Posts Tagged ‘cars’
Friday, May 17th, 2013
I’ll tell you, I’m not exactly sure when the tow away signs went up for this year’s historic Bay to Breakers street party – maybe it was today.
No matter, hundreds of cars are going to get towed this Saturday and Sunday.
It’s going to be epic.
Here are the streets to not park your car upon.
Sometimes they give you a week’s notice, but not this year I don’t think.

Click to expand
Let’s review.
Before we can have this…

…or this…

From hard-working Steve Nguyen
…we’re going to have to have this:
(I remember it as if it were just two years ago…)
“The Great Tow of 2011:

One car gets away in the nick of time, but three others aren’t so lucky:

Ted and Al’s had like ten yellow tow trucks ready to go late Saturday night, in the driving rain. (Note how Bank of America is protecting its windows – the IndyBay crowd got to them, smashy smashy, about a year or so back, unrelated to Bay to Breakers.)

Now, speaking of prêt-à-porters, this is the main body, this is the largest array for the Golden Gate Park Panhandle:

And here’s the second-biggest grouping, along Masonic:

And there are some on the other side of Fell, typically in groups of six on some of the blocks.
But that’s it.
Not sure where B2B is hiding their 1000+ portable toilets claimed for 2011, at this point, just hours before the Kenyans take off on their winning runs.
Oh well.
And there’s no sign of the fencing neither, except for what they have every year.
We’ll see.
The Great Fence of B2B100 is supposed to have upon it either images of Christ hand-selected by P. Anschutz or photos of people who ran the race before white NIMBYs moved into the Western Addition. (You’ll have to tell me about it…). Anyway, here’s the baby fencing they have on scene already along with, and isn’t this cute, a message from San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers. Apparently, the cops can’t arrest for an open container in San Francisco…

And doesn’t this just break your heart – this Vespa scooter has been forgotten on the slopes of the famed Hayes Street Hill, the second highest point on the “racecourse.” Will Auto-Return charge $700 for its return?

Remember, Transit First.
All right, have a great Bay to Breakers 100!
Tags: $100, (First Sequence), 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, annual, anschutz, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, boycott, breakers, bud light, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dmv, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, free, fun and Buzzed, Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, hayes, Hayes street hill, highest point, highway patrol, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), ing, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, lot, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, paper, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, poster, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, San Francisco Natives, San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, SF, SFPD, sign, smell, smoove, spuds mckenzie, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
This shot shows the real steep block of northbound Masonic, just above Fulton.
Dude here uses the bizarrely-wide sidewalk, the way I and most other people do. Good times:

Click to expand
And you should too, that’s what I’m saying.
Now, going south on Masonic is different. You should stay on the street ’til the cross-street Turk (which has a higher speed limit than Masonic, go figure). Then you go onto the sidewalk for one block (taking care to avoid the illegally parked cars put there by area homeowners who actually own garages, go figure). Then at Golden Gate, you cross and wait for the light to turn red.
Then you have two whole blocks all to yourself, if only for a few moments
Thusly:

That’s How I Go Up Masonic, How I Come Down Masonic.
Tags: 2013, avenue, bay area, bicycle, bike, boulevard, california, cars, cyclist, down, light, masonic, red, safety, sidewalk, up
Posted in bikes | 6 Comments »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
These were the final two I saw after just passing three others ALL walking/jogging west to get to Trader Joe’s. This is my personal best, after all those years.
Oh yeah, I know all about the history of jaywalking and about Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Red Car and so forth. So what. How does that kind of stuff help us here? Answer: It doesn’t.
Moving on….

Click to expand
Here’s what I said about Trader Joes #100, a half-decade ago, on the old blog:
“Of course, everybody needs to be on the lookout for all the Frogger-like jaywalkers carrying their groceries across six lanes of parked and moving cars. (Somebody is going to get hit one of these days.)”
Now that got a bit of attention from TJ’s Corporate. (I know because I saw the logs indicating such.)
So what the reaction? Nothing, basically.
Stuff like this is what the TJ’s people spent their time on instead, it would appear.
Now this is what occurred last year. Actually, it’s the one-year anniversary of the death of 25-year-old Suzanne Monaco.*
Did the San Francisco Planning Department plan things well? No, obviously.
Is the SFMTA doing anything about this particular block? No. They have plans to put a whole lot of useless trees and a useless median south of Geary but they don’t seem to care about where TJ’s parkers park and where they walk.
Yes these jaywalkers are illegally crossing the street and yes they are 100% responsible for their deaths when they get killed but what can be done to prevent future deaths right here in this one location?
I don’t know, a parking garage, an enforcement action, a ban on parking on the east side of Masonic on that particular block of Masonic, a traffic signal and crosswalk, opening up Emerson Alley to allow shopper parking on the roof, you know, just throwing things out there.
This situation is one giant FAIL for SFGov.
You should all be ashamed, SFGov.
Srsly.
Leaving you with one reaction, from Jessica Levin:
“I saw the flower memorial outside Trader Joe’s, and if that is the spot where she crossed, then she must have had a death wish. That’s a busy high speed corridor in both directions and she crossed near a blind crest. She didn’t deserve to die, but if anyone gets the blame, unfortunately it is the pedestrian. I parked across Masonic exactly once (and I did jaywalk to get back to my car) but I was careful to cross at the crest where I could see traffic coming from quite a distance, and even then I was extremely nervous. That was two years ago, and I have never done it again.”
*Was she really carrying “an armful of groceries” while heading “west” back to the store? Probably not.
Tags: 2012, 2013, bags, bay area, california, cars, crosswalk, dead, died, emerson, Emerson Street, gavin newsom, geary, grocery, hit, idling, illegal, jaywalk, jaywalking, Laurel Heights, lights, lot, masonic, Mayor, nimby, park, parking, ped, pedestrian, pedestrians, Planning, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson Street, roof, San Francisco, SFPD, store, street, Suzanne Monaco, Traders Joe's, traffic, wOMAN
Posted in cars | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
You know what the architect of excessively-wide Octavia Boulevard says about it now? She says we built it too wide.
Anyway, at the time, former District Five Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi warned about the unintended effects of this brainchild of property-owning Hayes Valley millionaires.
One of the effects of gridlock on and around Octavia Boulevard is that it now makes sense for drivers to avoid Oak in the AM.
Thusly:

