• NOPNANews

    nopna.org A Publication of the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association

    Summer 2022

    NOPNA

    BLOCK

    PARTY

    2022

    (continued on page 3)

    2 | NOPNANews

    FROM THE BOARD

    CELEBRATING NOPA

    After two very long years off due to COVID-19,

    NOPNA reignited the Annual Block Party on Saturday,

    July 16th! It was a beautiful day, packed with activities on

    Lyon Street between Grove and Fulton. There were

    attractions for kids and adults, great live music from

    local bands, and even some special “celebrity” guests.

    Leela Gill

    NOPNA Board Member

    Kids delighted bouncing all day in the Big Castle bounce house, got their

    faces painted, and contributed to a collaborative chalk mural in the middle

    of Lyon Street facilitated by local artist Sasha. Throughout the day, kids and

    adults were treated to a variety of music from four bands: The Sunblock

    Boys, The Band Ice Cream, The Undercurrent, and Fonsie.

    Local elected officials were also sighted that Saturday: newly appointed

    District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and State Senator Scott Weiner both mixed

    and mingled with the crowd, listening to neighbors and trading ideas.

    All these festivities are only possible with the generous support of our

    sponsors. As a Platinum sponsor, BASA (Bay Area Safe Alternatives) hosted

    a booth that was busy throughout the day. BASA is a dispensary which

    prides itself on being a compassion-based enterprise that supplies top-of-

    the-line products. Gold sponsors included long-time NOPNA supporters:

    Indigo Group Real Estate (Mollie Poe and Declan Hickey) and City Real

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    The NOPNA News is published by the

    North of Panhandle Neighborhood

    Association for the residents, businesses,

    and friends of our neighborhood, which

    is bounded by Masonic Avenue and Turk,

    Divisadero and Fell Streets.

    PUBLISHER

    NOPNA Board of Directors

    EDITOR IN CHIEF

    Jason Cauthen

    jason@nopna.org

    EDITOR

    Emeline Minor

    COPY EDITORS

    Robin Kutner,

    Nathan Lovejoy

    LAYOUT AND GRAPHIC DESIGN

    Brenda Drake Lesch

    DISTRIBUTION

    Will Valentine

    PRINTING

    Image Printing, San Francisco

    NOPNA’s Mission: The purpose of

    this association shall be to estab-

    lish neighborhood unity, maintain

    multi-ethnic and multi-cultural

    diversity, foster a sense of neigh-

    borhood pride, promote a safe and

    clean community, and improve the

    quality of life for all residents of

    the neighborhood.

    Your financial support allows NOPNA

    to cover the costs of our newsletters,

    community building events like

    our block party and holiday party,

    public art projects in the neighbor-

    hood, and other activities that enrich

    our dynamic neighborhood.

    It also supports this site.

    https://www.nopna.org/get-involved

    Make a difference on our streets and

    become a member today!

    Contact NOPNA

    board@nopna.org

    www.nopna.org

    issue 1 : 2022 | 3

    WHAT HAVE

    WE VOICED

    IN THE RECENT

    ELECTIONS?

    Do you sometimes feel like campaign

    season never ends? In 2022, we had

    elections in February, April, and June. Our next

    one is in November. There was also the curious

    (and soundly thrashed) 2021 effort to recall

    Governor Gavin Newsom.

    In February, three SFUSD board members were

    up for recall. All three recall efforts succeeded with

    city-wide approval for the recall at 76%. The NOPA

    neighborhood was only slightly more forgiving and

    still voted to recall all three members at 63%.

    In April, our neighborhood voted to elect Matt

    Haney rather than David Campos to fill state

    Assembly District 17 with 63% support for Haney,

    almost identical to the SFUSD recall vote.

    Two high-profile local propositions in June were

    Propositions A (SFMTA funding) and H (District

    Attorney recall). Despite support from the Mayor

    and all Supervisors, Prop A fell barely short of the

    2/3 majority required of bond votes. We NOPA

    residents were more supportive of additional MUNI

    funding, and supported it at a rate of 79%.

