seen from Jane’s window:

Daniele Mils took this timeless shot of some Bernal back yards:

I also love Daniele’s shot of a Bernal neighbor experimenting with new colors:

Sean Timberlake took this stunner of a moonrise behind Bernal Hill:

GPS photographed this classic Bernal scene:

Suegol Malek shared this one of a perfect sunset moment from Bernal Hill:

There’s lots more where all this came from, so please do spend some time browsing the Bernalwood Flickr group. Also, if you’ve got any photos of your own… please share them with us!

Sunday: Repair the World with JCCSF at Alemany Farm

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin

Tikkun Haolam is a Hebrew phrase that means “repair of the world.”

In modern Judaism, it often refers to the ideals of philanthropy, social service, and community outreach. The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco has a very active Tikkun program, and this Sunday, Oct. 5 they’re organizing a volunteer work effort at the fabulous Alemany Farm in South Bernal.

Sarah Stickel from JCCSF shares the deets:

Hi Bernalwood Neighbors,

Want to do some good for your ‘hood this weekend?

Your fans and friends at JCCSF are coming to YOU this Sunday, 10/5 at Alemany Farm! We welcome everyone to join us on the farm from Noon – 5:00 pm while we lend a hand and help out a local treasure and urban farm that provides tons of free, local, organic produce to local low-income families and beyond. Come get your hands dirty, invite your friends, and take home your own free produce!

For information and to RSVP, visit our website and join us on the farm this Sunday!

Many thanks and best wishes to all you Bernalwood beauties.

PHOTO: Alemany Farm via Alemany Farm on Flickr

Sunset Timelapse from Bernal Hill Is a Preview of Tonight’s Coming Attractions

October 2, 2014October 2, 2014 / Todd_Lappin

It’s going to be beautiful in Bernal Heights today — a warm and clear allocation from our limited annual ration of summer-like days.

During a similar day earlier in the week, Jamie Fausto created a gorgeous time-lapse video of the sunset, as seen from the north-facing vantage point that looks straight up South Van Ness Avenue. It’s awesome.

Enjoy Jamie’s video in full-screen mode, and if you want to experience the real thing for yourself, be advised that sunset will happen tonight at 6:49 pm.

PRO TIP: Bring a cocktail.

Jack London Lived in Bernal Heights Before He Was Cool

October 2, 2014October 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 5 Comments

You might have noticed that Bernal Heights is today home to a rather impressive roster of fabulous writers and authors. All Bernalese can feel justifiably proud of our rich literary landscape, but Bernal Heights has been fertile ground for writerly genius for well over 120 years. For example, thanks to some impressive new research published by La Lengua’s rebel propagandist Burrito Justice, we now know Jack London once lived in Bernal Heights.

Yes, you read that correctly: Jack London once lived in Bernal Heights.

Okay, so Jack London was just one year old when he called Bernal home, and he didn’t live here for for long. Nevertheless, his later success provides clear proof that there’s something in the air in Bernal Heights that nurtures literary excellence.

Burrito Justice points to an excerpt from Irving Stone’s 1903 biography of Jack London:

(Side Note: Jenny Prentiss does not appear to be the namesake for the Prentiss Street in Bernal today. That Prentiss was likely the Civil War hero General Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss.)

Anyway, if Jack London lived in Bernal Heights, Burrito Justice moves on to the obvious question:

But where in Bernal? Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, and John London married his mother either in September 1876 or February 1877.

The 1878 SF city directory gives a potential answer:

Jack’s adopted father was John London, a Union veteran who married Jack’s mother Flora after Jack’s birth. But there are two John Londons! Which one? Also, how does 27th meet up with Harrison? And where is Gunnison Ave and Precita? And how does 28th have anything to do with Precita?

After some further sleuthing, we learn that Gunnison Avenue in Bernal Heights was a short stretch between Precita and Ripley that was contiguous with Harrison Street — until 1895 when it was renamed Harrison. But in this 1889 map, for example, the street was still called Gunnison Ave:

So baby Jack London lived somewhere just south of Precita Park, along present-day Harrison Street, which today maps out like this:

That’s just a quick summary of the evidence, but Burrito Justice dug up lots of fun stories and maps and historical geekery to identify where Baby Jack London lived when he lived in Bernal Heights. It’s fascinating stuff, and he did all the homework, so you absolutely must read the entire story on the Burrito Justice blog.

