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In the Works - January 2019 Community Newsletter

EVENTS
 
  • 2/1 - 2019 Black History Month Kickoff - Join the San Francisco African American Historical & Cultural Society in celebrating a kickoff to Black History Month. Honorable attendees will include Mayor London Breed and keynote speaker Lateefah Simon. - 12 noon; FREE; San Francisco City Hall; 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
  • 2/2 & 2/3 - 2019 Chinese New Year Flower Fair; Each year, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair takes place the weekend before the Lunar New Year holiday so that families can enjoy the festive atmosphere and purchase fresh flowers, fruits, candies and new supplies for the home to begin the new lunar year. Delight in performances of traditional Chinese magicians, acrobats, folk dancers and opera as you take in the beautiful fragrances of spring. You will find more than 120 booths and concessions, making this a shoppers' paradise. 2/2 - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.2/3 -  9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Chinatown: Grant Avenue from Clay to Broadway; Pacific, Jackson and Washington between Stockton and Kearny. FREE
  • 2/16 - Community Clean Team in District 8 - Community Clean Team is San Francisco Public Works’ longest-running and largest volunteer program that keeps San Francisco beautiful through landscaping and gardening projects, graffiti removal and litter cleanup in our neighborhoods. 8:30 a.m. - Registration - 9 a.m. to 12 noon - work projects - Mission High School - 3750 - 18th St.
  • 2/23 - 2019 Year of the Pig Chinese New Year Parade - Nowhere in the world will you see a lunar new year parade with more gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, exploding firecrackers, and, of course, the newly crowned Miss Chinatown U.S.A. and her court. It takes a team of more than 180 men and women from the martial arts group, White Crane, to carry the Golden Dragon through the streets of San Francisco. - 5:15 p.m. - Begins at Second and Market streets
  • 2/21 -2/24 - 67th annual Pacific Orchid Exposition: “Orchids of the Enchanted Forest.” - More than 150,000 gorgeous, unusual and rare orchids will be on display and for sale alongside daily demonstrations on how to successfully grow orchids in the Bay Area, hard to find supplies, companion plants and a new feature that kids will love: Orchid-gami! - 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. - Entrance fee varies - County Fair Building - 1199-9th Ave. 

 

THANK YOU

I could hardly believe my eyes when I walked down Arbol Lane yesterday and there was a man from Public Works cleaning this public walkway. This was only 24 hours after lodging a complaint and reporting this mess. The people who use this walkway every day are most appreciative. - Norma G.

I just wanted to let you know that on my walk home this evening along Golden Gate between Jones and Market, I saw the sidewalk the cleanest I’ve ever seen. Thank you to your team for doing such a fabulous job. - Troy P.
 
I just wanted Public Works to know what a great job Precision Engineering did with respect to the sewer replacement here on Second Avenue. They were ever so helpful when we had to interrupt them and just generally very engaging and thoughtful throughout the whole process. And the final paving job was very, very good. Good job all around! - Joe G.
 
 
 
PUBLIC WORKS TV
 
EPISODE 0048
On a recent Monday on Chestnut Street, corridor ambassador Calvin Swift was a man with a mission: Sweep up every discarded piece of trash, cigarette butt and pile of tree leaves in his path.
 
Swift, whose name also happens to sum up his work pace, is San Francisco Public Works’ longest serving corridor ambassador.  Since 2010, he’s worked five days a week cleaning up after others with diligence and a positive demeanor. Nearly everyone in the neighborhood – from the local mail carrier to employees at the nearby flower shop and corner deli – knows him and will attest to the difference his presence has made in the cleanliness of the area. 
 
“Thank god there’s still good people in the world,” remarked a passerby on Chestnut Street as he took a moment to thank Swift and shake his hand.  That same morning someone else referred to Swift as a “superhero.”
 
