San Francisco Beautiful

"Masks are required, and only one adult per household should be present to maximize space for children. Rec and Parks’ playground rules have always restricted adults from entering unless they are accompanying a child. There are capacity limits set for different types of play equipment, and some attractions such as slides and sandboxes have locations marked where it is safe for a kid or a household to wait their turn. No eating or drinking will be permitted, and toys shouldn’...t be shared between households. If others are present, or the capacity limits have been met, play time should be limited to 30 minutes or less. Despite the new restrictions, the playgrounds’ reopening provides a welcome diversion, especially in the Tenderloin, which has the highest density of children per capita in the city. The dense neighborhood, packed with transit and emergency response routes, struggled to attain any access to Slow Streets closures. Some neighborhoods saw full street closures just over one month after shelter-in-place was ordered, but the Tenderloin’s first partial street closure didn’t take effect until August. Meanwhile, tent-crowded sidewalks discouraged many families from spending time outdoors. Now the neighborhood can welcome kids back to Boeddeker Park and Helen Diller Civic Center playgrounds, as well as two smaller playgrounds that were under construction up until the shelter-in-place. https://hoodline.com//playgrounds-reopen-across-the-city-i

"Poet, performer and provocateur Ruth Weiss, 92, died on July 31 of natural causes at her Mendocino County home. She leaves behind a remarkable legacy in San Francisco's literary scene most notably the Beat movement, of which she is often referred to as the "mother." From the 1950s to the present day, Weiss wrote 23 books, directed films, created theatrical play and performed her unique hybrid of jazz and poetry across America and Europe. Herb Caen even dubbed her the "god...dess of the Beat Generation." A documentary about her life, "Ruth Weiss: The Beat Goddess," was completed last year and is currently touring the festival circuit. But Weiss herself wasn't enthusiastic about the moniker. "I don’t quite like the term Beat; bohemian would be more appropriate for me," Weiss once told Peter Maravelis, events director at City Lights Bookstore. She saw herself as part of a long tradition of bohemia and the burlesque. In 1952, after hearing about San Francisco’s majestic fog, Weiss hitchhiked her way to the city. She would make her home there for the next three decades, before moving in 1980 to redwood forest of Albion, California with her husband, Paul Blake. When Weiss first landed in the city, she rented a room at 1010 Montgomery St., where Allen Ginsberg also later resided. She later moved to the Hotel Wentley on Polk Street, where Jack Kerouac would visit, and they would write back and forth to each other in haiku. Despite Weiss' deep involvement in the Beat scene, she never quite gained the notoriety of her male cohorts: Ginsberg, Kerouac, Gary Snyder and Michael McClure." https://hoodline.com//remembering-ruth-weiss-north-beach-p

Yahoo!! "After a four-month closure, the Japanese Tea Garden will reopen tomorrow, joining the nearby San Francisco Botanical Garden on the list of reopened public amenities in Golden Gate Park. The garden, which has remained closed since March 17, will open for up to 100 people at a time during restricted hours, every Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended.... Originally built as part of a model village for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exhibition, the tea garden is a showcase of traditional Japanese landscaping, architecture and design. The reopening will take place even as the garden's pagoda remains under scaffolding, as part of a $2 million restoration project. " https://hoodline.com//japanese-tea-garden-to-reopen-with-n

"While San Franciscans continue to shelter in place due to COVID-19, physically distanced outdoor events such as front porch performances and pickup truck concerts have emerged as ways for neighbors to continue seeing each other safely. Now, the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA) has a new one planned for Saturday, July 18: a collaborative event to create what they hope will be the world's longest hopscotch route. Dubbed "Hopscotch Your Block," NOPNA invites ...the local community out to help draw one continuous four mile long hopscotch course in a single day. (The current Guinness World Record for the longest hopscotch game is right around that length.) https://hoodline.com//hop-to-it-nopa-neighbors-to-attempt- See more

