{"id":49434,"date":"2026-07-28T12:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49434"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:16:27","slug":"art-agnos-odyssey-from-shining-shoes-to-leading-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/art-agnos-odyssey-from-shining-shoes-to-leading-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Agnos\u2019 odyssey: From shining shoes to leading San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018The same fight that sustains my dad,\u2019 former mayor\u2019s son says, \u2018Is the fight necessary to sustain San Francisco\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aby\u00a0Joe Eskenazi<\/a><\/strong> July 27, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Former mayor Art Agnos pulling away the string to reveal the Art Agnos Way street named after him on July 27, 2026. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Art Agnos stepped off a Greyhound Bus in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend in 1966 as the son of a shoeshine man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ \u201cChristy\u201d Agnos, a Greek immigrant, sold cigars, blocked men\u2019s hats and, yes, shined shoes in a storefront in Springfield, Mass. Art shined shoes next to his father until Christy died of cancer in 1955. Art, 16, went on shining shoes alone and his mother, Mary<\/a>, blocked and cleaned the hats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t date certain girls in high school because my father shined shoes for a living and cleaned hats. I never got over that,\u201d says Agnos, now 87. \u201cSpringfield was a good city, a nice city to grow up in. But I came here to look for a better life. Our family did not belong to the right class: I could never <\/em>have been mayor of Springfield.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At mid-day on the corner of Connecticut and 20th streets, just outside Loard\u2019s Ice Cream, a gathering of friends, family and a who\u2019s-who of San Francisco\u2019s political  yesteryear cheered as Agnos yanked a strand of twine. A small, silver sign was unveiled reading \u201cArt Agnos Way.<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco is a place to reinvent yourself.<\/a> It\u2019s a place to be who you are. And it\u2019s a place to do big things<\/a>. Ten years after stepping off the bus, Agnos was elected to the state legislature. Eleven years after that, he was elected mayor. And, 39 years after that<\/em> \u2014 today, in fact \u2014 his name went up on a street sign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sign is here because of the things he did after<\/em> stepping off that bus in \u201966: Among them, shepherding San Francisco through the weeks and months after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989<\/a> and making the politically fateful \u2014 and damaging \u2014 decision to raze<\/a> the Embarcadero Freeway and re-open San Francisco\u2019s waterfront. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In San Francisco, said Agnos, \u201cNobody asked me where I went to school.\u201d (For the record: Bates College undergrad, Florida State for a master\u2019s in social work; all three of Christ and Mary Agnos\u2019 children went to college<\/a> or beyond). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople asked me who I was and what I did and how I was going to get involved in the city,\u201d Agnos continued. \u201cMan, I loved that.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potrero Hill, and Connecticut Street, said Agnos, \u201chad people on it who were my teachers about San Francisco and the West Coast. They oriented me, exposed me to so much, taught me so much about this city. I was propelled by them into public service. When I got married, they celebrated with me. When I got shot, they looked out for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, shot<\/em>. \u201cArt Agnos Way\u201d is a stone\u2019s throw from both where Agnos has long lived \u2014 and where he nearly died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Older
Former Mayor Art Agnos at the reveal of the Art Agnos Way street named after him on July 27, 2026. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 13, 1973, Agnos, a field representative for Assemblyman Leo McCarthy, was finishing up a community meeting near Wisconsin and 23rd streets in Potrero Hill. And while he was talking to a group of women he heard \u201cfirecrackers going off.<\/a>\u201d People scattered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe women started running away \u2026 and asking me to come with them,\u201d Agnos recounted <\/a>in a TV news interview shortly after the incident. \u201cI started chasing them to calm them down and reassure them that no one was going to hurt them. At that point they told me the man was trying to kill me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agnos turned and saw a man standing eight or 10 yards off and staring at him, blankly, still holding a gun. \u201cHe probably was trying to figure out why I didn\u2019t fall,\u201d Agnos said at the time. \u201cMainly because I didn\u2019t know I\u2019d been shot.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cZebra Killers,\u201d a group of fanatical extremist Black revolutionaries targeting random white people across the city, murdered at least 15 San Franciscans. Another seven were gravely wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of those, Agnos said, he was the only victim who wasn\u2019t permanently disabled; had his shooter held the gun level instead of pointing down, the bullets would\u2019ve pierced Agnos\u2019 heart and he would\u2019ve died at age 35, just up the street from his street sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago, Agnos told me that being shot felt a bit like taking an elbow to the chest when you\u2019re going up for a rebound. He didn\u2019t, at the time, mention the year of medical hardships<\/a> and a deeply unpleasant recovery that followed his attempted murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked by a 1970s TV interviewer if the experience would keep him from going out and working with the people in his neighborhood, Agnos immediately replied, \u201cNot at all. Not at all.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anything, it\u2019s gonna just put me back on the street working as hard as I can to continue developing programs that the community thinks they need,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that we can establish the services that people need to put an end to the kinds of conditions that would lead a man or two men or a group of men to hate somebody so much to do this kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, what was important was where you were going. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Former supervisor Matt Gonzalez and former mayor Art Agnos at the \u2018Art Agnos Way\u2019 event. Photo by Zoe Malen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The unveiling of Art Agnos Way was  something of a hot ticket. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was there. So was Mayor Daniel Lurie. Mayor Willie Brown \u2014 who, like Agnos, got his start shining shoes<\/a> \u2014 RSVPed but did not show. He purportedly had trouble getting a taxi. \u201cWillie Brown is late, as usual,\u201d Agnos told the crowd, which laughed knowingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation to, in Yogi Berra\u2019s words, make this day necessary<\/a>, was carried by Potrero\u2019s home supervisor, Shamann Walton. Former Board President and longtime Agnos ally Aaron Peskin<\/a> was the master of ceremonies.