Posts Tagged ‘oak’
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Things were worse back in aught-seven, back when drivers waiting to fill up at the always-cheap ARCO station on Fell Street in the EaPA would queue up in the bike lane. But it’s no picnic these days neither, as you can see in this shot from a few days ago:
Well, comes now award-winning Michael Helquist of BIKE NOPA to learn us about planned changes:
“‘We have a design hashed out to take out parking on the south side of Fell Street,’ James Shahamiri, MTA Assistant Traffic Engineer, told BIKE NOPA. The new design would designate the former parking spaces as a curbside queue for motorists awaiting entry to the gas station.”
(IMO, that’s a painfully obvious solution that any other town in ‘Merica would have implemented years ago when the issue first cropped up. But oh well.)
So, you see them cars parked on the left side? You know, the Porsche 944 (or 968?), the Saturn S-Series, and the Honda CR-V cute-ute SUV? They’re parked in spaces that could soon be the ARCO queue.
What’s that, NIMBY? Over your dead body you say? O.K., well, I think this cake is already baked, but maybe you’ll be able to hear more about all the deets at this meeting:
Thursday, March 18th
7:00 pm, visit with neighbors
7:30 pm, meeting begins
9:00 pm , meeting ends
Change is Good, huh?
Tags: 1775, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 76, arco, area, Assistant, association, automobiles, autos, bicycle, bike, BIKE NOPA, block, blocking, BP, cars, cyclists, divisadero, divisidero, EaPA, east of panhandle, engineer, fell, fulton, gas, gasloline, golden gate park, intersection, James Shahamiri, jannah, lane, Line, meeting, metropolitan transportation agency, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, michael helquist, mta, Muni, neighborhood, nimby, NOPA, nopna, north of panhandle, oak, panhandle, parking, queue, San Francisco, SF, sfist, SFMTA, Station, street, traffic, union, vehicles, wait, Waiting
Posted in bikes, cars | 8 Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Not too often you see regular military fighter jets above San Francisco these days, you know, just flying around on some mission as opposed to performing an airshow. Last time for me seeing something like that was when a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15’s roared low and fast over the Western Addition about a half-decade ago.
Here’s the view from Haight Ashbury yesterday, through the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees. Don’t bother looking at the misfocused photo ’cause you probably won’t be able to see them, but KPIX / CBS5 has some footage from Oakland International Airport yesterday. There they are lined up next to the King Airs and whatnot at OAK.
Speaking of airshows, remember this alarmist headline from a few years back: “Blue Angel Kills Thousands in SF crash”
Of course, no spectator has died at an airshow in San Francisco ever, I don’t think. And actually, no airshow accident has killed or injured a spectator in America in the past half-century or so that writer Tim Redmond has been alive. (Let’s not talk about Russia or Ukraine – spectators die all the time in those places.)
And of course, a crash like that one in San Diego wouldn’t kill anybody in San Francisco because the Blue Angels would react differently to a sudden loss of power. And if there were a crash for other reasons, it would be simply unpossible for that to kill “thousands.”
Anyway, if you ever want to say that you don’t like the Blue Angels, it’ll be up to you to just say that you don’t like the Blue Angels or, instead, to make a blog post going, “Blue Angel Kills Thousands in SF crash.”
Your choice.
Anyway again, this “Military Aircraft operation” might have brought a nuclear aircraft carrier to the waters of the Farallones, who knows.
Look to the skies! They are ever changing.
Suit and tie comes up to me
His face red
Like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colours of a royal flush
And he’s peeling off those dollars bills
Slapping them down, one hundred, two hundred,
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see the fighter planes
Across the mud huts as the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street
Up the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
A man breathes deep into saxophone
Through the walls we hear the city groan
Outside is America
Outside is America
Tags: 1000's, 18, ab, accident, air show, aircraft, airplane, airport, arishow, attack, Bay, bay guardian, Blue Angel, Blue Angel.Blue Angels, blue angels, carrier, cd, crash, cvn, f-18, f/a, f18, fa-18, fighter, guardian, haight Ashbury, hornet, international, KPIX, military, newspaper, nuclear, oak, Oakland, pilot, San Francisco, SFO, super hornet, thousands, tim redmond, TV, u.s. navy, United States, usmc. marines
Posted in aircraft, military | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Our recent rains have turned the middle of the Golden Gate Park Panhandle betwixt Oak and Fell into a Great Muddy Bog.