Click to expand
Is this a good thing?
I think not.
Tags: 2013, bay area, blvd., california, cars, fulton, hayes valley, octavia, octavia boulevard, San Francisco, SFMTA, street, traffic, western addition, wide
Posted in cars | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Oh, you are a sucker. Well, then be my guest – pay $48 for a number. And actually, and you’ll enjoy this, sucker, it’s already too late to get a good deal on registration for 2013. Prices be higher now.
Most people who aren’t professional runners don’t pay and here’s a good reason not to pay:
Your money goes directly to “Christian Billionaire” Philip Anschutz.
And then he takes your $$$$$ and uses it to, over the years, oppose the concept of evolution and fund anti-gay efforts.
(It’s funny that he even took an interest in this historic fun run and street party but he likes running so there y0u go.)
The reason that organizers won’t say how many “bandits” show up for the party is because they don’t want you to think that most people don’t pay.
But, IRL, most people don’t pay.
If you don’t believe me then take a NSFW look right here.
How many bibs do you see? Every year they say they will eject all these people and every year they don’t actually do it.
Now the San Francisco Nike Womens Marathon is different. You see, they give out coveted awards and people just can’t help themselves. And then stuff like this happens; “NO BIB NO BIB NO BIB!”
But B2B aint like that.
One difference this year will be a limit on the size of the bags you might carry.
It’s like the size of Fook Mi’s backpack, best I can imagine.

Click to expand
All right, have a great 2013 B2B.
And if you want to pay money to somebody, just take whatever your reg fee is and give it to Pride or whatever.
End Of Line.
Tags: (First Sequence), 101, 101st, 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98.5, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, ASNA, austin powers, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, bags, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, bib, bibless, Blue, body, bomb, boston, breakers, btob, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, BVNA, c. w., caffeine, california, can, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Christina Olague, Cigarettes, Cindy Carcamo, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, Cole Valley Improvement Association, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, CVIA, Dave Iverson, david perry, David Perry & Associates, david perry and associates, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, district 5, divisadero, Divisadero Merchants Association, divisidero, dj, DMA, dmv, dpa, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, ed sharpless, edelman, Edward Sharpless, ejected, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, fook mi, footrace, footstock, forum, foto, free, fukumi, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, HAIA, Haight Asbury Improvement Association, haight Ashbury, haight ashbury improvement association, Half, Half Marathon, hayes, Hayes street hill, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, highest point, highway patrol, hot dog, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), HVNA, ing, Inner Sunset Park Neighbors, ISPN, Jarie Bolander, jfk, jogger, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, kicked, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, kqed, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, LoHaMNA, lot, Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association, malt liquor, Mamitu Daska, map, marathon, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Michael Krasny, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nike, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nopna, north of panhandle neighborhood association, North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, nude, out, oxide, paint, panhandle, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, president, pressure cooker, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, release, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, run ed run, runner, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smell, smoove, spaceman, stolen, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, Supervisor, terrorism, terrosits, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, trough, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Well, at least for this particularly oddly-shaped piece of real estate on Main Street near Folsom, the answer was this many:

“Last in, first out.” Click to expand.
I don’t know if this lot in SoMA is still around. The photo was taken from the office of a billionaire who was quite solicitous owing to a project he wanted to kick off before he himself kicked off.
Here’s what I wrote a half decade back:
It might be a pain to park here, under the shadow of the new Infinity San Francisco towers, but at least you won’t get the boot, or get into a chain reaction accident, or get all messy. Of course, if you work for San Francisco Honda, then just park wherever - the sidewalk, for example.
Lastly, DO NOT PAY THIS MAN!“
Tags: 2013, bay area, boot, california, califronia, cars, denver, folsom, Honda, lot, market, park, parking, parking lot, San Francisco, scam, sidewalk, soma, south, vehicle
Posted in cars | No Comments »
Friday, April 19th, 2013
Here’s what happened on Central “Avenue” near Fell Street in the Western Addition NoPA all the way back in 2010.
And here’s the same block today, below.
So, somebody painted these parking T’s where there were none before and then somebody else came along three months later to blank them out with black paint and then, over the years, the black paint wore out leaving the still-visible, commercial-grade white T’s.