    Proposition H was the nationally discussed

    proposal to recall Chesa Boudin, the District

    Attorney who entered office in 2020. Citywide,

    Boudin was successfully recalled with 55% of voters

    in favor; our NOPA community had a different take

    with only 38% voting in favor of the recall.

    The NOPNA Board considers neighborhood

    voting records when we choose what to advocate

    for. Please vote in every election, no matter

    how hyperlocal! There’s one more election in

    November, in case you thought you were done for

    the year. Voting is a very important responsibility

    for society. Our voice is a privilege and it’s

    important in maintaining democracy to use our

    vote to express that voice. Get out the vote!

    Estate (David Cohen and John Dallas). Emporium contributed as

    a Silver sponsor and shared a variety of outdoor games for all to

    enjoy. Thank you also to Central Coffee, Bob’s Donuts, Souvla,

    and Sparky’s Balloons who each contributed in their own way

    to enhance the day. Finally, huge thanks to all who volunteered

    to help set up the event, monitor traffic, and clean up after

    the activities. We also want to thank the many neighbors who

    donated to NOPNA during the party.

    NOPNA is a 100% volunteer-run non-profit organization that

    relies on donations from its community to fund activities, such as

    the Annual Block Party, the Halloween Block

    Party, the Holiday Party, and the NOPNA News.

    We hope to see you at the next one!

    Best,

    Leela

    Sign up for our

    email newsletter!

    SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS

    PLATINUM

    Bay Area Safe

    Alternatives (BASA)

    GOLD

    Indigo Group Real Estate

    City Real Estate

    SILVER

    Emporium

    COMMUNITY

    CONTRIBUTORS

    Central Coffee

    Bob’s Donuts Souvla

    Sparky’s Balloons

    OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS: Brooke Bower, Cynthia

    Chapman, Garen Checkley, Doug Diboll, Jayasi Mehar, Jeff

    Liu-Leyco, M Rocket, Max Almaraz, Quang Duong, Rebecca

    Reis, Romil Bhardwaj, Sarah Otis, Steve Nuzzo, Taylor Carden,

    Vahini, Yifat Amir

    Leela Gill is married with two boys, is a NOPNA board member, and has been

    active in safety and community organizing in the neighborhood since 2000.

    Tim Hickey and his wife, Leah, have lived in

    the neighborhood since 2010 and can be seen with their son,

    Liam, biking and walking through the area.

    4 | NOPNANews

    CONTINUED FROM NOPNA NEWS SPRING 2022

    OUR HISTORY IS

    NO MYSTERY

    In my mission to learn more

    about the City College murals

    at Masonic and Hayes, I was

    introduced to Miranda Bergman

    and her long-time collaborator, Jane

    Norling. Miranda and Jane are founding

    members of the Haight Ashbury

    Muralists and the creative forces who

    have infused “The People’s Wall”1

    with color since the mid 1970s. To my

    delight, Miranda kindly suggested I

    swing by her residential workshop in

    an effort to jump-start the process of

    organizing her personal archives, a

    process Jane had recently completed

    for herself.

    American citizens. What I didn’t know

    — and what I was seeking to better

    understand — was the journey that

    brought the wall to life.

    I rang Miranda’s doorbell on a

    bright January afternoon and was

    warmly greeted by a fashionable

    septuagenarian with a timeless, down-

    to-earth vibe. She settled me into a

    nook in her cozy backyard workshop

    and left me alone with Triscuit the Cat

    and some underground jazz radio while

    she disappeared to retrieve her files.

    When she returned with a tall, unwieldy

    stack, I was thrilled, impressed, and

    more than slightly intimidated.

    At that point, I knew some high-

    One of the earliest documents,

    level facts about “Our History Is

    No Mystery,” the first of three

    murals painted at the site: funding

    was established through a federal

    bicentennial initiative and scenes

    depicted a “people’s history” of the

    United States that boldly confronted

    a number of uncomfortable realities

    such as the internment of Japanese-

    minutes from a Haight Ashbury

    Improvement Project meeting

    hosted at City Hall in the fall of 1974,

    unexpectedly brought a smile to

    my face. The arcane notes paint a

    familiar picture of interest groups and

    civil servants duking it out to finalize

    the allocation of public resources.