So when you’re prowling about looking for criminales in your nose-heavy, rear-wheel-drive Crown Victoria it’s easy to get stuck in the mud, as the operators of Radio Car 075 discovered last night.
Click to expand
A quick tug from a friendly tow truck driver and you’re back on the pedestrian path where you belong(?).
It would be nice to have more drainage here and maybe also it’d be nice to bring back the Panhandle Bandshell.
Maybe someday.
Tags: 2010, ashbury, car, crown victoria, fell, golden gate park, haight, mud, oak, panhandle, panhandle golden gate park, police, rain, rec and park, recreation and park, SFPD, street, stuck, town, truck, wet
Posted in crime | No Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Here’s the scene on freshly-paved Scott Street this afternoon. The greening of the “bike box” red light waiting area on Scott Street near Oak at the terminus of the famous Wiggle Bike Route has begun. At long last, it has begun.
For now, anyway. The partial lifting of the Bicycle Plan injunction isn’t a 100% thing, but the City is moving ahead anyway.
Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Ross Mirkarimi, MTA chief Nat Ford, and Mayor Gavin Newsom all got in on the fun. Click to expand:
As Our Mayor’s extended paint roller got closer to the throng of reporters Supervisor Dufty was all, ”Watch out media, Gavin’s coming your way!” And here’s the reaction – a that’s-right-laugh-it-up-funnyboy smirk and then a quick departure:
Gavin’s ill humor wasn’t helped later on when Emmy Award-winning CBS5 political editor Hank Plante started asking about Geo Fanelli wanting his recent $500 donation back. Akit’s suggestion about suing in small claims court is interesting, non? I mean, you can’t give everybody their money back, right? (After your campaign buys a copy of PhotoShop, you don’t get much change back from a $500 banknote.) However, Geo has a pretty sympathetic case to make. Mmmm.
Anyway, in all the excitement, Bevan started painted bike helmets green, making mementos to allow us to remember this Special Day. (Bro was on today with all his Ammiano-like bons mots.)
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition leader Leah Shahum and Nat Ford were all smiles today:
Supervisor Mirkarimi looked dashing on his Trek Ride+ electric-assist bike. It’s just like Board President David Chiu’s. Said one wag, “Ross, you have the right equipment.” The loud reply, from someone famous: “That’s what she said!”
All in all, it was quite a celebration.
But this isn’t all for today. San Francisco’s first protected bike lane is now on Market Street, as of this AM.
Tags: 30, alamo square, alamo square neighborhood association, bevan dufty, bicycle, bicycle coalition, bike, bikes, cancelled, ceremony, chief, cyclist, cyclists, EaPA, East of Panhandle Area, fell, gavin newsom, green, green paint, india, injunction, Judge, lane, leah shahum, Mayor, media, mta, Muni, nat ford, NOPA, oak, paint, path, photo op, photo opportunity, plan, postponed, protected, ross mirkarimi, route, San Francisco, scott, scott street, sfbc, SFMTA, street, transit, wiggle
Posted in bikes | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Well, we’re still waiting for the green paint to go down, but we got plenty of white paint on San Francisco city streets yesterday. It all has to do with the partial lifting of the Bicycle Plan injunction.
Anyway, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (ask them about Winterfest on December 6th) had an after-party near Duboce Park last night, and when they finished up, some of them decided to test out the new bike lanes in a racous after-hours ride.
As here, on Scott Street. See the new Wiggle Bike Route icon? That’s fresh paint. Click to expand:
Here’s Leah Shahum and Andy Thornley in the vanguard:
And here’s the caboose – a seven-person bike piloted by Director Dan Nguyen-Tan
On Scott crossing Oak:
And onto the dark Panhandle Bike Path for a Victory Lap around the park:
Tags: 30, alamo square, alamo square neighborhood association, bicycle, bicycle coalition, bikes, cancelled, cyclists, Dan, Dan Nguyen-Tan, EaPA, East of Panhandle Area, fell, gavin newsom, green, india, Mayor, media, Nguyen, Nguyen-Tan, NOPA, oak, paint, path, photo op, photo opportunity, postponed, route, San Francisco, san francisco bicycle coalition, sfbc, street, tan, wiggle, winterfest
Posted in bikes | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Read here to see the way it was supposed to be this AM at the Scott Street part of The Wiggle bike path. See? We were all set for green paint on our streets. (And it’s about time, after all that beige.)
