Uptown Almanac

As promised, the officers of SFPD Park Station have begun a targeted campaign against cyclists who use popular bike routes like The Wiggle and the Panhandle. The campaign seeks to ticket cyclists who treat stop signs as yield signs, a practice commonly known as the “Idaho Stop.” In response to the police crackdown, a group of cyclists plans tonight to shut down The Wiggle for the second time.

Much like with the first “stop-in,” tonight’s protesters hope to demonstrate the effect on traffic of having every cyclist come to a full and complete stop at stop signs along the route. By fully complying with the Park Station’s demands, cyclists hope to show how absurd they are.

When SFPD Park Station Captain John Sanford announced plans this past July to increase ticketing of cyclists and pedestrians, he was quickly accused of intentionally misconstruing enforcement guidelines that had originally been intended to support pedestrian and cyclist safety. A community organization known as The Wigg Party staged a July 29th “stop-in” on The Wiggle in response to the announcement.

Tonight’s stop-in, which is not being organized by The Wigg Party, starts at 5pm. The ride begins at Duboce Park, and ends at the Park Station. The arrival of cyclists at the station is timed to coincide with the station’s 6pm monthly community meeting.

Tonight is the final performance of Life In Trouble, a new piece that opened at PianoFight this week. The show, which blends comedy, video, and dance, is the creation of choreographer Btroubles and features members of sketch comedy group Mission CTRL. From the press release:

The show tracks the changes we’ve all seen in the Bay Area, and the nation, over the last twenty year: rising rents, changing neighborhoods, and racial tensions with police. […] “Life in Trouble is the show I’ve always wanted to create and the most personal show I’ve written to date”, says creator and choreographer, Btroubles. “Its life imitating art and art imitating life. I wanted the show to be full of humor, fun, empathy, depth, compassion, and every other human emotion. It’s also carefully crafted to play out like a really dope classic record, heavily music driven with a lot of soul.”

The show, which has pretty much the greatest flyer imaginable, closes tonight. You can get tickets here.

Tonight’s Open Late on Larkin, the monthly first-Thursday Tenderloin art party, is focused on a gallery show at Fleet Wood. Beer from Pine Street Brewery is flowing from the (donation) bar, and DJ Mrk Mrk Mrk is spinning records.

The event celebrates artists and businesses located on Larkin Street in the Tenderloin and kicks off at 6pm tonight. It goes until “late.”

[Photo: Fleet Wood]

The announcement late last month that The Dark Room Theater would close at the end of August came as an unwelcome surprise to many. The tiny theater on Mission Street was home to live comedy, theater, and Bad Movie Night (among many other things). 

In a just-released interview on Born Ready, a podcast discussing San Francisco theater and comedy, The Dark Room Theater founder Jim Fourniadis goes into detail about what forced the closing of the venue—and how it has nothing to do with their landlord wanting more money for the space. Instead, Fourniadas explains that he and several other artists are living in the commercially-zoned building, and that someone called the city to complain about the situation. 

“Well I can actually turn all the cards over now and just give you guys the whole story, because we’ve always played the cards pretty close to the chest. We’re basically living and working in the same space—commercial space. And like so many live/work spaces that were questionably zoned, blah blah blah, we just kind of persevered and hoped that no one would bother us. And it worked that way for about twelve years. […]

“So what ended up happening is, some nozzle just decided that they were going to rat us out to the city. Someone called in an anonymous complaint. And I don’t know who they are, because it was an anonymous complaint. And I don’t know why they would do it. I’ve tried to rack my brain and figure did I piss somebody off really bad? And the answer is ‘no, I don’t think so.’ My feeling is that it was probably just somebody, some new arrival to the city who just thought ‘those guys are making noise.’”

That a noise-averse new arrival possibly led to the closure of The Dark Room Theater is upsetting, but not surprising. New arrivals complaining about sound from performance venues or bars has a long history in the Mission. However, the fact that this time around the venue in question is a theater—and not a club or bar—is a bit startling.

And while the entire interview is worth a listen, the below excerpted bit is especially frustrating and worthy of attention:

Host Rob Ready: Do you think, Jim, that The Dark Room closing is at all a barometer or bellwether for indie arts in San Francisco?

Jim Fourniadis: That’s tricky, because like I said I don’t think we were closed by a developer. I don’t think we were closed—I mean, our landlord is a great guy. He’s always been very on board with us, and I don’t think it’s a matter of market pressure in the sense that they were trying to get us out our space so they could, you know, put in another like, you know, fusion-noodle place. […]

I think it was really more of a matter of fact of the changing demographics of the neighborhood. And I think the person who probably called up and ratted us out, probably just… One of my biggest problems with people like this is they’ll come to a place and they’ll get a good deal because they’ve moved into place like the Tenderloin or the Mission or something like that, and then suddenly they’ve forgotten that they got a good deal because of where they are. They start complaining that it isn’t where they want to be. And it’s just like, you know, hey motherfucker, you want a quiet neighborhood? Pay a little extra money and go live in a quiet neighborhood. Don’t move into a noisy neighborhood where everybody’s having fun doing what they’re doing and then just start complaining about things.

Back in the suburbs I remember they used to do this thing where, you know, they used to cut off the street in the middle and make it a cul-de-sac because there was too much traffic coming through. But it’s like, when you moved in you knew that there was traffic coming through. But now it’s like, it doesn’t matter everyone else has to get from point A to point B, what matters is that “these cars are whizzing by my yard.”  It’s just like, hey, you know what? There’s a lot of cul-de-sacs already—GO MOVE. You know? And I think a lot of people are coming in and they’re like “oh this is a hip, funky, neat neighborhood—the Mission—I’ve heard all about. It’s kinda neat. But now that I’m here…well, isn’t it kinda a little noisy at night?” […]

I’m sure this person, who did this to us, has absolutely no fucking idea how much they’ve disrupted my life, and all the other lives of the people there. And how much they’ve taken away this resource for both the audience and the artists. I’m sure they have no clue how they fucked up this shit with their little phone call. And I think that’s what up ended closing us. It wasn’t really a market pressure, it was really just changing demographics of the neighborhood.

The Dark Room Theater’s farewell show is going to be staged reading of an original script based on the Adam West Batman television show. It takes place on August 22nd, and you can buy tickets here and tickets are donation only, at the door.

[Photo: The Dark Room Theater]