    Merchants, represented by the

    Improvement Project, believed the

    allocation of bicentennial funds

    for murals to be excessive. (If I’m

    connecting dots correctly with Tim

    Drescher’s2 account, they wanted

    to paint fire hydrants instead.) The

    Muralists, represented by Miranda,

    Jane, Arch Williams, and Thomas Kunz,

    were able to hold their ground by

    promising an endorsement letter from

    Supervisor Molinari. I silently celebrated

    the big-picture thinking and tenacity of

    the underdog artists and I continued

    sifting through files.

    In documents spanning throughout

    Miranda Bergman, one of the founding

    members of the Haight Ashbury Muralists.

    1975, I saw the Muralists continuing

    their crusade by conducting community

    outreach and building a broad base

    Top: Letter from Jane and Miranda, dated

    August 29,1975. Middle: Notice of the

    Public Hearing for All interested Artists.

    Bottom: About the mural.

    issue 1 : 2022 | 5

    12. Working people in San Francisco -

    women, men and children of many

    cultures creating their world.

    Scenes from Our History is No Mystery

    7. The Great Depression of 1934,

    1. Ohlone people, and their

    decimation by the Spanish

    Missions.

    picturing William Randolph Hearst

    Sr, who built his castle when

    millions were unemployed.

    2. Mexican American War, 1846

    - 1848: the U.S. seized a large

    portion of Northern Territories

    part of which became California.

    3. The Gold Rush, 1850s: showing

    the Chinese labor in the mines

    and the booming growth of S.F.

    4. Convention in 1850 to demand

    that public schools be open to

    black children.

    5. The Spanish American war of

    1898 and the US colonization of

    Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto

    Rico. Major shipbuilding for the

    war took place in San Francisco.

    6. 1906 earthquake and

    reconstruction.

    8. The San Francisco general strike

    of 1934.

    9. World War II, showing the

    detention in camps of Japanese

    Americans, and the large influx

    of African Americans to work in

    the Hunter’s Point shipyards.

    10. The sixties. Times of much

    social activism in San Francisco.

    Featuring a portrait of imprisoned

    leader of the Black liberation

    movement, George Jackson.

    11. Threatened destruction of the

    International Hotel. The Hotel

    was destroyed in 1979.

    of support for “Our History Is No

    Mystery.” A letter from City College

    indicates former Director Maxwell

    Gillette’s support for a mural on-site,

    a public hearing notice encourages

    all artists to get involved, an open

    house notice invites the public to

    review all submitted designs, and a

    “Who, What, Why” flyer outlines the

    Muralists’ motivations and intent. As I

    imagine the creation and distribution

    of these documents, composed with

    hand-rendered fonts and graphics, it

    becomes increasingly clear that “Our

    History Is No Mystery” was the result

    of a major, multi-faceted effort to

    engage the entire community in a

    collective work of art.

    In the fall of 1975, almost a year after

    surmounting the bureaucratic hurdles

    at City Hall, the mural evolved from

    concept to reality. Jane and Miranda

    submitted a sketch of Our History to

    City officials for review, accompanied

    by an inspiring vision statement:

    We are Jane Norling and Miranda

    Bergman. . . We chose the John

    Adams site because of our respect

    for a school that gives free quality

    education to all. It is an asset to our

    community and we want to help

    make it more beautiful . . . We feel

    that history is a key to understanding

    our times, and so we welcome an

    opportunity to present it in a visual

    form that can be seen by all, at any

    time . . . We hope you like it.

    And finally — in May of 1976, after

    an almost catastrophic bout of racially-

    motivated vandalism — the mural

    was completed and dedicated. An

    untitled sheet of paper with three typed

    paragraphs begins:

    We are happy to be having this

    celebration today because it is the

    birthday of Malcolm X. . .

    I smile again as I recognize Miranda’s

    opening lines in “The People’s Wall.”1

    It’s taken years for the Muralists to

    reach this celebratory milestone, and as

    the enormity of their life-long labor of

    love is beginning to sink in, I realize I’ve

    only scraped the surface of their efforts.

    I still have two massive file folders to

    work through and the winter sunlight

    is beginning to wane through the

    workshop window.

