Willow Street off Van Ness Avenue had been a drug sanctuary for hardcore dealers and users in the city for years. The city finally has made progress in keeping Willow Street clear of drug activity and encampments by having Urban Alchemy ambassadors patrol the street. But the drug dealers and users have just moved 2 blocks away to Jefferson Square Park on Eddy and Gough Streets.
Residents near the park told KTVU that they’ve noticed new drug activity and encampments since sweeps picked up in the city.
New Kids On The Block
Word on the street there is a new Honduran drug cartel that has just moved into the Cathedral Hill neighborhood because they are no longer making money in the Tenderloin (Willow Street) and SOMA (6th and Market Streets) due to the drug crackdowns there. They have marked their presence/territory in the neighborhood by tagging several buildings with graffiti that contains a
$$ sign (referring to dinero/money).
Property owners in the neighborhood started comparing notes about the new kind of graffiti with the $$ sign on their walls. As soon as the property owners paint over the graffiti on their walls, it appears again.
If the property owners keep painting over their graffiti, their property windows will get smashed. One of the property owners talked to me on a condition of anonymity fearing retaliation from the drug dealers in their neighborhood. They mentioned that about a month ago their building got constantly tagged with graffiti with the $$ sign. They kept painting over the graffiti to comply with the city’s graffiti abatement ordinance.
Soon, the windows of their building got constantly smashed. In one incident, someone threw a rock at their window. Luckily, nobody inside was hurt but they were shaken.
They recently installed bright lights on the side of their building where drug dealers and users hang out at night. They told me that drug dealers and users always leave behind piles of trash in the morning keeping the neighborhood clean-up volunteers and the DPW crew busy cleaning up the trash and power washing the sidewalk to clean up human waste.
Burger King on Van Ness Avenue had another window smashed on January 31st morning. Their neighbors said that Burger King has been targeted for calling the Police.
The Zombie Park
Residents in Cathedral Hill tell me that every night 80-100 people gather in the park dealing and using drugs. And because of that, they nickname Jefferson Square Park the Zombie Park.
Drug users in front of an apartment building door on Eddy and Gough
An apartment building by the park has been graffitied frequently. And, its windows have been smashed several times. After being told by the Police that they can’t call them every 30 minutes to deal with drug dealers and users in front of their doors, the apartment building recently installed an iron gate to keep them out of their property.
iron gate to keep drug dealers and users out of the property’s doors
A resident on Eddy Street told me drug users found a way into her car. One night, she thought she left things out and then all her stuff was removed from the glove compartment the next night. Then, she realized they were getting in her car and staying there.
Also, a parked car on Eddy Street between Gough and Laguna Streets was torched by a homeless person and burned down. Street Crisis Response Team makes frequent visits to the park to deal with homeless-related problems.
Street Crisis Response Team in front of The Sacred Heart Cathedral Practice Field
To make matters worse, after residents on Larch Street off Van Ness Avenue filed a stay-away order against a homeless couple (Maria and Ignacio/Nacho) for damaging their properties and threatening their lives, they also moved into Jefferson Square Park and have been destroying the park since.
Maria has been digging the irrigation system of the park and pulling out plants and Ignacio/Nacho has been chopping off young trees in and around the park with the machete he also used to threaten to chop off the body parts of the residents on Larch Street.
Destroyed Friends of the Urban Forest’s Young Tree at Jefferson Square Park
After seeing the photos of their destroyed young trees at Jefferson Square Park, Mike Yarak, the program director of Friends of the Urban Forest said in an email to me,” It’s heartbreaking seeing our trees get beat up like this. We really appreciate your stewardship of the young trees in your neighborhood. Thank you for looking after the trees and helping to grow our urban forest!”
Saving Jefferson Square Park
At a recent community gathering in Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights, Kat Anderson, the San Francisco Parks Commission President talked about the importance of maintaining our city’s parks clean, safe, and thriving so that our families and pets can enjoy them and it’s for the good of the environment.
Kat Anderson (the President of the S.F. Parks Commission) And Stephen Sherrill
(District 2 Supervisor) in Lafayette Park
I spoke to her and the District 2 Supervisor, Stephen Sherrill about the chaos at Jefferson Square Park. Supervisor Sherrill told me that he would work with the S.F. Recreation and Parks Department to install lights in the park, city departments that are in charge of homelessness, and law enforcement agencies to save the park.
Lights Installed In Jefferson Square Park
On January 31st morning, I saw Chief Ranger David P. Murphy and the Recreation and Parks Services Manager, Allison McCarthy supervised the installation of 4 solar lights in Jefferson Square Park at the corner of Eddy and Gough Streets.
3 of the 4 solar lights recently installed in Jefferson Square Park
McCarthy told me that it’s the Recreation and Parks pilot program to keep drug activities out of the park. If it’s successful, they are going to wire the park and install lights throughout the park.
She said, “There is a power already in the park. All we need to do is wire the park.” When I asked her about the costs of the pilot program and the wiring and installing lights throughout the park, she said she didn’t know.
I offered to donate plants to replace the destroyed ones so that the park doesn’t look so empty. She mentioned that the Recreation and Parks Department has the funds to replace the destroyed plants and will do it after the individuals who keep destroying the plants are removed from the park permanently.
Chief Ranger Murphy said to me, “Your advocacy to save the park didn’t go unheard. We need to protect our parks so that our communities can enjoy them. We can also use the help from the Sheriff’s Department to patrol the park which is across the street from the S.F. Department of Emergency Management headquarters as you know.”
What Do Residents Around The Park Think About The New Lights?
I asked residents around the park what they thought about the newly installed lights in the park.
Rose Morales who lives across the street from the park said, “I now believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope the dark days will be over soon. And, we will reclaim our beautiful park and neighborhood from the destroyers. These people come here for a particular purpose to sell and use drugs. They don’t have respect for our park and neighborhood we are proud of as a community. They treat our neighborhood like trash. But we have more new “tools” now to send them back home by bus or by plane.”
It Takes Communities To Build A City
Our Mayor, Board of Supervisors, law enforcement agencies, and city departments can’t do it alone to build a clean, safe, and vibrant city. They need participation, enthusiasm, and support from our whole community to build the city block by block.
We have to have the sense that we belong to our community. If we don’t care about our neighborhood and city, who will?
Take ownership of your neighborhood. Plant a tree on your block, nurture it, and let it flourish!
Plant, baby, plant!