"After years of traveling to Potrero Hill or the Mission for groceries, residents of Dogpatch have much reason to rejoice: the neighborhood finally has its own grocery store. Tipster David G. wrote to Hoodline that Mainstay Markets (655 22nd Street) opened last week. "Everyone in the neighborhood here is very excited about it," he said. "It has been in need for such a long time." Still in its soft opening phase, the store is currently about 75% full, according to Grocery Director Frankie Hernandez. "We're leaving space in the store so that we can adjust based on customer feedback," he said. "This will enable us to bring in more items that the neighborhood wants." https://hoodline.com//after-long-wait-dogpatch-finally-get

"In a city with a vast visual iconography, cable cars stand out, as much a fixture as the Painted Lady Victorians or the Transamerica Pyramid. The Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason and California lines trundled each day from one historic landmark to another, cresting Nob Hill and delivering tourists to crooked Lombard Street or Ghirardelli Square. Every year a handful of gripmen and women compete in the annual bell-ringing contest. Cassandra Griffin fondly remembers the time she step...ped up to compete in 2016 the first woman to ever jockey for the coveted bell-ringing title. She wore black heels with her uniform. I was just so happy to leave my print there for my kids, Griffin said, recalling her soft, improvised melody that captivated onlookers, even though she didn’t win. Griffin grew up in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood, and has worked as a cable car conductor for 19 years. By Muni standards, she’s a seasoned veteran: it takes five or six years to build enough seniority to enter the cable car division. The symbolism of cable cars is so potent that at times they’ve become shorthand for San Francisco values. In 2017, the Powell-Hyde line appeared in a series of GOP-funded political ads in Georgia, which portrayed Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff as a tool of San Francisco liberals. They’re such a part of our culture, said John Konstin, co-owner of the old-timey Union Square restaurant John’s Grill, which sits a block and a half away from the Powell Street turntable. He has wistful memories of the cable cars despite their tragic history at the restaurant legend has it that one of the original co-owners, John Monaco, died after a cable car ran him over. That’s the way I want to go, quipped the restaurant’s longtime publicist, Lee Houskeeper, noting that only a true San Franciscan dies under the wheels of a rattling 9-mile-an-hour contraption. A crowd waits to board a cable car Sept. 23 at Powell and Market. With no way to protect the operator from passenger contact, the cars will remain idle during the pandemic. A crowd waits to board a cable car Sept. 23 at Powell and Market. With no way to protect the operator from passenger contact, the cars will remain idle during the pandemic. Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2019 Cable cars do emerge occasionally, leaving the barn at 1201 Mason St. for maintenance runs. Longtime gripman Rico Ellis said he’s sitting at home in the Ingleside waiting for the Powell-Hyde line to start running again. He worked on cable cars for 20 years and even started an R&B band with fellow operators. Ellis vividly remembers his last run in March, from Market Street to Union Square, up Nob Hill and down to Hyde and Beach streets. I’m ready to come back, he said.

"When the shelter-in-place mandate came down, Solinas who lives in the Mission District headed downtown to paint landmarks like the Salesforce Tower. But he quickly got bored. I wanted something more real," he said. "I connected with some African-American artists, and they told me that I should travel to the Bayview District to paint." The first place he visited was Sam Jordan's, the historic bar that closed last year after its owners became victims of predatory lending.... "I saw the 'for sale' sign and thought, 'Damn, what a shame,'" Solinas said. Inspired, he got out of his car, sat on the sidewalk and created what became the first in a series of paintings of Bayview businesses. " https://hoodline.com//artist-rico-salinas-paints-the-bayvi