    TO BE CONTINUED

    1. Tim Drescher, 1994, San Francisco Murals:

    Community Creates Its Muse (Expanded

    Edition) Pogo Press

    2. “The People’s Wall,” produced by The

    Haight Ashbury Film Collective, can be

    viewed at

    Em Minor has lived in NOPA since 2018 and

    enjoys strolling through the Panhandle in the

    evenings with her husband John.

    49

    6 | NOPNANews

    by JD Jenkins

    FALLEN

    Crowds and clouds scudding by

    As if nothing happened

    Oak and Fell full

    Nose first and indifferent

    Standing here in Panhandle mud

    I live in a fallen Eucalyptus

    Sparrows flit in and out

    Mourning or rejoicing

    We’ll never know

    No one heard the night crack

    Tucked inside little apartments warm

    And dry, blue panels flickering

    Wind howling

    Coyotes cowering

    Pinched yips in the den

    Brought down by wind or falling fish

    Or the weight of starlight piercing

    The satin sack of night

    We’ll never really know

    Brought down by me by you

    Climbing to get a better view

    And leave us completely

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    Does it matter now?

    It would have continued falling

    Through the leaves of our sheets

    Into the places where we dreamt

    Rainbow skinned, not a drop of sap

    To stick us together

    No blood, no weight of one another

    Before the yellow tape

    Before the chain saws

    Before disintegration

    I want to see what the sparrows see

    I want to see what the crow saw

    From the top we never reached

    Reaching down I part the branches

    And there you are, complete

    With the last breath of Spring

    JD has lived and loved in San Francisco since 1988. A NOPA resident since

    2018, he feels it is the neighborhood that’s been waiting for him to arrive.

    LOVE, HONEY,

    BEES, AND

    MINDFULNESS

    I met Jeff

    MacMullen

    at the Lower

    Haight bar,

    Danny Coyle.

    Upon entering,

    I immediately

    recognized Jeff from

    his We Be Honey

    booth at the Sunday

    Divisadero Farmers’

    Market at the DMV.

    “Welcome to my

    office!” he said.

    Despite this

    office being a

    neighborhood bar,

    complete with the

    usual bar-stuff (beer,

    darts, football), it’s

    clear that Jeff is telling the truth: this is not only his regular

    after-work stop, but also his conference room and office.

    Jeff’s honey is featured prominently on Danny Coyle’s

    menu: Honey Lemonade is on the first page of Danny

    Coyle’s menu, as is a hot toddy with honey from Jeff’s

    local brand. Jeff speaks fondly of the bar, sharing how the

    owner and staff have been good to him while managing

    to remain open with outdoor seating throughout the

    pandemic. Community is important to Jeff: sharing with

    local people and bees.

    When the topic turns to bees and honey, Jeff’s demeanor

    completely changes. His eyes ignite with passion and

    reverence as he talks about bees, pollen, honey, nature,

    flavor, and mindfulness.

    The respect and wonder with which he speaks of nature

    and his work reveals that, to Jeff, honey production is a real

    vocation — a true calling, bordering on spiritual practice.

    At the risk of sounding overly-dramatic, I would go so far as

    to say that hives are Jeff’s temples. The words he uses —

    beautiful, brilliant, clever — are spoken with a demeanor that

    dances around from joy to delight, then to awe and wonder.

    issue 1 : 2022 | 7

    We talked about how honey flavor is often a surprise to be

    discovered, rather than a product to be controlled. “You’ve

    got to taste it to label it!” he says. For example, his prior

    week’s batch was flavored with accents of avocado and

    hints of sage and eucalyptus. And the terroir of another hive

    resulted in a lighter flavor, with subtle hints of wildflower.

    Terroir tĕr-wär’ (n): “the complete natural environment,

    usually referring to wine production, including soil &

    climate.” For honey, the terroir and the flavor is determined

    by what the bees are eating. This fall, Jeff’s looking forward

    to batches of fennel honey.

    Later, we walked to one of his hives, where we discussed

    topics ranging from hive dynamics to the agricultural

    regulations applicable to local beekeeping and I learned

    honey is antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral! We discussed

    hive construction and repair, the fact that bees can’t tolerate

    rhododendron, and Jeff’s standing offer to remove bee

    swarms from properties that don’t want them, or establish

    hives on properties that do. (Call him at 415-646-6585 if

    either applies to you.)

