It’s an unusually warm spring night for Potrero skaters and with decisions mounting as to where to skate – the usual skate park too old fashioned and crowded with junkies - they turn to the unfinished Potrero Del Sol Park as a haven to release their inner skate demons.
“That park right there is fun as hell,” Chris Dunn says, a 32-year-old skater and employee of Mission Skateboards on 24th and Treat streets in San Francisco. Dunn is a regular at the nearly finished Potrero Del Sol Skate Park. “There’s been cops that came through the park to keep the skaters out,” he says. “They put up a chain link fence.”
There isn’t much choice for skateboarders in San Francisco when it comes to choosing which skate park they want to use to test their tricks. “There’s like two parks,” says Dunn. The Crocker-Amazon skate park off Geneva Ave. is currently the only other skate park that can match Potrero Del Sol Park’s size, but the 24-year-seasoned skater says of the incomplete park, “I don’t want to skate anything but that park.”
“The skate parks here are fucking pathetic,” scoffs Ryan Carruthers, a 32-year-old skater from Portland, Oregon who was part of a six-member crew who designed and built the Potrero Del Sol skate park. “There are more skaters here than any other city,” he says. “There’s an incredibly low amount of skate parks here,” fueling the outcry and consensus of skaters in San Francisco about the city’s lack of generosity for its skateboarding community.
Nestled against Potrero Hill off Potrero Ave. and 25th street in San Francisco lay Potrero Del Sol Park. According to a 2005 SF Chronicle article by Carolyn Jones, Potrero Del Sol Park was budgeted with a $720,559 grant from the state parks department to build a playground and skate park as well as new landscaping in the 4.5-acre space.
Planning for the park began on October 1, 2002. An official project status report released on April 1, 2008 from the Department of Recreation and Park revealed that 85 percent of construction was complete with a park opening date scheduled for June 1, 2008.
“Everything goes twice as slow here than in the warehouse,” Carruthers says of his experience with the construction delays.
“I feel it’s great that we have a skate park even if it’s a year from now,” Alexsis Beach, a nearby resident and mother of an 11-year-old skater who frequents the fenced off skate park says citing that the Crocker-Amazon skate park is “lousy” and “full of junkies.”
To try and combat undesirable activity inside and outside Potrero Del Sol Park, security guards have been hired by the city. “Safety is number one,” Sing Vs, a night security guard for AMBI Protective Services says.
But already on the ground outside and inside the chain-linked wall surrounding Potrero Del Sol Park are cigarette butts, broken bottles, and used condoms.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
SF Decieved in Lieu of City's Image
Calamity. The only word I know to describe what happened in Justin Herman Plaza today and the city of San Francisco as a whole.
The Olympic torch was to be relayed down the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Warf and back to the Embarcadero for a closing ceremony. It wasn’t and San Francisco was duped. Yesterday, the SF Chronicle printed a route map of the Olympic torch relay - a newspaper that is read by thousands upon thousands of people a day. Because of too many protesters at Justin Herman Plaza up against the Ferry Building, the route of the torch relay – the only one to be held in North America – was altered. "We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route," Mayor Gavin Newsom said. "I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch. You saw that in the streets. They were not denied the ability to protest."
However, people were denied the ability of a meaningful protest. "If we had started down that (original) route, I guarantee you would have seen helmet-clad officers with batons pushing back protesters," San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong said. As the torch relay began at McCovey Cove, pro-Tibet protesters surrounded the runners, and as a result, the convoy consisting of Sheriff’s officers, SFPD officers, FBI, ATF, and SFFD rolled to Van Ness street and continued a quieter protest-free Olympic torch relay. Although some protesters did catch up with the runners, the relay was not thwarted aside from the altered route. A route, which eventually ended at the north end of 19th Ave. before the convoy was driven to San Francisco International Airport where a small closing ceremony near the international terminal closed off from protesters and the media.
I was working in the morning at the SF State library. I got off work at 12:00 p.m. and headed to West Portal Muni Station to catch a train Embarcadero Station. It was 12:40 p.m. as I boarded the L Taraval line. The train was packed with everyone one from young to old and clustering ethnicities. Some had flags, other signs – both Free Tibet and Pro Chinese.
After an underground train ride that took about 45 minutes from the normal 10, I had arrived at Embarcadero Station. A sign caught my eye right away that read, “Stop Tibetan Holocaust.” This however would not be the last sign of interest. Facing the Ferry building, the SFPD has sectioned off the center of Justin Herman Plaza off by metal barriers, I worked by way over to the left where the news vans were and tried to gain some more knowledge of where the torch was since I had arrived late. No one was talking. And if they were, they had no idea what was going on. It has just turned 1:30 p.m. as the clock tower on the Ferry building sounded off it’s bells.
I worked my way over to the other side of the Embarcadero (the Ferry building side). Right as I did this, a fleet of news helicopters strafed overhead toward the northwestern end of the peninsula. However the police helicopters stayed watchful in the sky hovering over the multitude of protesters. In retrospect the news helicopters knew where the torch really was, I just wish I had that kind of cool job and eye-in-the-sky advantage.