"Earlier this month, It's Tops Coffee Shop closed its doors permanently. Owned by the Chapman family for 68 years, the Market Street diner was a longtime favorite for early-morning breakfasts and late-night revelry. Photos of the removal of its iconic neon sign led to an outpouring of grief on social media. Bruce and Sheila Chapman, who took over the diner in 1986 from their father, Richard, didn't comment on the closure at the time. But we were finally able to reach Bruce, ...who explained that like so many restaurants, It's Tops is a casualty of COVID-19. Like every other San Francisco restaurant, It's Tops closed its dining room on March 16 to comply with the city's shelter-in-place order. Even in the days leading up to the order, business was already down, Bruce said, noting that he'd had no customers on the Saturday prior. The diner has a long history, spanning 85 years. First opened in 1935, it was known as "The Top Cafe" or "The Minute Man's"; the name change to "It's Tops" came about a decade later, as did the addition of the soda fountain and the neon sign. In 1952, Richard Chapman, known as "Dick," purchased the diner, adding the vinyl booths and tabletop jukeboxes. The Chapman siblings grew up waiting tables and cleaning the space before buying it outright from their dad. While Bruce doesn't know what the future will hold for the It's Tops space, he says he felt responsible for taking care of the sign. "I didn't want to leave it there," he explained, noting the potential risk of the unattended neon which is 18 feet tall, five feet wide, and weighs close to 900 pounds falling on a passerby. After it was removed by cranes last month, the sign was dismantled and stored in a safe place. Bruce plans to mount parts of it in his own house down the line."

"Now, San Francisco has its own "Black Lives Matter" street mural. This morning, over 100 Fillmore District residents and allies came out to paint the message on Fulton Street between Webster and Octavia streets. Like the D.C. installation, it appears in bright yellow block letters. The project is the brainchild of twin sisters Melonie and Melorra Green, who are the co-executive directors of the African American Art & Cultural Complex, and Tyra Fennell, of urban art nonprofit... Imprint City. Local artists Malik Seneferu and Andre Jones (a.k.a. Nattie Rebe) also contributed to the effort, intended to express solidarity with the ongoing nationwide movement fighting racism and police brutality. "Today is so special, because Black Lives Matter is coming to San Francisco, at the epicenter of the black community," Melorra Green told Hoodline. "The Fillmore, Bayview, Sunnydale all these communities are San Francisco. There are pioneers here who have paved the way for this community to thrive." https://hoodline.com//100-volunteers-paint-black-lives-mat

Looks like we are losing another old San Francisco friend...

"38 years ago, Jesse Fink founded the shop with his then-girlfriend (now-wife) Roberta. Now, the couple are ready to retire and pass on the business, which has been closed since the shelter-in-place order came down in March. The pandemic was a "knock on the door" for the couple, who've "spent more time together in the last two and a half months than we have in years," Fink said. "It was just time, after 38 years, to make a decision," said Fink, noting that he turned 67 last month. "It wasn't an easy decision, because obviously, I love Toy Boat. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions, and this was one of those difficult decisions."

Help inspire San Francisco with art!

"Castro vitamin and supplement store Active Nutrition (2275 Market St.) has closed permanently after 20 years in business. Tipster Rich V. informed us of the closure, noting that the business had been open as an essential retailer during the shelter-in-place before shutting down earlier this week. Active Nutrition's owner, Phillip Rennick, confirmed the closure to Hoodline, as well as in a letter to customers on Facebook.... "Things were looking bad pre-COVID; it was just the final nail in the coffin," Rennick told Hoodline. "It was a nice 20-year run."

"A decade after its original debut, the "Haight Street Rat" has entered a new, socially responsible phase of its life. Originally painted by famed graffiti artist Banksy on a 2010 jaunt around San Francisco, the rat now wears a blue surgical mask, in a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic. The artist who contributed to the update is unknown, but the rat's origins are well-documented.... Painted on the eastern elevation of the Red Victorian then a landmark bed and breakfast, now a collective living space the rat appeared overnight back in April 2010. It originally held a marker, alongside the words "This is where I draw the line." Sami Sunchild, the then-owner of the Red Vic, gave art collector Brian Grief permission to cut the installation off the building in 2012. It became part of a traveling Banksy exhibition, touring galleries in locales as far-flung as Miami. Grief offered the piece as a donation to SFMOMA, but the museum declined to take it without approval from Banksy. The painting's removal, and the thorny landscape around street art, ownership and artist approval, ultimately became the subject of a 2017 documentary, "Saving Banksy." Sometime in 2017 also apparently overnight the rat was reinstalled by an unknown artist or artists, in an extremely close approximation of the original work. Is the mask the work of the same group? As with Banksy's identity, we may never know. But if you know who's behind it, send us a tip."