Posts Tagged ‘8th’
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Ah mem’ries from all the way back in aught-eight – let’s hear from Angelo ”Father of Rent Control” Sangiacomo from back in the day:
“Who the hell is building buildings today, 440 rentals in San Francisco, and paying all cash? With rents down there at $500 and $700?”
Now, what are the chances that hundreds of people will be renting $500 studios in a new building at Eight and Market anytime soon?
Absolute zero.
Oh well.
Oh, here it is, the old Trinity Plaza at Eighth and Market and its replacement, the new Trinity Place, just behind:
Click to expand
Speaking of which, the existing tenants of Trinity Plaza need to move out soon, you know, for the soon-to-come implosion of the old building, but what’s up with all of these cleaning demands coming from Management?
Let’s hear from a youthful tenant who’s losing his place:
“Now we get forms with detailed instructions on everything that needs to be cleaned before you move out. In my mind, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom / toilet / sinks / oven etc should be enough. There are some pretty weird demands in here considering this building is being demolished. Some examples:
All carpets must be vacuumed and shampooed
Wood or linoleum floors must be mopped, waxed or polished using appropriate cleaning products.
Clean sink(s). Hardware should be clean, free of water spots and shiny
Cabinets must be cleaned inside and out. Scrub fronts clean to remove fingerprints and food.
Clean baseboards and coving. Clean, mop and wax linoleum floors with appropriate cleaning products.”
I cry foul.
On It Goes…
Oh, and for the record, this is the Senator Carole Migden Law - it’s in effect statewide:
“If the tenant and landlord cannot reach an agreement on the amount of the security deposit returned, the tenant can file a lawsuit against the landlord for return of the security deposit. The tenant can sue for:
- The amount of the deposit, plus
- Twice the amount of the security deposit in damages. The judge may give the tenant these additional damages if the landlord retained the deposit in bad faith.
The tenant can sue the landlord in small claims, which is informal and inexpensive, as long as the total amount sued for is $10,000 or less. Click for more information on Small Claims.”
Tags: 2012, 8th, Angelo Sangiacomo, apartments, apt, bay area, california, Carole Migden, central market, civic center, deposit, eighth, Father of Rent Control, implosion, law, market, mid market, rent, San Francisco, Senator, Senator Carole Migden Law, street, studio, studios, tenants, trinity, trinity place, trinity plaza
Posted in housing | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
You know, after you been bitten hundreds of times by bedbugs, which, you know, are all over the place in San Francisco. Still.
Like at your hotel, dear Visitor.
Like, I don’t know, did the Hotel Whitcomb,change its name owing to some issue with bedbugs?
The old Ramada is now the new Whitcomb. But it’s still the same place:
Click to expand
Oh, here we go:
“Downtown Bedbug Attack Costs Ramada $71,000“
(I don’t know if I’d call this area “downtown,” but anywho, wow.)
Now, let’s hear from Kris Betz, Hotel Whitcomb Director of Operations, to get a (somewhat) canned response to a relatively recent allegation of infestation:
“19 July 2011
Dear Guest,
We are sorry for any discomfort that you may have experienced and we are very concerned about what happened. We want you to know that it is our highest priority to provide our guests with the cleanest rooms possible. We have a dedicated inspection team of trained staff that inspects all our rooms to ensure that these cases do not arise.
As you mentioned that you did not find any evidence, so it is possible you could have encountered them elsewhere. Please note that this incident has nothing to do with the cleanliness of our rooms. Please rest assured that this is not a reflection of our facilities cleanliness, as we take pride in providing excellent service and the cleanest accommodations, for all our guests.
Please feel free to contact me at your convenience so we may discuss any circumstances which may have occurred and please accept our sincerest apologies.
Kris Betz, Director of Operations”
I don’t know, man, I feel sorry for the Euros what stay at this place. They’re pretty much all gorgeous,* in-shape,* natural blond(e)s,* who just want to have fun in the 415, you know, they just want to pose for photos with big American police cars and fire trucks and stuff like that and what’s so wrong with that?
I feel sorry for them when they get shot and killed on Mason in Union Square or run over and killed by drunk drivers on Masonic or bitten 400 times by bedbugs during one stay.
I kind of feel that we’re letting these people down. I feel we’re shirking our obligations to our tourists.