And from here on out, whenever you see some snot-nosed toddler being pushed around Precita Park in a stroller, just remember: That kid might just might turn out to be Bernal’s next Jack London.

IMAGES: Historical maps and text excerpts via Burrito Justice

City Finalizes $15 Million Settlement for Svanemyr Family in Holly Park Hit-and-Run

October 2, 2014October 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 16 Comments

The City of San Francisco has finalized a $15.1 million settlement with the surviving family of Christy Svanemyr, the woman who was killed in the heartbreaking 2013 hit-and-run incident involving a Recreation and Parks Department truck in Holly Park.

KCBS has the details:

The family of a 35-year-old woman who was run over and killed by a city employee driving on the grass in San Francisco’s Holly Park last September has been issued a settlement by the city of $15.1 million.

Vegar and Isa Svanemyr, the husband and toddler of Christine “Christy” Svanemyr, will receive the settlement as a result of a claim filed in November 2013.

The settlement was approved by the city’s Recreation and Park Commission in July and adopted by the city’s Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

The funds will be paid to the family in three installments.

PHOTO: Incident scene at Holly Park on Sept. 5, 2013. Inset, Christy Svanemyr

Recovery Continues for Jackie Jones, Celebrity Music-Maker of the Alemany Farmer’s Market

October 1, 2014October 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Bernalwood has received several requests for an update on the health of Bernal neighbor Jackie Jones, the Alemany Farmer’s Market musical celebrity who took a bad fall last year.

Neighbor Hannah spearheaded the previous fundraising effort for Jackie, and she’s been checking in on Jackie regularly. Neighbor Hannah shares this candid report:

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for your concern about Jackie Jones. She gave me permission to share this update:

“I had thought getting over my broken bones would be the end of my problem, but not so. My feet turned up with posterior tibial tendon disfunction. In other words, collapsing feet. The bones start to fall apart. I had to stay off my feet for so long, so I lost my balance. I will have to do exercises to regain this. I’m on my way. Next they will have new foot and ankle braces made for the right foot because the broken bones healed crooked. It’s been an awful thing to happen to me. But my spirits are up and I do want to figure ways to play music again.”

Jackie is happy to know that her “spot” is still open at the market and she still hopes to get back. When I asked her if she needed anything, she said “Bring me tales from the market!”

So if you’d like to send her your tales, email them to messages4jackie@gmail.com, I’ll pass your notes along to her.

With warmth and gratitude,
Hannah

PHOTO: Jackie Jones in 2006, by Telstar Logistics

Apple Makes Life Unpleasant for a Bernal Heights App Developer

October 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 15 Comments

Neighbors Jon and Liz aren’t the only Bernalese who have been making a splash on Ellsworth Street. Neighbor Greg Gardner is a software developer who also lives on Ellsworth, just a block north of Jon and Liz. He writes to tell us about his recent high-profile tangle with Apple:

In addition to my two neighbors here on Ellsworth St who were published in the New York Times Magazine, I also had an interesting weekend, although not as positive as theirs.

Last year I quit my job as a software developer to work for myself making iPhone and iPad apps. My first app went out earlier this year and didn’t do so well. So I started working on my second app, called Launcher, and released it a week and half ago, on the day that iOS 8 came out.

This second app was doing really well and I was planning on sending you a little note to let you know that one of your Bernal neighbors had built something that was being enjoyed by people all over the world.

Then Apple decided on Friday to take my app off of the App Store with little explanation. I think they did it on Friday evening in order to try to avoid it getting press coverage, but luckily it is getting picked up. Here’s what TechCrunch says about it:

Launcher’s creator, Greg Gardner, tells us that his new app had ranked highly on the list of the top 20 highest grossing productivity apps in the U.S. shortly after its App Store debut, and it made it into the top 10 highest grossing productivity apps in 43 different countries.

Nearly 300,000 users over the course of nine days downloaded Launcher, he says – good numbers for a brand-new app of any kind which hasn’t yet begun to do serious marketing or paid user acquisition.

Gardner explains in more detail via a post on his website, that Apple said that launcher apps like his were a “misuse of widgets,” and made the decision to pull the app down even though there are no written rules that state launcher apps cannot exist. He also says he attempted submitting a fix which would redirect users who tap on the Launcher widget first to the Launcher app itself, then to the target app. Apple rejected the fix within an hour on Friday, and then pulled Launcher from the App Store.

9 to 5 Mac covered the situation, and Business Insider headlined their article A Developer Created A Brilliantly Innovative New Way To Use The iPhone’s Widgets, But Apple Killed It.

