This is all I could see around lunchtime yesterday:
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Posts Tagged ‘plaza’
The Remnants of OccupySF: No More Camping in Front of the Federal Reserve Building at 101 Market Street
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011You Shall Not Pass! Idling Police Cars Hold Idling SFPD Guarding the Bocce Ball Courts of OccupySF Plaza
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011Do you know why the SFPD sits around in radio cars idling the day away? Because they want to, and, you know, you’re paying for the gas, so why not?
Can you see the fluid drip, drip, dripping from the left tailpipe? Sure you can. You can see one of the exhaust plumes as well:
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This is the very same SFPD what drove to Montana(!) for the former Mayor’s wedding.
Oh well.
Holiday Ice Skating at Justin Herman Plaza is Quite Popular – Here’s What Friday Night Date Night Looks Like
Monday, December 12th, 2011People just can’t get enough of holiday ice skating at Justin Herman Plaza.
This is what Friday Night Date Night looks like:
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See the queue? People can’t seem to get enough…
OMG, the New Mitsubishi i Cars are Here – All-Electric Fleet Vehicles Come to City CarShare
Friday, December 9th, 2011Well, here it is:
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All the deets:
“Mitsubishi Motors Makes First Fleet Delivery of the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) to Bay Area’s City CarShare
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2011 – Representatives from Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA), along with San Rafael Mitsubishi, conducted the very first fleet delivery of the all-new 100% electric-powered 2012 Mitsubishi i to the California Bay Area’s City CarShare in a special ceremony held at the Green Vehicle Showcase located in front of San Francisco City Hall Plaza on Thursday, December 8 at 9:00 a.m.
City CarShare is a Bay Area nonprofit organization founded in 2001 with the help of several other local nonprofits and the cities of San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Their mission is to promote innovative mobility options to improve the environment and the quality of life in the Bay Area. By providing short-term access to cars City CarShare is reducing traffic congestion, parking problems and dependence on oil while promoting cleaner air and quieter streets.
“We are very pleased to introduce the all electric Mitsubishi i into our fleet. This vehicle brings us one step closer toward our goal of having 50% of our fleet run on alternative fuel as part of our mission to decrease carbon emissions in the Bay Area,” said Rick Hutchinson, CEO, City CarShare.
Numerous fleet orders have already been placed for the innovative, environmentally-friendly and fun-to-drive Mitsubishi i by a wide variety of organizations – multinational corporations, municipalities large and small, major utilities and nonprofit organizations – from New York to Hawaii.
“We thank the Bay Area’s City CarShare for being the first fleet recipient of our innovative 100% electric-powered vehicle,” said Yoichi Yokozawa, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA). “City CarShare’s stated goals are to help promote modes of personal transportation that help improve the environment while reducing noise pollution as well as fossil fuel dependence, so the 2012 Mitsubishi i is the perfect vehicle to help achieve this nonprofit’s ambitious mission.”
The 2012 Mitsubishi i is the first of several new advanced, alternative-fuel production vehicles that the Japanese auto manufacturer plans on bringing to the North American market in the next few years.
For more information about the 2012 Mitsubishi i, please visit media.mitsubishicars.com and i.mitsubishicars.com; for fleet sales information on Mitsubishi’s electric vehicle please log on to mitsubishicars.com/iMiEVfleet.
More information on the Bay Area’s City CarShare can be found at citycarshare.org.
SOURCE Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.”
Holiday Ice Skating a Huge Success at Justin Herman Plaza in 2011
Monday, December 5th, 2011Here’s the Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center, which is located right next to OccupySF this year.
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Be sure to click on over to see if they will be closed for private parties.
All right, see you there!
All the deets:
“Delighting families, couples and ice skating enthusiasts for over twenty years, the Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center presented by Hawaiian Airlines, the largest outdoor rink, will open to the public for nine magical fun-filled weeks beginning November 9 through January 8, 2012.
Plan a special holiday experience with your friends and family and skate under the stars in the shadow of the waterfront throughout the holiday season at Embarcadero Center, where you can shop, skate, dine and park for free. There’s no better place during the holiday season than Embarcadero Center!
The Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center presented by Hawaiian Airlines continues to entertain families from around the Bay Area thanks to the support of its generous sponsors…
Phone Number: 415.837.1931
Email Address: echolidayrink@gmail.com
Location: Justin Herman Plaza, adjacent to Four Embarcadero Center and across from the historic Ferry Building
Hours of Operation:
Open 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Sunday – Thursday
Open 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. on Friday & Saturday
90 minute sessions that start on every even hour
Private party booking* is available
The Rink may be closed due to inclement weather or private party bookings. Call the ice rink manager at 415.837.1931.
* Sessions not open to public if sold to a private party.
Admission
Adults $9.00; Seniors/Children ages 10 and under $5.50
Monday – Friday until 6:00 p.m.
Adults $9.50/Children ages 10 and under $6.00
Friday 6:00 p.m. session until closing on Sunday
Skate Rentals: $3.50″
Here’s what it looked like at the lighting ceremony a couple years back:
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(My submission to produce Soul on Ice on Ice at this rink was rejected once again this year. Oh well.)
The mise-en-scene, with the swells in the background and the norms in the foreground:
And this is how it should be looking these days from Treasure Island:
Have a Merry Holiday Shopping Season!
December 3rd, 2011 was San Francisco’s DAY WITHOUT CLOUDS – A Jumbo Sky Filled with (Quiet) Jumbo Jets
Sunday, December 4th, 2011Yesterday, owing to the unusual winds what blew away* the fog, I saw jumbo jets above S.F. in places where I normally don’t, but I couldn’t really hear them. (I guess jets have gotten a lot quieter these days.)
Like this low-flying United Air 747-400 near the Ferry Building – you could hardly hear it:
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*I suppose – cf. yesterday’s Blue Sky Red Bridge from Burrito Justice
O RLY? Oakland Mayor Jean Quan on Her Handling of Occupy: “Mistakes Were Made” – A Big WSJ Article on Recall Efforts
Thursday, December 1st, 2011The Great Wall Street Journal Pay Wall isn’t fully operational right now, so that means that you can follow the lead of SF Bay Area Observer’s Ron Russell by checking out today’s bit from Bobby White in the Wall Street Journal:
Occupy Flap Prompts Oakland Recall Drive
Or at least I think you can get to it for free.
I could, anyway. See?
Now check it:
In an interview, Ms. Quan acknowledged that “Occupy has damaged downtown businesses and mistakes were made.” Still, she said, she believes most voters back her and “I do not believe that most of the businesses in the city agree with this recall campaign.” The 62-year-old Ms. Quan, who was elected in late 2010, added that Oakland’s ethnically based chamber of commerce organizations support her, as do major businesses in the city such as Pandora Media Inc. and Kaiser Permanente.
Is that an apology? (Your Bromide of the Day: As goes Pandora Media, so goes Alameda County.)
And there’s this:
Corey Cook, an associate professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, said until Oakland’s recall effort becomes more structured, he is uncertain if it will succeed. Still, he said, “To go from being an unpopular leader to one worthy of recall requires a very public failure, and it seems [Ms. Quan] has accomplished that.”
Ouch.
We’ll know more by the end of next week.
On It Goes…
“Portrait Gallery: Faces of Occupy San Francisco” from KQED News Photo Intern Michelle Gachet
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011Here’s your invitation:
“At KQED, we’ve found ourselves wondering, who exactly is still at Occupy San Francisco two months into the movement and several days before the Thanksgiving holiday. Hardcore activists? Homeless people who have found a welcoming community? Nine-to-fivers who have taken time off to support the Occupy movement?
In an effort to find out, KQED News intern Michelle Gachet visited Justin Herman Plaza on Monday to capture portraits of some of the movement’s members and their environs. Take a look…”
Occupier Emma Stime, for one, and her sleepy pooch:
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Click on over to see the entire gallery.
Come meet OccupySF 2011.