If I were Director of Operations at Hotel Whitcomb, I would engage in total war with the bedbugs.
And I wouldn’t write “Dear Guest” letters what discuss possibilities and evidence.
Just saying.
*Unlike me.
Tags: 1231 market, 2012, 8th, bay area, bay citizen, bed, bed bugs, bedbugs, bites, bitten, bugs, california, civic center, Dear Guest, Director of Operations, europeans, euros, hotel, hotel whitcomb, hotel whitcombe, Katharine Mieszkowski, Kris Betz, lawsuit, letter, market, mid market, ramada plaza, registry, room, San Francisco, street, twitterloin, visitors, whit.com
Posted in crime, health | 3 Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2012
Famed restaurateur Gordon Ramsay is moving on from restaurants to hotels starting today – HOTEL HELL debuts tonight on the Fox.
Check it:
“If [hotels] suggest they will upgrade you to the honeymoon suite, don’t take it. I’m trying to be serious because it is somewhat shocking. I just didn’t think it could shoot that far. I’m talking about if you shake a can of Coke and open it.”
OK fine.
Actually, GR, I was thinking that bed bugs might belong at the top of the list.
Market Street, USA:
Click to expand
But, hey Gordo, are you going to come to the 415? We need you here.
Speaking of Market Street and bed bugs, here’s what the Hotel Whitcomb (renamed from Ramada Plaza not too long ago because of a massive lawsuit involving bed bugs and ballyhoo) will send out to you if you report dozens of bites on your porcelain skin:
“19 July 2011
Dear Guest,
We are sorry for any discomfort that you may have experienced and we are very concerned about what happened. We want you to know that it is our highest priority to provide our guests with the cleanest rooms possible. We have a dedicated inspection team of trained staff that inspects all our rooms to ensure that these cases do not arise.
As you mentioned that you did not find any evidence, so it is possible you could have encountered them elsewhere. Please note that this incident has nothing to do with the cleanliness of our rooms. Please rest assured that this is not a reflection of our facilities cleanliness, as we take pride in providing excellent service and the cleanest accommodations, for all our guests.
Please feel free to contact me at your convenience so we may discuss any circumstances which may have occurred and please accept our sincerest apologies.
Kris Betz, Director of Operations”
That’s how we roll in San Francisco’s corrupt Mid Market Twitterloin.
So sure, you’re covered in bites, but:
1. You probably got bitten somewhere else, not at Hotel Whitcomb!
2. Or maybe you’re just making things up, maybe you’re insane!
3. Or maybe you’re not insane but you’re a criminal who wants to shake us down for, I don’t know, another big fat $71,000 judgment / settlement!
4. Or maybe you did encounter bed bugs in one of our rooms, but probably you didn’t experience any discomfort, right? Kind of a no harm no foul kind of thing!
5. And, in any event, our rooms are clean. Did I mention that before? Our rooms are clean. Can I mention this fact four times in five sentences? YES I CAN!
Save us, Gordon Ramsay.
Tags: 1231 market, 2, 2012, 8th, bay area, bed, bed bugs, bedbugs, bites, bitten, bugs, california, channel, civic center, Dear Guest, Director of Operations, europeans, euros, fox, Gordon Ramsay, honeymoon, hotel, HOTEL HELL, hotel whitcomb, hotel whitcombe, Kris Betz, lawsuit, letter, market, market street, mid market, network, ramada plaza, registry, room, San Francisco, sperm, street, suite, twitterloin, visitors, whit.com
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, June 11th, 2012
Sixteen months ago:
“Prospective Twitter Landlord Gave Newsom Rent Deal“
Today:
“Here it is- the first run of the new “twitter line”. Guess how many people on board?! pic.twitter.com/YSezC2GF“
From the CalTrain Station to Twitter and back again
So the lesson is this: If you have influence with former Mayor Gavin Newsom and he thinks you can help him fulfill his dream of becoming President of these United States, then maybe you’ll get your own bus line.
Hurray.
Oh, and do you think that this M-F bus line will cost less to operate than it costs to employ just one MUNI employee?