    A neighbor passed by on the sidewalk and, without

    even turning their head, shouted, “Don’t give away all your

    secrets, Jeff!” This served as more evidence that I was

    dealing with a real local artisan, something all communities

    should protect and treasure.

    I took one last sip of the honey lemonade and prepared

    to depart from the bar. Before calling it a night, I asked Jeff

    where readers can find him and his products. He is at the

    Civic Center Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays, Divisadero

    Farmers’ Market on Sundays, and soon to be at Kate’s Cafe.

    Crockett Dunn has been a NOPA resident since 2018 and enjoys biking

    through the park with his wife Natalie and 10 year old son

    8 | NOPNANews

    FAREWELL TO HEAVEN

    Before settling

    L to R: Hadi, Wafa

    and Yahya Salih

    in NOPA, the

    restaurant,

    previously called

    Yahya Cuisine,

    occupied many

    other locations.

    It was a

    moveable feast.

    They started

    downtown in

    1989, offering

    Middle Eastern

    mesquite-grilled

    kebabs with

    a California twist. Two years later,

    they moved to 9th Avenue in the

    Inner Sunset, where the restaurant

    operated side by side with their less

    formal deli. In 1997, Yahya decided

    to explore a new location at Geary

    and Montgomery, in the Financial

    District, again paired with a café.

    Other iterations have included a

    location at Van Ness and Union and

    even one in Burlingame.

    Finally, on July 4, 2009, they opened

    in their recent NOPA location. Its name

    was taken from that of their daughter,

    born in 2004: Jannah, meaning

    paradise, or heaven.

    Throughout its journey, the

    restaurant remained close to its roots,

    serving a highly sophisticated form

    of Middle Eastern cuisine based on

    ancient recipes of Mesopotamia

    and the family’s native Iraq. While

    some components of their menu,

    like hummus, tahini, and bulghur

    wheat, are staples of Middle Eastern

    cooking, the Salihs prepared them

    with special techniques. For example,

    they distinguished their dishes by

    combining tangy fruit sauces with

    vegetables, and grains with meat.

    Among their signature recipes were

    garbanzo-crust “pizza”; phyllo dough

    pockets stuffed with shredded chicken,

    rice, raisins, and almonds enhanced

    with cardamom-dried apricot sauce;

    and dolmas (grape leaf wraps) filled

    with meats, rice, and vegetables, and

    flavored with tamarind,

    allspice, and ginger.

    Wafa Salih, co-owner

    and manager of Jannah

    Restaurant at 1775 Fulton Street,

    looks around the spacious, high-

    ceilinged room with an expression

    both rueful and relieved. She and

    her husband, Yahya, have presided

    over this location for thirteen years,

    but now it is time for them to go.

    Sunday, May 22 was Jannah’s last day

    of operation.

    Those specialties didn’t

    catch on right away,

    though. On its first day

    at the downtown venue,

    recalls Yahya, just three

    people showed up. A few

    more trickled in over the

    next few weeks. It was

    touch-and-go until an

    enthusiastic San Francisco

    Chronicle review by food

    critic Patricia Unterman

    opened the floodgates

    and customers began

    lining up all along the

    street to get in. “That

    review changed my life,”

    recalls Yahya. “By 7 p.m.

    issue 1 : 2022 | 9

    on those evenings, not a scrap of food was left!” Since

    then, the restaurant has received rave reviews in many

    prestigious food and travel magazines.

    Like most dining establishments, Jannah navigated

    rough waters during COVID, mainly preparing takeaway

    packages. Over the past half-year, with the virus relatively

    contained, its in-person clientele started drifting back in.

    Their son, Hadi, helped handle the workload and managed

    the bar. Their dedication created generations of grateful,

    faithful patrons.

    The Salihs effusively thank all of these patrons, old and

    new, institutions as well as individuals. “Almost every

    department at the University of San Francisco has held

    a special dinner here to celebrate graduation,” exclaims

    Wafa proudly. Jannah has hosted innumerable parties, from

    weddings to memorial gatherings, for other groups.