But Our Mayor couldn’t make it, so the Greening of Scott Street will get pushed back a bit, a few days, anyway. But you’ll know when the greening occurs – you’ll see a photo somewhere of Gavin physically painting the “bike box” green or mixing blue and yellow paint together, something like that.
The scene this morning in the East of Panhandle Area (EaPA). All dressed up, but nowhere to green. Click to expand:
Oh well.
And the members of the MSM who showed up to see one of the first manifestations of the partial lifting of the bicycle plan injunction? Well they wasted their time, as at least a few of them appeared to be unaware of the details of the postponement.
The Alamo Square Neighborhood Association and Bike NOPA were there, anyway.
Oh well.
Tags: 30, alamo square, alamo square neighborhood association, bicycle, bicycle coalition, bikes, cancelled, cyclists, EaPA, East of Panhandle Area, fell, gavin newsom, green, india, Mayor, media, NOPA, oak, paint, path, photo op, photo opportunity, postponed, route, San Francisco, sfbc, street, wiggle
Posted in bikes | 3 Comments »
Friday, November 27th, 2009
See?
Thanksgiving morning on San Francisco’s Oak Street. Waiting for work:
Click to expand
Tags: 2009, day labor, day laborers, divisadero, divisidero, fell, haight, holiday, kelly-moore, NOPA, oak, paint, panhandle, San Francisco, store, street, workers
Posted in Work | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
This unfinished SFGo sign here on Oak Street will never get turned on, it turns out.
It was supposed to look like this:
Oh well. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens to its twin on Fell Street….
Tags: baker, broderick, district 5, dmv, electronic, fell, mta, NOPA, oak, sam francisco, sfgo, SFMTA, sign, street
Posted in streets | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Now, you’d think that the water sprinklers of the Golden Gate Park Panhandle would be old school, like made 50 years ago out of some kind of heavy metal. But you’d be wrong – these things are mostly plastic. So there’s no market in stealing the sprinkler heads to sell for scrap or anything.
So, why do some people come along and wreck ‘em? Do they do it to see this kind of scene?
Now back in the day, some SAAB cars used to spontaneously combust, just sitting around at night. But those days are over, so there’s no point in this exercise:
Click to expand
Bad form, vandals.
Tags: 5, car, combust, crime, department dept, district, fell, fire, five, fountain, golden gate park, head, NOPA, north, oak, panhandle, park, parking, rec, saab, spontaneously, sprinkler, swedish, vandalism, vandals, water
Posted in crime | Comments Off
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
The Yelp-rated Panhandle Basketball Courts in fox-laden Golden Gate Park are a buzz of activity what with the Uletix Three on Three Basketball Tournament going on right now, today, Saturday, July 25, 2009.
Yes, something’s always going on in San Francisco’s action-packed Panhandle.
There’s a blue Honda Civic in the paint - they were still getting set up at this time:
Click to expand.
Here are the deets for Hoops n Dreams.
It’s probably too late for you to enter, but you can always drop by to check out the action.
See you there!
When: Saturday, July 25th, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Where: Between Oak and Fell Streets at Ashbury; Panhandle Park, San Francisco
Purpose of the event: To help raise money for a non-profit charity that we feel is aligned with the spirit of our company, “Team Up For Youth”.
CASH!: There will be up to $1000 in cash prizes and additional prizes for some lucky spectators.
Cost: $120 per team of 3-6 players. You can enter online by going to www.uletix.com (here), you may also enter by downloading and printing the application form provided, send your completed application form to [Attn: Jamil Vaughn Tournament Coordinator @ Utility Athletics, PO BOX 341, San Francisco, CA. 94104-0341]. Once payments are processed you will be added to the roster. For questions: Contact Jamil Vaughn, Jason Mills, or Dan Taylor @ Uletix
Tags: $1000, +3, 2009, 25th, 3 on 3, 341, 94104, ashbury, ave, avenue, b ball, basketball, bike, box, ca, california, charity, clothing, Dan Taylor, fell, game, golden gate park, haight, hoops, Jamil Vaughn, Jason Mills, july, july 25, masonic, oak, panhandle, park, path, PO, San Francisco, satyrday, sports, street, team up for youth, teams, three, three on three, tournament, uletix
Posted in sports | Comments Off