San Francisco Public Works’ successful Corridor Ambassadors Program was founded in 2006 to both improve the cleanliness of busy commercial corridors throughout the City and provide work opportunities for individuals who may have previously had barriers to employment. There currently are more than 100 ambassadors across the City with plans in place to hire a few dozen more.  In total, the group services more than 700 blocks of San Francisco.
 
In our latest episode of Public Works TV, we check in with Swift, as well as other neighborhood heroes who tend to the Castro, Bayview, Glen Park and Mid-Market.   Though their backgrounds and the neighborhoods they serve are diverse, there’s one common thread: They share a strong sense of civic pride.
 
“I know what San Francisco should be and should look like,” says Darnell Williamson, an ambassador in the Bayview.
 
 
EPISODE 0047
When the federal government shut down, San Francisco Public Works cleaning crews stepped in – emptying trash cans and picking up litter at federal parklands located in the City.
 
Our crews made daily rounds of Lands End, Fort Funston and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, starting on Jan. 2. 
 
President Trump, who directed a partial shutdown of the federal government in late December when he couldn’t secure the funding he wanted for a southern border wall, announced a three-week stay of the shutdown on Jan. 25. That action allowed the government to resume operations. The president, however, has not ruled out shutting down the government again if the $5.7 billion in wall funding is not approved. If that happens, the National Park Service once more will not be on the job to keep the federal parks clean.
 
Public Works normally doesn’t service federal parks, but when the garbage started to build up in the national parklands here, we added the areas to our regular street cleaning routes. 
 
Lands End, Fort Funston and Aquatic Park, which is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, offer visitors a chance to enjoy some of San Francisco’s most beautiful and majestic lands in our urban setting. And at the end of the day, we want to help keep that experience intact.
 
 
 
ARTICLES
 
  • Moscone Center Expansion:A Game-Changer for San Francisco - The completion of the $551 million expansion of Moscone Center cements San Francisco as a premier convention destination with a state-of-the art venue that provides more space and amenities for conferences and adds vibrancy to the surrounding Yerba Buena neighborhood with new public spaces, wider sidewalks and family-friendly play spaces.
     
    Mayor London Breed, City officials and hundreds of representatives from the City’s hospitality industry marked completion of the four-year expansion project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 3. 
     
    Moscone long has been a hub for some of the country’s – if not, world’s – most prominent conventions, including Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference, Oracle’s OracleWorld and the Game Developers Conference.  The expansion helps ensure the center stays competitive and meets the City’s growing demand for convention and tourism space. 
     
    The San Francisco Public Works project team provided construction management services and completed the design development phase, secured the site permit and worked closely with multiple community groups on the proposed project design.
    The project architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, aimed to create an iconic building that enhances Moscone Center’s civic presence on Howard Street and reconnects it to the surrounding neighborhood through creating mid-block passageways and two pedestrian bridges connecting the upper levels of the new Moscone North and Moscone South across Howard Street. 
     
    The expansion project added more than 305,000 square feet of functional area, including new exhibition space, new meeting rooms and pre-function space, new ballroom space and a new kitchen and other support areas.
     
    A key strategy of the project was to schedule the construction work without disturbing important convention activities. 
     
    The new Moscone Center was designed to meet LEED Platinum certification, and boasts the lowest carbon footprint per attendee of any major convention center in North America. It is now home to the largest rooftop solar panel array in San Francisco, providing the center with approximately 20 percent of its power. Additionally, 15 million gallons of water will be recovered annually and reused for landscaping, street cleaning and toilet flushing.
     
    And though Moscone hosts countless visitors from around the world, local art lovers also will benefit. The San Francisco Arts Commission commissioned multiple artists to contribute their vision, including light artist Leo Villareal for the enclosed pedestrian bridge across Howard Street, and Brendan Monroe for a large-scale mural on the Paseo Gallery wall. The Arts Commission also reinstalled the popular Three Dancing Figures sculpture by Keith Haring.
     
    The City entered into a public-private partnership agreement with San Francisco Travel and the newly established San Francisco Tourism Improvement District (TID) to undertake the expansion, which was funded through a hotel revenue assessment and the City’s General Fund.
 