    Despite their success, or perhaps because of it, the Salih

    family has begun to feel the inevitable wear and tear of so

    many years of hard work. Additionally, the general economic

    downturn has bitten a chunk out of their budget. Wafa has

    been postponing needed reconstructive knee surgery for

    years. Then, several months ago, they were informed that

    the building housing the restaurant had been purchased by

    a San Francisco-based property company, Andina Property

    LLC, which plans to remodel the entire structure. The

    company offered the family the option to continue operating

    Jannah in its current location, but at that point they decided

    that it was time to withdraw and take a break.

    The couple’s long-term plans are uncertain. Wafa says

    that they may decide to open a new restaurant eventually.

    It is difficult to imagine this creative, energetic team

    retiring to a sedentary life. For now, however, they are

    looking forward to a well-deserved period of rest and

    decompression. After 44 years of delighting San Francisco

    diners, that must seem like heaven.

    Suzanne Cowan is a long-time NOPA resident and former NOPNA

    News editor and Board Member

    10 | NOPNANews

    THE GENTLE GIANT

    OF THE PANHANDLE

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    Left, View

    of Mercy

    Terrace from

    the GGP

    panhandle,

    2022.

    Below, View

    to Southern

    Pacific

    Hospital’s

    west wing

    under con-

    struction

    from GGP

    panhandle,

    1910.

    Each Sunday as I walk along

    the path of the Panhandle

    toward the DMV parking lot for my

    weekly farmers’ market visit, I pass

    by the stunning beast of a building

    along Fell Street, spanning the entire

    city block between Lyon and Baker.

    Protected by the tall, ornate iron fence,

    I often see the same elderly gentleman

    sitting on the portico high above the

    street level atop the massive staircase

    at the center of the main structure.

    Nodding to him a “good day,” I find

    myself marveling at intricate details of

    this architectural masterpiece, including

    its gilded crosses, even though I have

    seen them hundreds of times.

    My curiosity finally got the better of

    me and I did a little laptop sleuthing

    to learn more about this building. The

    complex was originally built as the

    largest, nongovernmental hospital in

    the city for the Southern Pacific Railroad

    Company. Back in those days, railroad

    companies provided an early version

    of an employee healthcare plan. With

    a portion of earnings withheld from

    the workers, along with subsidies paid

    by the company, the railroad hospital

    provided a lower cost way to deal with

    the injuries common in the early railway

    industry.

    The purchase of the 2.5 acres of land

    on the northwest corner of Fell and

    Baker was one of the largest real estate

    deals in the immediate aftermath of the

    1906 earthquake. This plot of land was

    to be the new home for the Southern

    Pacific Hospital after the one it had

    only recently built in the Mission was

    destroyed in the big quake. So, in 1909,

    the neoclassical structure designed

    by Daniel J. Patterson rose up at the

    entrance of the panhandle of Golden

    Gate Park (see photo).

    It must have been healing to the

    patients at the time to look out from

    their hospital windows, perhaps from

    one of the 450 beds, to the trees of

    the Panhandle and residents from

    the neighborhood strolling along or

    resting on a bench in the park, just

    as we do today. Behind the main

    structure were the social hall, nurse’s

    quarters, and the powerhouse. The

    eastern annex was added in 1930.

    The Southern Pacific Hospital

    operated for over 50 years before

    transitioning to the Harkness

    Community Hospital in 1968

    which operated until 1974 when

    it closed due to financial woes.

    This magnificent pillar of the

    community then entered a decade

    of abandonment. Mercy Housing,

    the present tenant of this structure,

    revitalized this sleeping giant into

    a subsidized assisted living facility

    for seniors with the first occupants

    of the 158 residential units gaining

    possession through a lottery on

    September 6, 1983, for an average

    rate of $150 a month. The group

    of buildings along Hayes Street,

    including the powerhouse and nurses’

    quarters, were later converted into

    36 affordable housing units called

    Mercy Family Plaza. The Mercy

    Housing lease runs for 99 years to

    maintain this much needed affordable

    housing for seniors.