Justin Herman Plaza was peacefully divided down to the center of the street, having the pro-Tibet protesters on the Financial District side of the Embarcadero having Market street as their delta, and conversely, the pro-Chinese protesters nestled up against the Ferry building across the SFPD barricaded center plaza. Now that I was on the Chinese side of the barricaded plaza, I finally saw the clashes between the two. Even though the protesters were peacefully divided, their confrontations were not – most of them occurring on the Chinese side of the Embarcadero. A sign that read, “would we allow Nazi Germany to host the Olympic games,” brought out a lot outcries from the pro Chinese protesters.
Towards the North side of Justin Herman Plaza was the iconic man with a microphone attached to a bullhorn screaming, “Free Tibet Now” and “Shame on China.” His gathering consisted early on of about 20 protesters – that number grew well over 100 within 30 minutes. It was now 2:06 p.m. when the riot police at the north end of the plaza started emerging in more numbers. The front line of the Riot police attire consisted of the usual riot helmets accompanied with 3-foot-long nightsticks attached at the hip. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the riot police’s front line Chinese officers who were forced to hear, “Shame on China” and “China lies.” Given the last names of the officers, six out of the seven front line officers where Chinese.
All at once, people started heading west and word spread that the torch was now on Van Ness street heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The protesters mobilized and marched forth. A woman passed me by with a sign, “reject China’s propaganda torch!” While walking with some of the protesters, I stopped at Drumm and Washington streets where officer R. Escobar said, “roughly over 600” SFPD were out in force to control the chaos. Another sign, “San Francisco is not Paris.”
I retreated back to the Ferry building and awaited further updates as to where the torch might be heading. Since the police had still barricaded the center of Justin Herman Plaza, it was very plausible that the torch would return there for a closing ceremony. I met up with some other journalists from SF State who were also covering the bullshit. At the end of our conversation we concluded that the city of San Francisco had deceived its public in order to circumvent tarnishing its image.
The clock tower began to ring three times. On the southwest corner of Justin Herman Plaza, 30 Sheriff’s officers in full riot gear gathered outside of a local coffee shop. At this point people were everywhere and even as word seemed to spread that the torch and it’s closing ceremony were not going to be at the Embarcadero as planned, the streets began to bleed protesters. Many of who were angry and frustrated with the city’s lack of finesse. "I am very upset," said Rosie Salis, 51, who came in from Foster City to see the relay. "There were lots of people here with their kids. They had to wait for four or five hours, and it's very disappointing."
At 3:26 the Sheriff’s officers mobilized and boarded their police-specialized SUV’s and drove around the block to the Embarcadero. They got out of their vehicles and lined up just south of the Ferry building. The crowd at this point was beginning to thin out. All that the riot officers had to do was show force, which they did tremendously well. The entire Embarcadero was completely shut down and Market street, San Francisco’s main artery, was bleeding uncontrollably.
Many refused to comment or take questions, however Matt D. did speak. When asked if he though San Francisco was the right city in North America for the torch relay, Matt said, “probably not.”
The protestors thinned out more as many actually started to believe the torch wasn’t going to come. People were flat outraged at the city’s decision and Mayor Newsom’s last minute route change idea. "The city of San Francisco, from a global perspective, will be applauded," Peter Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee said. If only the city could applaud itself.
By 4:06 the torch, unknown at the time to me or anyone else at Justin Herman Plaza, was driving into the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport. At this time I decided to leave, feeling that I had failed, but that at least I wasn’t the only one who did. Also feeling angered, frustrated, pissed-off, and deceived, I could only think about Noella’s cat, Riki, when I saw a middle-aged Asian woman leaning against a light post with a sign, “Chinese pet food killed my cat.”
The Olympic torch was to be relayed down the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Warf and back to the Embarcadero for a closing ceremony. It wasn’t and San Francisco was duped. Yesterday, the SF Chronicle printed a route map of the Olympic torch relay - a newspaper that is read by thousands upon thousands of people a day. Because of too many protesters at Justin Herman Plaza up against the Ferry Building, the route of the torch relay – the only one to be held in North America – was altered. "We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route," Mayor Gavin Newsom said. "I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch. You saw that in the streets. They were not denied the ability to protest."
However, people were denied the ability of a meaningful protest. "If we had started down that (original) route, I guarantee you would have seen helmet-clad officers with batons pushing back protesters," San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong said. As the torch relay began at McCovey Cove, pro-Tibet protesters surrounded the runners, and as a result, the convoy consisting of Sheriff’s officers, SFPD officers, FBI, ATF, and SFFD rolled to Van Ness street and continued a quieter protest-free Olympic torch relay. Although some protesters did catch up with the runners, the relay was not thwarted aside from the altered route. A route, which eventually ended at the north end of 19th Ave. before the convoy was driven to San Francisco International Airport where a small closing ceremony near the international terminal closed off from protesters and the media.