  • A New Year’s Resolution: Love Our City! - The 2019 season of Community Clean Team kicked off with a bang this month with nearly 150 volunteers coming out to clean and green the City’s Cow Hollow, Marina, Pacific Heights and other District 2 neighborhoods. The Jan. 26 event got underway at Galileo High School with a kickoff rally that focused on civic pride, community service and the simple act of loving our city.
     
    The dedicated volunteers broke off into teams where they spent the morning planting trees; pruning, weeding and spreading mulch on Galileo’s campus; removing graffiti and refreshing street furniture on Van Ness Avenue between Lombard and Beach streets; and sweeping sidewalks and removing litter on Masonic Avenue between Bush Street and Geary Boulevard.
     
    Community Clean Team is an opportunity for the City to come together to help keep our streets, sidewalks and public spaces clean and looking fresh. The program is now in its 19th year and is Public Works' largest and longest-running volunteer program. Since 2000, community groups, schools, friends and families have helped Public Works remove more than 4 million square feet of graffiti and collect 6,000 bags of litter from our neighborhoods.
     
    Next month’s Community Clean Team heads to District 8 on 
    Feb. 16 where volunteers and Public Works crews will focus their attention on the Mission, Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park and adjacent neighborhoods. We’ll meet at Mission High School, located at 3750 – 18th St., for a kickoff rally at 8:30 a.m. 
     
    See you there!
     
    For more information and to register for the upcoming event, visit sfpublicworks.org/volunteer.
     

    New Navigation Center Opens in SoMa - San Francisco’s newest Navigation Center, at Fifth and Bryant streets, provides beds for 84 people who had been living in encampments.  The shelter is the second Navigation Center to be constructed on land leased from Caltrans, following the opening of the Division Circle Navigation Center in August 2018. 

     

    New Fire Station Showcases SF’s Commitment to Resiliency - City officials, firefighters and neighbors joined together on Jan. 31 to celebrate the opening of the newly retrofitted Fire Station No. 16, a voter-approved earthquake-safety project that bolsters the City’s resiliency. The new fire station, located at 2251 Greenwich St. in the Cow Hollow neighborhood, is a seismically safe structure designed to meet national accreditation standards and serve the needs of the neighborhood and the City moving forward. The building was constructed with resilient life-safety systems and ADA accessibility features that will remain fully operational following an earthquake or other natural disaster.

     

    Oink! Oink! Gung Hay Fat Choy! - The Lunar New Year, Year of the Pig, is fast approaching. To help our community celebrate this popular holiday, San Francisco Public Works ramped up to keep historic Chinatown clean, safe and graffiti-free for visitors and locals. Public Works crews performed a deep steam cleaning of sidewalks on Stockton Street between Broadway and Sacramento streets; scrubbed the Broadway Tunnel; power washed the iconic Chinatown Gateway at Grant and Bush; abated graffiti tags on buildings and rollup doors; and filled potholes and patched cracks on Stockton Street. Our community partner, Community Youth Center, also pitched in, steam cleaning public garbage cans and washing down the sidewalks on major commercial corridors. Extra cleaning will continue through the holiday, which this year lands on Feb. 5.

     

    Better Market Street Popup - Better Market Street aims to deliver transformative transportation, streetscape and safety improvements along 2.2 miles of Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and The Embarcadero.  As the plan progresses, the project team is stepping up community outreach by staffing a temporary pop-up office in the lobby of A.C.T.’s Strand Theater in the heart of Mid-Market.  

     

    Stormy Weather - The first big storm to hit San Francisco this year toppled more than 200 street trees and large branches, keeping our tree crews extremely busy during the worst of the rains and high winds. Fortunately, no street tree-related injuries were reported, but there was damage to sidewalks and cars. Additionally, power lines came down and traffic was blocked on a stretch of Mission Street when a large ficus tree failed near Fourth Street. The worst of the stormy weather hit Jan. 15-17.