— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
The New York Times reported last week that Sit/Lie, which was marketed as a measure to clean up Haight St. and improve business, has actually harmed Haight commerce:
The antivagrancy measure, which passed with 53 percent of the vote in November, has yet to be enforced in a significant way. The police began issuing citations only last month.But the Haight has already felt the impact. Many believe that months of relentless, negative news coverage that painted the neighborhood as a war zone where gangs of young street thugs preyed on innocent pedestrians was a public relations debacle.
“The publicity definitely hurt us,” said Jimmy Siegel, owner of Distractions, a Victorian steampunk clothing and head shop, which has operated on Haight Street for 35 years. “My business went down $100,000 last year.”
Comments (21)
what’s the point of handing out a citation to a transient kid? it’s not like Trash (http://uptownalmanac.com/2010/11/haight-st-trash-witnesses-park-stabbing) is still camping on Haight.
the new Haight Street Market is really nice, and their business is hopping. maybe Goodfellas will close and we’ll get a store that people in the neighborhood can actually use.
The other reason the commerce might be down is that Upper Haight has become overrun with expensive boutiques and head shops. The neighborhood become a stereotype of its former self.
I miss the craft store, that place was fantastic.
Or maybe the economy really sucks. I don’t have disposable income to spend on a steampunk bong. I use a deformed and punched beer can. Like my parents in the great depression, I’m making do in the great recession.
The merchants on Haight Street did this to themselves.
Number one cheerleader for demonizing the sidewalks of the Haight and inciting panic:
Kent Uyhehara, owner of FTC Skateboarding and SFO Snowboarding.
“For Kent Uyehara, owner of FTC Skateboarding on the same block, the gangs of thugs are all too real. Just the other day, he was walking with his elderly mother and 10 intimidating youth with scary-looking dogs blocked the entire sidewalk and refused to move.
“Am I going to say something in that situation? Absolutely not,” Uyehara said. “It’s a fear of retaliation.”“
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-19/bay-area/24141638_1_poison-pill-st…
http://www.ftcsf.com/
http://sfosnow.com/store/
Kent Uyehara is happy to make MONEY by confusing his products and store with street art, grafitti, and films of skaters illegally skating throughout San Francisco. When it comes to his storefront though, he wants more laws that make criminals out of innocent people, just like his skateboarding customers.
Disgusting.
Boycott FTC Skateboarding, SFO Snowboarding and Kent Uyehara.
Do it For The City!
dude, you’re an idiot.
shut the fuck up, now. street art (which is gay), graffiti, and skateboards do not mobb up and intimidate when people are walking their moms down the street. who are you? fight me you little idealistic bitch
Threatening violence against people who threaten violence. Very creative!
street art is “Gay?”
You must be from the City of Tolerance! I salute you for your ironic use of the word “Gay.” When do you call someone a “fag?” When they remember something about SF they experienced that predates your birth in what, 1989?
Check this out macho douche:
Why does a tough guy like you need to run crying for a police man every time some Haight Street punk looks at you funny?
Can’t you just pretend he’s an idealistic little bitch and the sidewalk is your keyboard and screech “Fight me!!!” ?
Why do you need a sit-lie law to protect your delicate feelings if you’re so fucking tough?
Oh, I’ll bet you do a lot of fighting.
I mean, for air, because, you know, your head is up your ass.
economy sucks.. no one is going to tourist traps.. the end.
noncow, you don’t know shit. kent is doing us a favor. kent, ftc and sfo are more san francisco than any of those dirty little wannabe punk kids that harrass those of us who have lived or worked in the neighbourhood. if them pricks had some manners and actually respected the hood then we’d never have to deal with them like this.
Is there some kind of litmus test for finding out how “San Francisco” something is?
yea there is: contributing to local culture, paying taxes here, and being a part of the community instead of trolling on the internet like your punkass
Most ironic comment of all time award!
btw using 666 as your online handle makes you a royal badass. How’s life in junior high?
I just want to say this thread KILLS.
I guess in speed vomit’s book, the harder you work to destroy other people’s freedom the “more san francisco” you are.
That makes sense, actually. Just look at the anti-radiation nutjobs making it impossible to make a cell phone call. (Next time someone dies because a call to 911 didn’t go through, you should know who to thank.)
I read about the upper haight in “who cares about a neighborhood of pricey chain stores, nothing fun to do anymore, and a Fisherman’s Wharf-like tourist trap for boomers” magazine.
Seriously. WHO GIVES A FUCK. If the “punk kids” are such a problem, buy guns and fucking shoot a few, and watch how fast they return to East Jesus, USA or wherever they are from.
Not sure what Sit/Lie is but can say news reports of violent assaults in the area have kept me away. One article that detailed the beating/biting/attack on a Haight area resident and his girlfriend right in front of their home was especially troubling.
Sorry can*t remember the specific date or publication.
Probably time to go check out what’s happening again. After all the area has been a great place to shop, discover art and people watch for as long as I can remember. In fact it’s the interesting people/characters that are, in my opinion, a much bigger draw than simply the ability to buy a book or get a drink.
To over enforce in that area would be bad.
That was yet another incident distorted by people who wanted to pass the law that makes it a crime to sit on the sidewalk.
It started with a guy hosing down the sidewalk outside his home so people wouldn’t sit there.
He got into an argument with one of them and shouted, “Do you want a piece of me?”
There was a fight.
He did get bit while fighting, but the DA declined pressing charges because it was actually a case of “mutual combat”, and not a crime on either part.
http://www.baycitizen.org/columns/scott-james/violent-incident-leaves-sc…