I don’t. But that’s what MUNI is saying…
Tags: (BART), 2012, 5, 74x, 83, 83x, 8th, 9th, amy hollyfield, art, bay area, brannan, bus, cab, california, caltrain, civic center, culture, culture bus, cultureBus, DPT, ed lee, express, fulton, furniture, gavin newsom, gerry, Gerry Shih, landlord, market, mart, Mayor, mid market, mta, Muni, route, San Francisco, schedule, SFMTA, soma, south, street, taxi, terminal, twitter
Posted in transit | No Comments »
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Good-bye BODY MASTER USA / Auto City on Divisadero. (You can visit it now at its new location on Folsom Street.)
What you used to be able to enjoy just up the street from NoPA Restaurant and Popeye’s Chicken:
Click to expand
Oh well.
Tags: 1165 folsom, 2012, 7th, 834, 8th, art, auto, auto city, auto cuty, body, body master, BODY MASTER USA, divisadero, folsom, folson, graffiti, miving, nimby, NOPA, north of panhandle, paint, Popeye's Chicken:, repair, restaurant, shop, soma, street, usa, western addition, yard
Posted in art, cars | No Comments »
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Bring It On opened last night at SHN’s Orpheum Theatre.
You’ll have to see this crew flying high by January 7th, 2012.
Bring It On Company - Photo by: Michael Lamont
Oh, and look who was there, it’s the Oakland Raiderettes:
Via MsMelodyMills
…and the 49er’s Gold Rush:
Via SHNSF
Everybody had a great time.
See you there!
All the deets:
“BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL is the explosive new musical comedy that raises the stakes on over-the-top high school rivalries. Set against the world of competitive cheerleading, this powerhouse new show hilariously proves that winning isn’t everything when it means losing something – or someone – you really care about.
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL unites some of the freshest and funniest creative minds on Broadway, including Tony Award-winning writer Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q); Tony Award-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights); Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and lyricist Amanda Green (High Fidelity); Tony Award-winning orchestrator Alex Lacamoire (Wicked); and Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (In The Heights).
This new musical comedy combines an exciting fresh sound, gravity-defying choreography, and a thrilling story to create a show worth cheering for.
It’s “guaranteed to be everything you wished for, nothing like you expected, but exactly what you will love.” -AOL.com
Game On!
For more information on the show, click here.”
Tags: 2011, 49ers, 8th, bay area, Bring It On, cheer, cheerleader, cheerleaders, cheerleders, comedy, film, Gold Rush, hyde, market, mid market, movie, musical, Niners, Oakland, orpheum, play, raiderettes, raiders, San Francisco, shn, squad, street, team, tenderloin, theatre, tickets, twitterloin
Posted in theatre | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Sometimes, you’ll see three cars pulled over at the same time. It’s safe to say, “The Grace Period is Now Over.”
Now, what kind of person ignores the giant signs on inbound Market telling them to Turn Right Only?
The kind of person who has a greater tendency to lack a driver license or insurance or registration or registration hardcopy or registration decal. Oh well.
So, that’s life on the Streets of San Francisco these days.
This tike was not happy, that’s for sure:
Click to expand
What people tend to say to the SFPD is something like:
Well, how am I supposed to get to the Nordstrom?
The answer, involving the mention of Mission Street or Folsom, well that strikes our visitors as craaaaaazy.
So they conclude, if they hadn’t already, that it’s a hassle to drive about SoMA and Union Square and the FiDi.
Which it is.
And some of them vow to never come back.
Oh well.
Tags: 10th, 6th, 8th, bummer, car free market, car-free, cars, citation, commercial, cops, corvette, department, dept., DPT, financial, forced, grace, inbound, mandatory, market, market street, meter maids, motorcycle, mta, parking control officers, pco, pco's, peroiod, police, right, San Francisco, sfdpt, SFMTA, SFPD, shopper, shoppers, sixth, soma, stores, street, summer, taxis, tenderloin, ticket, tourists, traffic, trucks, union, union square, vehicles
Posted in cars | 2 Comments »
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
The poorly-designed intersection of Grove and Hyde, where traffic sometimes backs up to City Hall, sent the driver of this Land Rover Discovery over the edge.
See? He’s driving the wrong way. He felt that the drivers ahead of him weren’t being aggressive enough moving past the stop sign:
Click to expand
Oh well. (It’s true that the drivers ahead of him could have paid more attention, I s’pose.) The driver shaved about five minutes off of his trip so I guess that’s a small victory for him.