I published my official take on the situation here, and an online petition has been set up. The petition is gaining traction as well.

So now, instead of quietly making a living for myself and my family building apps, I find myself thrust into a struggle against the company with the largest market capitalization in the world — all from my little house on Ellsworth. Obviously, my struggle pales in comparison to the ones many of our neighbors have had to fight to keep their houses and whatnot — but still, it’s an issue that affects my future livelihood.

Yuck. This isn’t the first time Apple has made life unpleasant for a Bernal resident, and it should come as a surprise to no one that Apple can be, uh, rather controlling. Still, it sucks when Apple acts arbitrarily and autocratically, and it sucks even more when that behavior impacts the livelihood of a Bernal neighbor.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: Telstar Logistics

Hey Muni, We Need a Bus to Dogpatch & 22nd Street Caltrain via Cesar Chavez

September 30, 2014October 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 48 Comments

Neighbor Mark lives on Alabama Street in Bernal Heights. He’s not a transit planner, but he’s a transit rider, and he sees a gaping hole in Muni’s bus service along Cesar Chavez Boulevard to the (booming) 22nd Street Caltrain Station.

To remedy this, Neighbor Mark wants MUNI to ~~create~~ revive a bus line that goes from Noe Valley to Dogpatch via Cesar Chavez. Here’s his modest proposal:

There isn’t very much industry along the eastern part of Cesar Chavez, east of Hwy. 101, anymore. But there are two big reasons for a line that goes along Cesar Chavez to Third Street and thence to the 22nd St. Caltrain station.

First, Yellow Cab and FedEx drivers could take the bus to their workplaces, which are within a block of this stretch of Cesar Chavez. But primarily, Caltrain has become an essential way for SIlicon Valley workers to get to their jobs. Catrain ridership is at historic highs, and 1500 workers now board Caltrain at 22nd St. every morning, headed for points south.

Right now, there’s no easy way to get to the 22nd Street Station. Yes, you can take the 48-Quintara down 24th St. and over the hill, but this takes a very long time. It would be so much quicker for the bus to head down our remade Cesar Chavez, bypassing Potrero Hill, making a turn at Third St., and heading straight for the station. I’ll bet it would save at least 15 minutes vs. a comparable trip on the 48.

You could start the route at Castro and 26th, or (as I have it) at Church and Cesar Chavez to connect with the J-Church.

Curious as to whether Muni ever had a line down Cesar Chavez, I looked around and found a 1947 Muni map posted by Eric Fischer.

Sure enough, this map shows that a 54M bus began at Castro and 26th, went down 26th and Army Streets all the way to the very end of Army, east of Third Street. Here’s a highlighted version of the 54 line from that 1947 route map:

As a recovering Caltrain/22nd Street commuter, your Bernalwood editor would like to second Neighbor Mark’s proposal.

Muni, let’s do this.

Hard Hat Chic: Groundbreaking Begins New St. Luke’s Hospital Construction Effort

September 29, 2014September 29, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

There was a fashionable groundbreaking ceremony last Friday to mark the (long-debated) start of construction of the new California Pacific Medical Center facility on the grounds of St. Luke’s Hospital at Cesar Chavez near Valencia — Bernal’s home-team hospital.

The San Francisco Appeal covered the event:

The new state-of-the-art hospital will be constructed adjacent to the old hospital on San Jose Avenue just south of Cesar Chavez Street, CPMC spokesman Dean Frye said.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee attended [Friday’s] groundbreaking ceremony and dug out a symbolic shovel full of dirt. He said via Twitter that the project will provide a “new seismically safe hospital and year-round jobs for #SF residents.”

CPMC chief executive officer Warren Browner joined the mayor and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to celebrate construction of the new St. Luke’s campus, which will begin in October, Frye said.

The new hospital comes after years of negotiations, including a 2012 development agreement that was shelved by members of the city’s Board of Supervisors, in part because of concerns over an escape clause that could have let CPMC close St. Luke’s hospital if its operating margin stayed negative for two straight years.

The new deal hashed out in 2013 omitted the escape clause, required that at least 30 percent of construction jobs go to San Francisco residents, and included higher contributions by the hospital group to the city for charity care.

The new St. Luke’s facility is scheduled to open in 2019, at which point the existing hospital building will be demolished. No major disruption in hospital services is anticipated along the way.