Wow, Gay San Francisco Stands Up for Dennis Herrera at Harvey Milk Plaza – Ammiano Harshes Ed Lee + “WTF, Chronicle?”
Thursday, October 27th, 2011[UPDATE: Oh, the Chron* was there. As was Steve T Jones of the Bay Guardian. And here's a short highlight clip.]
Well, a large crowd showed for today’s noontime rally in support of City Attorney and mayoral candidate Dennis Herrera. It came in reaction to this bit from John Coté and Heather Knight in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle.
Consider this rally, complete with pretty much all of Gay San Francisco (gee, who wasn’t there?), a strong retort.
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1 of 4 - Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart and Senator Mark Leno:
2 of 4 – Assemblymember Tom Ammiano: “WTF, Chronicle?” (Ouch.) And then, on a different tack: ”I think we all know who was doing it.” Uh, would that be Ed Lee? And do you think Tom’s talking about Ed Lee here? ”…Healthy San Francisco, supporting it, not trying to decimate it. Honoring Occupy San Francisco and their ability to mediate and to collaborate. How about some fucking leadership?”
(Here’s the short version, complete with Henny Youngman-style one-liners.)
And check out Cleve Jones at around 8:00: “And finally, to Ed Lee, whose campaign began with a lie [and] is ending with a lie. And in between the lies, what did we see but cronyism, fake grass-roots organizations coming out of nowhere, vote tampering like we haven’t seen in a long, long time, money laundering, and now we’re ending with a big lie, a slur against Dennis Herrera. And how stupid do you think we are? Please.”
(Here’s the short version.)
This is the clip with the vitriol:
3 of 4: City Attorney Dennis Herrera, the man himself:
4 of 4: Herrera’s closing plus Harvey Milk Club and Alice B Toklas Club, united:
All the deets:
“News conference on Dennis Herrera’s record of support for LGBT marriage equality: TODAY, Oct. 27, 12:00 noon, Harvey Milk Plaza
SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 27, 2011) — Leaders in the LGBT community and marriage equality movement including Senator Mark Leno, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Supervisor Scott Wiener, Molly McKay, Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, Cleve Jones, Julius Turman, Reese Isbell, representatives from both the Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk LBGT Democratic Clubs, and a growing list of others will hold a news conference to defend City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s consistent record of support for marriage equality.
The news conference at noon today is in response to political attacks published in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday from anonymous sources who questioned City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s commitment to marriage equality.
LGBT Community Press Conference
Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market
TODAY – Thursday, Oct. 27, 12:00 noon
Below is a letter issued yesterday from Phyllis Lyon, the LGBT civil rights pioneer. Lyon and her late wife, Del Martin, were the first same-sex couple married in San Francisco.”
MESSAGE FROM PHYLLIS LYON: OCT. 26, 2011
Subject: Dennis has always defended us
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Now, we need to defend him!
Please join Senator Mark Leno, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Supervisor Scott Wiener, representatives from both the Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk LBGT Democratic Clubs, and many other LGBT community leaders for:
LGBT Community Press Conference
Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market
Thursday, Oct. 27, 12:00 noon
With less than two weeks until Election Day, a petty smear campaign is underway to personally discredit City Attorney Dennis Herrera over his years of work for marriage equality. Incredibly, despite all the heroic efforts of Dennis and his office right from the start, anonymous sources have pushed a story in the San Francisco Chronicle that Dennis wasn’t “supportive” of Mayor Newsom’s decision to issue same-sex marriage licenses back in February 2004. It’s not true. These politically motivated attackers are hoping we’ll forget the years of hard work Dennis and his deputies invested — and continue to invest even now, in the federal challenge to Prop 8 — for LGBT equality.
My late wife, Del Martin, and I were the first same-sex couple married back in 2004.
So I remember the heartfelt and tireless work that Dennis, Chief Deputy City Attorney Terry Stewart, and the City Attorney’s Office committed to defend our marriage from day one. Yes, it was an uphill battle. We all knew it, and we all expressed doubts. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t “supportive” of marriage equality!
That’s why these anonymous political attacks are such an outrage.