    So, the next time you pass by this

    gentle giant, wave to its residents

    high up on the front portico, or smile

    as you pass by the current front door

    on Baker Street with its proud

    moniker of Mercy Terrace.

    Mark Smolinksi is a medical epidemiologist

    and long-time NOPA resident, along with his

    Bombay and Bengal rescue cats

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    S

    THE PATH TO A SAFER

    AND MORE PLEASANT

    PANHANDLE CONTINUES

    Any stroll along the Panhandle

    multi-use path on the north side likely

    results in a noticeably less congested

    sojourn than it did prior to July 2020.

    This is a result of the Fell Street road

    diet: a quick-build safety project that

    reduced the surface highway from four

    vehicle travel lanes to three, improved

    crosswalk visibility and safety, and

    created a westbound protected

    bike lane. The effort has relieved

    congestion on the Panhandle multi-

    use path.

    The San Francisco Municipal

    Transportation Agency (SFMTA)

    collected speed and vehicle volume

    data along Fell Street before the

    project was implemented, 6 months

    after implementation, and again 12

    months after implementation. They

    found several positive safety and

    efficiency outcomes. Compared to

    the state of Fell Street pre-project,

    12 months after implementation there

    was a 6% reduction in vehicle speeds

    and a 31% shift of bicyclists off of the

    Panhandle multi-use path and onto

    the Fell Street bike lane. There is

    also a significant increase in the overall

    number of people using the Fell

    corridor: 12% more vehicles, ~65%

    more pedestrians, and ~40% more

    bicyclists.

    With these improvements to the

    westbound multi-use path, we are

    glad to share that, in December

    2021, the San Francisco County

    Transportation Authority approved

    funding to design and complete a

    similar project on Oak Street from

    Shrader to Baker. This side of the

    Panhandle will be more complicated

    than Fell: traffic signals along Oak do

    not consider bicyclist safety, whereas

    Fell already had bicycle-specific

    signals built into traffic signals at

    Baker, Masonic, and Shrader. With

    the upcoming quick-build project,

    we expect a further reduction of

    congestion and bicyclist speed on

    the Panhandle multi-use path. Finally,

    now that the JFK Promenade has

    been made permanent, there is an

    opportunity to improve safety and

    comfort of the Stanyan crossing

    between the Panhandle and Golden

    Gate Park.

    Oak, Fell, and Masonic are

    categorized as SFMTA “High Injury

    Corridors.” This is not a designation

    we are proud of, and therefore

    the Vision Zero Committee of the

    NOPNA Board continues to advocate

    to city agencies for drastic safety

    and livability improvements around

    our Panhandle. We look forward to

    collaborating with D5 Supervisor

    Preston on Oak Street, as he hopes

    to get the quick-build road diet in

    the ground by the end of 2022.

    Please contact robin@nopna.org

    if you’d like to learn more, share

    feedback, or get involved with the

    VZ team.

    Robin Kutner is the Corresponding Secretary on the NOPNA Board. She is extremely

    concerned about climate change and Vision Zero street safety and she makes transportation

    mode decisions accordingly.

    Tim Hickey and his wife, Leah, have lived in the neighborhood since 2010 and can be seen

    with their son, Liam, biking and walking through the area.

    issue 1 : 2022 | 11

    UPCOMING

    EVENTS

    Sunday Streets Western

    Addition: September 18 from

    11:00am - 4:00pm on Fillmore

    St, Fulton St and Baker St

    Brothers for Change Basketball

    Tournament: October 15th in

    the Panhandle Park

    Phoenix Day: Oct 16th from

    12:00-5:00pm on Lyon Street

    between Fulton and Grove

    NOPNA Virtual General Meet-

    ing: Third Thursday of even

    months. Next meeting: October

    20th, 2022 (check nopna.org for

    updates)

    Bark the Vote: October 22th at

    Alamo Square

    ASNA Alamo Scare: October

    30th at Alamo Square

    NOPA Halloween

    Extravaganza: October 31 from

    6:00 - 8:00pm on Grove Street

    (between Central & Baker)

    Farmers Market: Sundays

    9am–1pm at the DMV Parking

    Lot on Broderick & Fell

    Email us to get involved:

    board@nopna.org

    ‍ ‍