I was working in the morning at the SF State library. I got off work at 12:00 p.m. and headed to West Portal Muni Station to catch a train Embarcadero Station. It was 12:40 p.m. as I boarded the L Taraval line. The train was packed with everyone one from young to old and clustering ethnicities. Some had flags, other signs – both Free Tibet and Pro Chinese.
After an underground train ride that took about 45 minutes from the normal 10, I had arrived at Embarcadero Station. A sign caught my eye right away that read, “Stop Tibetan Holocaust.” This however would not be the last sign of interest. Facing the Ferry building, the SFPD has sectioned off the center of Justin Herman Plaza off by metal barriers, I worked by way over to the left where the news vans were and tried to gain some more knowledge of where the torch was since I had arrived late. No one was talking. And if they were, they had no idea what was going on. It has just turned 1:30 p.m. as the clock tower on the Ferry building sounded off it’s bells.
I worked my way over to the other side of the Embarcadero (the Ferry building side). Right as I did this, a fleet of news helicopters strafed overhead toward the northwestern end of the peninsula. However the police helicopters stayed watchful in the sky hovering over the multitude of protesters. In retrospect the news helicopters knew where the torch really was, I just wish I had that kind of cool job and eye-in-the-sky advantage.
Justin Herman Plaza was peacefully divided down to the center of the street, having the pro-Tibet protesters on the Financial District side of the Embarcadero having Market street as their delta, and conversely, the pro-Chinese protesters nestled up against the Ferry building across the SFPD barricaded center plaza. Now that I was on the Chinese side of the barricaded plaza, I finally saw the clashes between the two. Even though the protesters were peacefully divided, their confrontations were not – most of them occurring on the Chinese side of the Embarcadero. A sign that read, “would we allow Nazi Germany to host the Olympic games,” brought out a lot outcries from the pro Chinese protesters.
Towards the North side of Justin Herman Plaza was the iconic man with a microphone attached to a bullhorn screaming, “Free Tibet Now” and “Shame on China.” His gathering consisted early on of about 20 protesters – that number grew well over 100 within 30 minutes. It was now 2:06 p.m. when the riot police at the north end of the plaza started emerging in more numbers. The front line of the Riot police attire consisted of the usual riot helmets accompanied with 3-foot-long nightsticks attached at the hip. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the riot police’s front line Chinese officers who were forced to hear, “Shame on China” and “China lies.” Given the last names of the officers, six out of the seven front line officers where Chinese.
All at once, people started heading west and word spread that the torch was now on Van Ness street heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The protesters mobilized and marched forth. A woman passed me by with a sign, “reject China’s propaganda torch!” While walking with some of the protesters, I stopped at Drumm and Washington streets where officer R. Escobar said, “roughly over 600” SFPD were out in force to control the chaos. Another sign, “San Francisco is not Paris.”
I retreated back to the Ferry building and awaited further updates as to where the torch might be heading. Since the police had still barricaded the center of Justin Herman Plaza, it was very plausible that the torch would return there for a closing ceremony. I met up with some other journalists from SF State who were also covering the bullshit. At the end of our conversation we concluded that the city of San Francisco had deceived its public in order to circumvent tarnishing its image.
The clock tower began to ring three times. On the southwest corner of Justin Herman Plaza, 30 Sheriff’s officers in full riot gear gathered outside of a local coffee shop. At this point people were everywhere and even as word seemed to spread that the torch and it’s closing ceremony were not going to be at the Embarcadero as planned, the streets began to bleed protesters. Many of who were angry and frustrated with the city’s lack of finesse. "I am very upset," said Rosie Salis, 51, who came in from Foster City to see the relay. "There were lots of people here with their kids. They had to wait for four or five hours, and it's very disappointing."
At 3:26 the Sheriff’s officers mobilized and boarded their police-specialized SUV’s and drove around the block to the Embarcadero. They got out of their vehicles and lined up just south of the Ferry building. The crowd at this point was beginning to thin out. All that the riot officers had to do was show force, which they did tremendously well. The entire Embarcadero was completely shut down and Market street, San Francisco’s main artery, was bleeding uncontrollably.
Many refused to comment or take questions, however Matt D. did speak. When asked if he though San Francisco was the right city in North America for the torch relay, Matt said, “probably not.”
The protestors thinned out more as many actually started to believe the torch wasn’t going to come. People were flat outraged at the city’s decision and Mayor Newsom’s last minute route change idea. "The city of San Francisco, from a global perspective, will be applauded," Peter Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee said. If only the city could applaud itself.
By 4:06 the torch, unknown at the time to me or anyone else at Justin Herman Plaza, was driving into the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport. At this time I decided to leave, feeling that I had failed, but that at least I wasn’t the only one who did. Also feeling angered, frustrated, pissed-off, and deceived, I could only think about Noella’s cat, Riki, when I saw a middle-aged Asian woman leaning against a light post with a sign, “Chinese pet food killed my cat.”
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