It’s not just insulting to a good man and longtime LGBT ally. It insults the intelligence of LGBT voters who know that Dennis has been a consistent and effective champion for our community for years:
- In the 1990s, as Police Commission President, Dennis established groundbreaking protocols to require police to treat transgender detainees with the dignity and respect they deserve.
- Dennis successfully defended our landmark Equal Benefits Ordinance in his first years as City Attorney, finally defeating challengers who opposed domestic partner benefits.
- In 2002, Dennis and the Assessor ended tax re-assessments homeowners faced after the death of a domestic partner — so LGBT survivors on fixed incomes wouldn’t lose their homes.
Dennis’s heart has always been with us. That’s why he was elected and re-elected City Attorney with overwhelming LGBT community support. That’s why he’s now the only candidate for Mayor endorsed by both the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club (#1) and the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club (#2).
Dennis Herrera never shrank from defending the LGBT community — not once. Now, it’s our turn to defend him.
Please join us at Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market, Thursday, Oct. 27, at 12:00 noon.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Lyon”
~
Mark Leno:
DJH with wife Anne:
And here’s part of the crowd descending the steps of Castro Station:
And, bonus, a special hug for Harvey and Alice:
So, uh, who’s the “political genius” who thought it was a good idea for former Gavin Newsom staffers to go to the Chron a few days back?
Because this whole affair, well, it’s not good for Ed Lee.
Not good at all…
*I swear, I don’t really get photojournalism and that sole shot presented is a good example of why. It doesn’t really transmit all that much info, it doesn’t really show who was there, and it’s not arty or anything. But it does juxtapose “applause” and “Herrera” so I guess that’s telling stories with photos and I guess that’s what PJ is supposed to be about. I suppose. (Is that day’s work, BTW?) Anyway, I prefer the camera-held-level-at-two-yards-altitude, you-are-there look.
Occupy Oakland Update: Google Maps Now Shows Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza as “Oscar Grant Plaza”
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011Editor Jon Brooks of News Fix, “KQED’s bay area news blog,” has this today:
“So our morning anchor, Joshua Johnson, was doing a story on the Clorox earnings report, and in the process of finding exactly where their headquarters is located, came upon this:
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Try it yourself – type ”Oscar Grant” into Google Maps:
Oscar Grant Plaza, of course, is the name that the Occupy Wall Street people have given to their tent city location.
KQED has made a call down to Mountain View saying, “Hey Google, what’s the deal?”
We’ll see.
(I’m sure no one intended any dis for Frank H Ogawa.)
Great catch, Joshua Johnson.
Great post, Jon Brooks.
[UPDATE: Get more details right here. "NAParish" took steps to change the name back to Frank Ogawa Plaza at 8:44 AM this morning but that action is still pending. (It's like a Wikipedia editing war. Remember those, back in the aughts? Just like with that tiresome "Violet Blue" woman - I guess you can do the same thing on Google Maps. See below.)
[UPDATE II: Oh no, now, per Google Maps, Frank Ogawa Plaza has two names. See?
I imagine that "Oscar Grant Plaza" won't be on Google Maps at all in the very near future.]
[UPDATE III: And now it's back to normal, back to plain old Frank H Ogawa Plaza. "Google Reviewer Sanjeevi" has, once again, put the big DENIED stamp on the idea of any political name-changing. Google's "Local Names" feature is being abused no longer. Case Closed.]
Reason: The edit could be misleading
This is not an “official” name, and this edit should have been denied. See commentary on previous edits.”
Reason: The edit could be misleading
There are two problems with this edit. One is that Google doesn’t seem to allow this type of political commentary by “renaming” an official feature. The name that some Occupy Oakland protesters are using doesn’t fit into any of the categories Google allows (Local is for the name in the local language, like using La Tour Eiffel as the “local” name for what speakers of English commonly call the Eiffel Tower). See http://goo.gl/gCf78 for the types of names that are allowed. The other problem is that the official name is Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, not just Frank Ogawa Plaza — and the official name should not have been removed a few edits back.”
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