Click to expand
Why would the DPW / SFMTA do this?
To see how parkers would react?
To put in meters?
I don’t know.
Courage.
Tags: 2010, 2013, avenue, bay area, california, cars, central, central avenue, DPT, dpw, experiment, markers, mta, neighborhood, nimby, nimbys, NOPA, nopna, north of panhandle, paint, parking, San Francisco, secret, SFMTA, spray, street, t, t's, white
Posted in cars | No Comments »
Friday, April 19th, 2013
Golden Gate Park be getting all crowded these days on annual 420 Day, so why not head on down to Noe Valley and light up at 4:20 PM at 420 Day Street instead?
The neighbors will welcome you interloping potheads with open arms. I’m sure!
Actually, Noe Valley is the locus of NIMBY – it’s filled with asshole millionaire homeowners and concomitant neighbor feuding.
Here it is, 420 Day, or close enough. Check out the comically large Planning Commission NOTICE OF HEARING notice on the front gate and the comically small recycling bin out front. (No black garbage can? A point of pride, I’m sure)

Click to expand
Oh, here we go, here’s real 420 Day, not too far from the Haight Street McDonalds on Stanyan.
That’s not fog, that’s a cloud of exhaled Mary Jane:

An excellent capture from world-famous Broke-Ass Stuart.
All right, Happy 420 Day 2013!
Tags: 2013, 4-20, 420, 420 day, annual, ashbury, bay area, Broke-ass Stuart, buy, california, cars, cloud, cops, department, dept., drugs, golden gate park, gridlock, haight, hill, hippie hill, hippies, hippy, hippy hill, ima, image, legal, legalize, maruijuana, McDonalds, mj, nimby, noe, panhandle, park, parking, photo, police, pot, San Francisco, Saturday, sell, SF, SFPD, smoke, smoking, stanyan, street, sutro tower, teens, undercover, upper, Valley, Vapor Cloud, weed
Posted in health | No Comments »
Monday, April 8th, 2013
I didn’t take these photos, but I’ll tell you, I’ve seen a lot of corruption regarding free parking for SFGov employees in the SoMA area, so I believe them.
Here’s a photo essay with captions from Jim, who went on a walkabout yesterday.
Take a look:
“There are the People who pay up front to park in a lot, $25-$70. There are the people who feed meters but many of those wind up paying $72 to the City long after the last pitch. And there are those who play the system and possibly cheat and pay nothing for parking in a “red zone” with the help from “winking and nodding” SFMTA Parking Control Officers.
All these photos were taken within a 50 foot circle near 2nd & Townsend at 2:15 P.M. on Sunday April 7, 2013 during the Giants/St. Louis Baseball game.
1) Number 1 shows what the average slug must pay for parking for the Giant’s game at 2 in the afternoon, i.e. $70.
,
2) Number 2 shows a Handicapped placard vehicle getting free Giants game parking in the “red zone” of the SFFD at Second & Townsend. Handicapped placard holders may not park in “red zones.”

3) What appears to be several private vehicles of S.F. firefighters parked in the “red zone” claiming to be working by their Official Papers on the Dash. Is it mere code for “don’t ticket a fellow City employee?”




4) Several motorcycles getting ticketed (TC27, 219) for expired meters by the PCO who just drove by the “red zones” without seeing cause to stop.

5) Photo of SFFD Headquarters at 9:30 A.M., Sunday April 7, 2013 in case you think a lot of people work there on a Sunday.

Tags: 2 street, 2013, 2nd, baseball, bay area, business, california, card, cars, citation, dash, department, dept., DPT, fire, fire hourse, game, giants, handicapped, increased, maids, market, meter, mta, park, parking, pco, permit, placard, pricing, red, San Francisco, sffd, sfmtra, sfpark, SFPD, soma, south, street, ticket, townsend, transit first, UNI, variable
Posted in cars, crime | 3 Comments »
Friday, March 29th, 2013
This is the scene down at 4th and Market, where the Big Dig West Coast Central Subway project is, well, digging big these days.
San Francisco’s horrible pedestrians want to get across the northern side of the intersection and it’s this person’s job to stop them from doing so.
It’s not working. Check it out sometime.
But don’t laugh at sad sack Charlie Brown here – the Theory of Prevailing Wages ensures that he makes more moolah than you:

Click to expand
In closing, San Francisco pedestrians are the worst in the world just saying.
Tags: 2013, bay area, big dig, Boondoggle, california, cars, central subway, construction, corrupt central subway, crosswalk, DPT, guard, hand, hel, held, holding, Monitor, orange, pedestrian, pedestrian monitor, San Francisco, SFMTA, sign, stop, stop sign, subway, Subway to Nowhere, traffic, vest, west coast, worker
Posted in crime | 1 Comment »