History buffs will note that St. Luke’s was also the site of the original Jose Cornelio Bernal homestead (which sat on the north side of present-day Duncan), so it’s good to see a new chapter beginning, at last, on this hallowed patch of Bernal Heights ground.

IMAGES: Top: Mayor Ed Lee at St. Luke’s groundbreaking, via @mayoredlee. Rendering of new St. Luke’s Hospital, via CPMC. Jose Bernal house map via Burrito Justice.

Two Authors from One Bernal Block Dominated Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine

September 29, 2014September 29, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

This is a photograph of Ellsworth Street in Bernal Heights. It’s a rather typical Bernal block in many ways, but last weekend,this humble block produced two of the main feature articles that appeared in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine.

Well, to be more precise, the block didn’t produce the articles — two superstar journalists who live on this block did. The writers are Jon Mooallem and Liz Weil, and each of them had a big, honking feature in the NYT Mag you may have perused while drinking your Sunday coffee.

Neighbor Jon’s article is all about Lanai, that island in Hawaii that ex-Oracle CEO Larry Ellison bought for himself.

Neighbor Jon writes:

Like a lot of omnipotent forces, Ellison has remained mostly invisible. He has visited Lanai many times — locals told me they can tell he’s on the island when they see his yacht hitched in the harbor — but he seems determined to keep a formal distance from the community, shielding himself behind the executive team of Pulama Lanai, the management company he set up to oversee the island’s transformation. Although Pulama holds frequent public meetings on Lanai, Ellison has declined to attend any or to address residents directly. Several residents told me that they’d resorted to reading biographies of Ellison to learn more about the man — books that have somewhat disquieting titles like “Everyone Else Must Fail” and “The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison,” the punch line being: “God doesn’t think he’s Larry Ellison.”

Next comes Neighbor’s Liz article about a woman who walked 10,000 miles during a three-year, solo trek:

Neighbor Liz profiled explorer Sarah Marquis:

The first six months on Marquis’s trips are always harrowing. She describes it as “the washing machine”: endless agitation, physical pain, emotional pain, nonstop bargaining among opposing internal voices — the inner demons that whisper, Remember the delicious foam on the cafe latte? and the inner angels that reprimand, Coffee isn’t accessible now, so why talk about it? “You can’t move your hands, you can’t move your feet, you just want to die,” Marquis said. “You think about sleep all the time, because maybe sleep will set things straight.”

A few months into her journey, Marquis shot a video of herself in her sleeping bag. Like a hostage clutching a newspaper, she holds a thermometer that reads minus 20 Celsius. “I don’t sleep much these days. I do not know what time it is. Maybe midnight, or something like that?” In the next day’s video, she looks wrecked. The previous night a wind- and sandstorm ripped across the Mongolian plains. To keep the nylon of her tent from tearing, Marquis removed the metal poles holding it up. But she still feared the gales would blow away her gear, so she unzipped herself from her collapsed shelter and lay atop her pack, tent and cart.

So there you have it; Two Bernal writers, ruling the mediasphere from quiet Ellsworth Street. Nice work, Jon and Liz.

PHOTO: Ellsworth Street, as tweeted by Liz Weil

Watch the Amazing Film from the Bernal-Born Director that Won “Best of Bernal” at the 2014 Outdoor Cinema Festival

September 26, 2014September 27, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 12 Comments

Neighbor Joe Talbot is a filmmaker who has lived on Montcalm for his whole life. At the 2014 Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival, Neighbor Joe walked away with the “Best of Bernal” award for the trailer he directed for an in-progress film, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”

Neighbor Joe shared the award-winning trailer with us, and we’ll share it with you in a moment. But first, let’s let Joe introduce himself:

I grew up running around Bernal with a ragtag production team made up of local kids. I was usually at the helm, doing my best impersonation of what I thought a despotic director looked like. I’m just old enough that our early years pre-dated computer editing software, so we cut our chops doing in-camera edits and wreaking havoc on our side of the hill.

Bernal neighbors were an integral part of our informal film education, whether they knew it or not. Our mischievous and often wild antics were almost always met with nothing but kind support. Neighbor Buck Bagot turned on to his street once to find us running full-speed down the middle of it, pushing a rickety old wheelchair as a dolly. We noticed his approaching car and offered to move out of the way, to which Buck yelled, “No way man! I don’t fuck with the arts!” He abruptly busted a u-turn and drove the long way around the block, as not to disrupt our set.