Anyway, the way to avoid this mess is to cut through the Great Parking Lot of Fulton (minding the peds, of course, the worst in the world hang out around here) to get on Hyde easily. Otherwise, you’ll be in this mess on Grove for ten minutes or whatever.
Happy driving!
Tags: 2011, 8th, bay area, california, cars, civic center, congestion, cyclists, disco, discovery, dpw, foot, grove, hyde, inbound, land rover, light, market, San Francisco, signal, soma, street, traffic, trafic
Posted in cars | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
So there I was out getting exercise by getting those Billy Elliot rush tickets at the Orpheum Theatre* and I noticed the new name for this old hotel.
See? I totally read that as Hotel Whit.Com, ’cause, you know, I’m not hooked up right:
Click to expand
But then I thought, oh, the Hotel Whitcomb, is that the place where they might have changed the name owing to some issue with bedbugs?
Oh, here we go:
“Downtown Bedbug Attack Costs Ramada $71,000“
(I don’t know if I’d call this area “downtown,” but anywho, wow.)
Now, let’s hear from Kris Betz, Hotel Whitcomb Director of Operations, to get a (somewhat) canned response to quite recent allegations of infestation:
“19 July 2011
Dear Guest,
We are sorry for any discomfort that you may have experienced and we are very concerned about what happened. We want you to know that it is our highest priority to provide our guests with the cleanest rooms possible. We have a dedicated inspection team of trained staff that inspects all our rooms to ensure that these cases do not arise.
As you mentioned that you did not find any evidence, so it is possible you could have encountered them elsewhere. Please note that this incident has nothing to do with the cleanliness of our rooms. Please rest assured that this is not a reflection of our facilities cleanliness, as we take pride in providing excellent service and the cleanest accommodations, for all our guests.
Please feel free to contact me at your convenience so we may discuss any circumstances which may have occurred and please accept our sincerest apologies.
Kris Betz, Director of Operations”
I don’t know, man, I feel sorry for the Euros what stay at this place. They’re pretty much all gorgeous,** in-shape,** natural blonds,** who just want to have fun in the 415, you know, they just want to pose for photos with big American police cars and fire trucks and what’s so wrong with that? I feel sorry for them when they get shot and killed on Mason in Union Square or run over and killed by drunk drivers on Masonic or bitten 400 times by bedbugs during one stay. I kind of feel that we’re letting these people down. I feel we’re shirking our obligations to our tourists.
If I were Director of Operations at Hotel Whitcomb, I would engage in total war with the bedbugs. And I wouldn’t write “Dear Guest” letters what discuss possibilities and evidence.
Just saying.
*Man, for $40 a pop, that’s the best live entertainment value in town, although I think it’s kind of random how good the rush ticket seats are – down in the Orchestra, up in the Mez, who knows. Now,you gotta show up two hours before the performance (at least two hours, and still there’s no guarantee that they won’t be sold out) so that’s your classical price discrimination in operation right there. Anyway, the fun ends August 21, 2011!
BILLY ELLIOT RUSH SEATS NOW AVAILABLE
30 tickets per performance will be offered at $40 per ticket.
- Available 2 hours prior to curtain
- CASH only
- Orpheum Theatre Box Office ONLY
- First come, First served
- 2 per person
**Unlike me.
Tags: 1231 market, 8th, bed, bed bugs, bedbugs, bites, bitten, bugs, civic center, Dear Guest, Director of Operations, europeans, euros, hotel, hotel whitcomb, hotel whitcombe, Kris Betz, lawsuit, letter, market, mid market, ramada plaza, registry, room, street, twitterloin, visitors, whit.com
Posted in health | 4 Comments »
Monday, August 8th, 2011
Yes. Yes it is a shame.
Just look at these poor wretches, queuing up for the big library to open.
Shouldn’t this place open at 9:00 AM instead, you know, on Sundays?
Click to expand
I think so.
Tags: 2011, 8th, bay area, books, branch, branches, california, civic center, crowd, doors, grove, hyde, internet, larkin, libraries, library, main, market, public, reading, San Francisco, sinday, street, sundays, wait, Waiting
Posted in books, paranormal | No Comments »
