Mission Mission

On Friday evening, a man tried to steal my phone on the 14, ripped it out of my hands and ran off the bus. In some fit of animal instinct, I ran after him off the bus, fought him, and got it back. I will spare you most of the details here, but if you want to read my full account of it, redirect yourself here.

Here some quick thoughts:

• Be vigilant, obviously. Keep aware of your surroundings, and avoid using your smartphone or tablet on public transportation, especially if you’re sitting near a door. I know that this is a big fat DOY but it’s also easy to forget.
• If you must use your device, look around you and take note of who is around you. I am not asking you to profile anyone. Just be aware and remember faces.
• If you see a person in distress, do something. I understand the impulse to ignore what is going on and not be nosy, to stay safe. But I am a 26-year-old woman barely over 100 pounds and I was screaming and fighting a man twice my size who had struck me in the face and thrown me to the ground, and between the 20 or so witnesses on the sidewalk and nearby, none intervened until it was over. Apparently, several people thought it was a domestic dispute, and thought, “wow, what an odd couple.” No.
• I am not implying that what I did was the smartest or best thing to do, but I had no time to think and adrenaline is one hell of a drug. This worked out in my favor, but it could have gone terribly wrong.
• If you are a victim of a crime, file a police report. If you are hurt, tell the paramedics and police everything. Shock can delay physical pain until later, and later might be too late for anyone to be held accountable. I was tempted to just get on with my day and get to whatever I was trying to go to, but I’m so glad I didn’t.
• I don’t care how much you resent the new “techies” moving into the neighborhood, but this kind of crime (or any other kind of crime) is not justified. I do not work at a startup or tech company (and it really shouldn’t matter if I did), and I certainly don’t have the paycheck or means to justify buying a new phone if mine was stolen.
• It is easy to forget that this neighborhood can still be a rough one, despite the price tag and all of the big white shuttles. Carry pepper spray, choose well-trafficked paths, don’t walk alone at night, etc. etc.

I don’t know what became of the mugger, and I’d like to think that my altercation with taught him a lesson and scared him enough to lay low for awhile (or, optimistically, to retire from mugging!), but the reality is that he is still out there and he may strike again. Stay safe, everyone.

This is a still from a Vine by our pal Jeff Seal, who will be doing seven minutes of standup at the Dark Room on Wednesday. Jeff is gonna be in town to attend a wedding, a wedding which is the theme of the following podcast. (Also, watch the Vine in its entirety after the jump.)

Discussed:

• Old 97’s
• Port Costa
• Friendster
• Red’s Java House
• Clump of fried false eyelashes
• Panko
• Swedish American Hall
• Mother’s Day
• Cafe du Nord
• Readyville
• Spotify/Pandora/AMI Internet Jukeboxes
• Comedian Jeff Seal
• Miming
• Clown school
• Vine
• Converse All-Stars
• Club Deluxe
• Comedian Sean Keane
• The Business
• The Dark Room/Balazo/Mission Records
• Haunted brothel
• Strippers
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
• Ghostbusters
• The Hi-Dive
• Ping pong/Ping Pong Gallery in the Dogpatch/Joey Piziali
• Non-alcoholic beers
• The Bay Bridge Lights and how long they’ll be there
• Warriors’ new arena
• “San Francisco Warriors”
• The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Burgers/cheeseburgers/fries at Red’s Java House
• Girls (band)
• Hot girls from Santa Rosa
• People from Florida
• Rent is too high
• Josh Yule
• Thee Oh Sees
• “Naked, Spitting, Pissing Dude”
• Butts
• The splits
• The Ferocious Few
• Unhinged woman in the park
• Quevanzhane Wallis
• Unfit mothers
• Child Protective Services
• Chris Brown
• The Mint
• The Tenderloin
• Podcasts

(more…)

Joe and Jill have been fixtures of the Mission art community for a while now, but sadly they are packing their bags and moving away to NYC. Of course, that means that now you can have all their stuff!

There’s art stuff, photography stuff, bike stuff, music stuff, clothing stuff, and all sorts of other stuff. Stop by and check it all out today at 2309 Bryant!

Reader Charles sends us this pic outside of El Metate/La Tiendita on 22nd at Bryant.

Fair Oaks is one of the prettiest streets in the Mission, and it has hosted the Fair Oaks Street Fair every spring for the past 37 years — just look at those rad ’70s spring outfits from one of the first ones! As per usual, it’ll be five blocks (21st to 26th) of neighborhood garage sales and food stands from 9am to 5pm, all benefiting local nonprofits (Jamestown Community Center’s youth programs, and the Fair Oaks Community Coalition’s alley project).

Read on for more information and more cool old photos.