Most of the kids I knew have since shipped off to college. Some of the unlucky ones lost their homes during various financial crises, and drifted inland to suburbia. My parents were fortunate enough to keep our house, and unfortunate enough to keep me along with it.

My last remaining collaborator today is Jimmie Fails, a kid I first crossed paths with almost ten years ago. Jimmie was living in the Army St. projects at the time, and we quickly formed a closeness. Over midnight walks through Bernal’s roller-coaster hills, Jimmie would weave tales of his strange family story.

These talks would become the basis for our film to-be, The Last Black Man in San Francisco. The film, which we’re currently trying to raise money to shoot, pulls heavily from Jimmie’s own story, and examines what it’s like to feel out of place in your own hometown.

The video is a trailer we shot, on a dime, to help raise funds to shoot the feature-length film. You’ll notice that Bernal plays a major role in the trailer. How could it not?

Indeed. How could it not? Here’s a still from the trailer:

It’s a nice image, and we all recognize the location. Nice location! But the trailer for Neighbor Joe’s film is even better. In fact, Joe’s film is amazing. In fact, it’s officially the “Best of Bernal.”

Watch and enjoy:

Big congrats to Neighbor Joe Talbot, Jimmie Fails, and their entire team!

PS: Joe can be reached at joe *AT* longshotfeatures.com.

To Assuage Bernal-Envy, Noe Valley Commissions Bernal Artist to Create Gorgeous New Mural

September 25, 2014September 25, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

Pity, those poor souls from Noe Valley, and the cruel torment of their Gatsby Complex.

It’s well known that many residents to our west suffer from a deep-seated sense of longing and envy as they stare at the glamorous majesty of Bernal Hill from their homes in Noe Valley. So it should perhaps come as no surprise that even if those tormented Noe Valley people can never hope to be us, some have realized that they can at least acquire pieces of Bernal awesomeness — in the form of large-scale paintings by Bernal artists.

Case in point is the new mural that was recently completed on the side of a building at the corner of Church and Day. It’s a gorgeous creation from Neighbor Amos Goldbaum, who was born and raised in Bernal Heights and still lives in tony Precitaville.

Neighbor Amos’s Bernal Hill t-shirts have become a must-have fashion accessory for in-the-know Bernalese, so his many fans here will instantly recognize his style when they see the new mural in Noe Valley. It’s classic Amos Goldbaum:

The (excruciatingly envious) Noe Valley Voice ran a picture of the Neighbor Amos’s new mural on the cover of the September 2014 issue, and they report that the mural is based on a 1945 photo Neighbor Amos found of the intersection at Dolores and 25th Streets:

Meanwhile, Neighbor Amos also unveiled a new t-shirt design, featuring his own riff on the San Francisco city seal. You know, that cute little logo-thing that summarizes the early history of San Francisco on the doors of Our City’s luxurious vehicle fleet? The one that’s all, Oro en Paz! Fierro en Guerra! and all that?

Neighbor Amos turned that into a t-shirt, and Bernalwood snapped this (strangely daemonic) photo of him with it during a recent street fair:

Supplies are limited, but you can get a better look at Neighbor Amos’s new City Seal shirt here, or view his entire — and entirely fashionable — t-shirt collection here.

Congrats on the mural, Neighbor Amos!

PHOTOS: Amos on ladder courtesy of Amos Goldbaum. All other photos by Telstar Logistics

Here’s the View of Bernal Hill from the Other End of South Van Ness

September 24, 2014September 23, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Yesterday I went to a meeting at 1455 Market Street, a big high-rise right at the corner of Market and 11th Street. The office was in one of the building’s upper stories, and it had incredible views of Our Faire City.

As I gazed south, I realized I was staring straight down South Van Ness to Bernal Hill, which looked particularly rakish and handsome.

In other words, I was basically eye-to-eye with Bernal Hill from a vantage point directly opposite those stone benches at the curve in the closed section of Bernal Heights Boulevard. You know… the ones that look straight up South Van Ness. Because when you sit on one of those benches, here’s what you see:

That’s South Van Ness slicing through the center, and the photo at the top of this post was taken from the building highlighted by the arrow.

To see both vantage points, let’s take in the view from the Bernalwood SkyCam:

Bonus Fun Fact! As the crow flies, the distance between the benches on Bernal Hill and 1455 Market is about 11,427 feet, or 2.16 miles.

And now you know how we look from that distance when workers inside 1455 Market look back (enviously) at us.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics. Aerial image courtesy of Google Earth