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was, as so many San Francisco political f\u00eates tend to be, an extremely tight-knit affair. At one point, Pelosi pointed into the crowd at Agnos\u2019 son, Steve. \u201cI babysat you!\u201d she said. \u201cI remember!\u201d Steve replied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agnos was honored, he said, but, in a discussion last week, seemed a bit sheepish at all the fuss. He\u2019d just wanted to have a neighborhood affair in his longtime neighborhood. \u201cThis isn\u2019t worth your time!\u201d he protested. \u201cSend an intern.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unveiling of a small sign is indeed a small affair, albeit a pleasant one. But there are larger issues at play, which is why Agnos is still politically involved generations after last holding elective office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Christ and Mary Agnos\u2019 son stepped off the bus 60 years ago, he could land a two-bedroom apartment (with a deck and a fireplace) for $150 a month ($1,532 in 2026 dollars<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He could wander through a blue-collar neighborhood that reminded him of home, and just bump into and befriend folks like Jim Herman<\/a>, who\u2019d go on to be national president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi at the reveal of the Art Agnos Way street named after former mayor, Art Agnos, on July 27, 2026. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Agnos could tell you better than most that present-day San Francisco is far safer than its prior iterations. Crime, particularly violent crime, is at near-historic lows. The notion of a racial terror operation preying on indiscriminate victims is now near-incomprehensible; Fox News would surely cover it the way networks covered the Iran Hostage Crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, that\u2019s for the good. But Agnos could also tell you that Potrero Hill is no longer the affordable blue-collar haven that nurtured him when he needed it the most. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I fight so hard, in part, to keep this city the way it is,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is a city that lets you be who you want to be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has been Agnos\u2019 fight for the past 60 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same fight that sustains my Dad,\u201d Steve Agnos said today, \u201cis the fight necessary to sustain San Francisco.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at the view,\u201d Art Agnos mused today. \u201cI love it every time. It\u2019s changing \u2014 not just the skyline. But I still love it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a social worker and a cub politician, he\u2019d head down the hill and wonder, \u201cWhat can I do today down there to make that place a little better?\u201d As mayor, he\u2019d think, \u201cWhat are they going to do to me <\/em>today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art Agnos will be 88 in September. Steve Agnos sends him material about centenarians like Mel Brooks<\/a> and Dick Van Dyke<\/a> who remain lucid and active into their 11th decade. But we are only immortal for a limited time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope one day,\u201d said Agnos, addressing the crowd, \u201cwhen I\u2019m no longer here and someone is here eating an ice cream and says \u2018Who was that guy?\u2019 some of you will respond: \u2018He was one of us.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agnos paused and tightened his jaw. He took a deep breath and composed himself. So did everyone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was a neighbor. Who lived with us while he fulfilled the Ancient Greek promise of the Athenians when they became citizens of their city. They said \u2018I promise to leave my city better than I found it.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art Agnos kept this promise. And now he has the sign to prove it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Lisa Ryers (left) and Pamela Pastrana display the 40-year-old campaign sign treasured by Pastrana\u2019s mother, Lucy, at the unveiling of \u2018Art Agnos Way.\u2019 Photo by Joe Eskenazi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We won’t ignore your neighborhood<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When a San Francisco neighborhood has a Mission Local<\/em> reporter, it means someone is there<\/strong>. We’re following new housing projects proposed on your block, keeping tabs on what your district supervisor is up to at City Hall, and letting you know when longtime businesses close (and new ones open). When big news breaks, we already know the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most neighborhoods don’t have that. Yours could. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s what Mission Local<\/em> is building. <\/strong>Our reporters don’t parachute in — they write consistently on San Francisco, so you’re never reading about your neighborhood from someone who just looked it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far we are in five of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. But we know all San Franciscans deserve our kind of coverage. Will you join us?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put a reporter on your block!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest News<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Joe EskenaziManaging Editor\/Columnist<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

getbackjoejoe@gmail.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe is a columnist and the managing editor of Mission Local. He was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour humble narrator\u201d was a writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015, and a senior editor at San Francisco Magazine from 2015 to 2017. You may also have read his work in the Guardian (U.S. and U.K.); San Francisco Public Press; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner; Dallas Morning News; and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He resides in the Excelsior with his wife and three (!) kids, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists named Eskenazi the 2019 Journalist of the Year.More by Joe Eskenazi<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The same fight that sustains my dad,\u2019 former mayor\u2019s son says, \u2018Is the fight necessary to sustain San Francisco\u2019 by\u00a0Joe Eskenazi July 27, 2026 (MissionLocal.org) Art Agnos stepped off a Greyhound Bus in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend in 1966 as the son of a shoeshine man.  Christ \u201cChristy\u201d… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1878],"tags":[2295],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49434"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49435,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49434\/revisions\/49435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}