I guess I don’t hang out on Valencia much these days, or I’d just forgotten how well-trafficked it is. I had one happy hour drink sitting in the window at this bar (they make a cool thing where they put half a frozen margarita into half a glass of sangria btw), and we started seeing basically everyone we know. After the first six or seven, we started keeping a list:

1. Energetic entrepreneur trying to sell us a jacket through a closed, tinted window
2. My friend Stinky
3. DJ Primo
4. Luigi from Thieves Tavern
5. Leticia Huerta
6. Girl I recognized from someplace
7. My friends Allison and Neil*
8. My friend Lindsey*
9. DJ Primo again
10. Milo from St. Francis Fountain
11. Guy Lindsey recognized from someplace
12. Tall, longhaired bartender from Jack’s (RIP Jack’s)
13. Amit Gupta (of Photojojo)
14. Mandy Harper (of Wholesome Bakery)
15. Amit Gupta again
16. Helen Tseng (of The Bold Italic)
17. Ginger skater Lindsey knows
18. Primo AGAIN (2 Men Will Move You is this Saturday btw)
19. Tall guy from Boyz IV Men
20. Fake Nihar (not of Haçeteria)
21. Lindsey’s #1 longhair bike messenger crush
22. Some asshole on a motorized skateboard
23. Guy that works at Box Dog Bikes
24. Lil Stinky (Stinky’s younger brother)✓
25. Dave from Jess’s office (whose birthday it was, HAPPY BIRTHDAY)✓

It was a pretty fun game. Highly recommended.

*Pictured
✓Seen immediately after exiting, so it might not count

So I guess Schmidt’s is a good neighbor now? Or maybe they just wanted to enjoy the lovely view they’d been obscuring for a million years?

It’s tough to find an apartment anywhere in the city these days, let alone the Mission.  And it doesn’t help that landlords will come up with every euphemism in the book to try to trick you into thinking their place is better than it is (not that they even have to given the fact that they’ll probably get 200 emails an hour after they put it up anyway).  Fortunately, our pal Teddy has taken all of the mystery out of rental ads to show you what they really mean.

Check out the rest here!

[fake real estate billboard featuring 17 Reasons that I painted in 2007]

This came in to us today from Rick Holman, who says that he is concerned about misinformation spreading about what he intends to do with his property on the southeast corner of 17th and Mission:

Open letter to the Mission and San Francisco from the owner of 2102 Mission Street Neighbors:

I’m Rick Holman. I am a fifth-generation San Franciscan and I have recently purchased the Redlick Building at 2101-2125 Mission Street (you may know it as the 17 Reasons Building.). We’re pleased to own this well-known San Francisco building. We plan to maintain it as it is: bustling with unique, San Francisco and Mission-oriented businesses. However, I’ve been distressed by some rumors that are being spread. I’d like to set the record straight.

We have no intention to tear down the building, convert the building to lofts or condos, or otherwise change its fundamental character or use. Some have pointed to the soils testing currently underway as evidence that we’re about to convert the building to condos. The soil is being tested to better understand the Building’s significant seismic issues. We intend to address the issues once we fully understand them. We want the tenants and visitors to be safe when they’re in the Building. Also, there is no intention to build an underground parking structure. The Building sits on Mission Creek, making the construction of an underground parking garage at the site nearly impossible.

Let’s be clear: we didn’t buy the Redlick Building to leave it completely alone – that would be a disservice to our tenants. We are making positive changes. The Building was porous; there were many ways for unwelcome visitors to get inside. Locks and doors didn’t close correctly, and the parking lot gate was broken and would not close. So the faulty door has been fixed. The numerous broken locks have been replaced with locks that are the same as the ones on the Mission Street doors. We have distributed more than 70 new keys to our tenants, free of charge. The Building now has security personnel in the Building to discourage the unwelcome visitors. We’ve replaced over 100 burned-out lights in stairwells and hallways, cleaned the storefront windows and cleaned out drains. We have started the process of investing a significant amount of money in improving the Building elevators and HVAC system – money we want to spend to make this Building better.

We have heard we replaced the management of the Building. T and Aldo are still here, and Julio has joined the management crew. I am also here almost every day. There are now twice as many people in the Building to assist the tenants combining the old with new energy.

There are rumors that we are planning to evict all of our tenants. This is completely untrue. Let’s be clear: I have indeed initiated one eviction, for a group of people illegally occupying one of the units. (This is the first eviction process I have ever engaged in, by the way.) But we are already in conversation or negotiation with many of the other tenants regarding the extension of their leases and tenancies. The ground floor retail tenants, Thrift Town, Fabric Outlet and A&A Bargains, are important Mission District businesses. We hope that they remain tenants here for many years to come.

I regret that some have chosen to spread unfounded rumors about the future of the Redlick Building. However, we’re confident that the changes we’re making will provide a better, safer, and more positive experience for our tenants and visitors.

Thank you for taking the time to read this note.

Rick Holman Mission Street SF LLC

This seems like as good a time and place as any to ask Holman any legitimate questions or pose any concerns you have about the future of this building and the businesses it houses. As a longtime resident of the neighborhood I know that I am hopeful that he will indeed keep the current thriving businesses intact and agree with him that they are important to the fabric (pun unfortunately intended) of our neighborhood.