Unhoused people In Jefferson Square Park

Troubles in Jefferson Park

As Christmas (Election Day) approaches, children (elected politicians who rerun for office and new candidates) promise their parents (voters) they will be good next year and show their accomplishments to them, hoping to get gifts (votes) on Christmas Day (Election Day).

Most San Francisco voters don’t want homeless encampments to be the city’s permanent landscape. All they want for Christmas (the November 5 Election Day) is safe, clean, and vibrant streets.

Facing tight reelection this year and feeling the heat from her opponents and constituents that Mayor London Breed hasn’t done enough to tackle the homeless problem, she ramps up citations and sweeps of unhoused people sleeping on the city’s streets with the Supreme Court and Governor Gavin Newsom’s blessings.

“Miracle On Willow Street”

The city has played whack-a-mole on Willow Street between Larkin Street and Van Ness Avenue for years.  The tents, the drug addicts, and dealers return shortly after the city clears the street.

However, on a recent visit to Willow Street, I saw noticeable improvements in the condition of the street.

Willow Street, a month before the November 5 Election Day

There was no single tent and there were only a few drug addicts and dealers between the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) building and Van Ness Cafe & Gyros.

2 Urban Alchemy ambassadors on Willow and Polk Streets told me they have been patrolling Willow Street from Larkin to Polk Streets and the half part of Willow Street from Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue for 5 weeks every day from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

They told me that after they clock out of Willow Street at 3:30 p.m., the drug addicts and dealers return but not as many as before. And, they have to clean up their trash again when they clock in at 7:00 a.m. This cycle continues daily.

I spoke to Murat Gul, the co-owner of Van Ness Cafe & Gyros on Van Ness Ave and Willow Street.

According to him, the part of Willow Street next to his cafe has been clean and clear for 3 weeks between 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. daily. The drug addicts and dealers usually start to return around 4:00 p.m. but not as many as before.

He said that SFPD drives through the street frequently throughout the day.

Mayor London Breed even made an appearance in the Tenderloin to paint over graffiti which also included Willow Street on Friday, October 4. And, the neighbors told me that they appreciated her efforts and visit very much.

Ibrahim Shaikh who lives a block away from Willow Street said, “The problem is that graffiti stays on the buildings for weeks and months, such a long time. If the taggers and graffiti artists know that the graffiti will be removed in a day or few days, they will stop doing it. Have you seen the CCSF building?

They’ve done a pretty good job in the last few weeks to clean up the alley [Willow Street]. Now that the alley is clean and clear of encampments, the community should put together a Willow Street Fair or a Night Market that serves food and beverages instead of narcotics for a change. They should do something to take back the alley from the drug cartels.”

Aaron Peskin (a mayoral candidate) visited the CCSF building at 750 Eddy Street on May 16 and told the CCSF folks to clean up the graffiti on their building which they did but the graffiti returned quickly.

Daniel Lurie (a mayoral candidate) whose campaign office also got tagged tweeted (X): “Graffiti is a city-wide problem.

Small businesses are tagged, then fined for not cleaning it up fast enough. We need to hold vandals accountable, fully staff our graffiti abatement unit, and not punish the victims.”

Where do the drug addicts and dealers from Willow Street go?

I asked an unhoused man on Willow Street, next to the CCSF building, who was fixing himself drugs and about to let the good times rolled where the drug addicts and dealers went. He said,” They are in the park [Jefferson Square Park] now but they will be back here.”

Then, I went to Jefferson Square Park to check it out where I saw a Park Ranger, M. Alvarez dealing with an abandoned dog tied up on a tree.

An unhoused person abandoned their dog at Jefferson Square Park

According to Alvarez, he was patrolling the park when he saw the dog barking and launching at pedestrians. He was waiting for an animal control officer to come over and said with sadness in his voice, “It looks like an unhoused person has abandoned her.”

He told me that since the city had started to ramp up the sweeps of unhoused people out of the streets in August, they have gone to parks.

I talked to several unhoused people in the park. They told me that they recently moved into the park from Willow Street after they got cleared out of there.

I recognized several of the drug dealers in the park who usually hung out on Willow Street.

“A Nightmare On Eddy Street”

Neighbors on Eddy Street by Jefferson Square Park have noticed an increase in drug addicts, dealers, and activities at the park.

They said that every night through early morning 25-50 drug addicts and dealers gather around in the park and on the corner of Eddy and Gough Streets, next to the bus stop.

“There are many zombies there. The scene is like ‘Night of the Living Dead’,” they said.

On September 17, there was a big drug bust near the park: “At approximately 10:45 p.m. on September 17, 2024, San Francisco Police located 31-year-old Dennison Aguilera-Moncada of Oakland on Golden Gate Avenue near Laguna and Gough Streets and placed him under arrest. A search of Aguilera-Moncada’s person and vehicle yielded suspected narcotics and evidence related to narcotics trafficking.”-SFPD.

I also wrote about the unhoused couple who have been vandalizing the park and destroying young trees on Eddy Street between Gough and Laguna Streets.

Then, On September 18 morning, a car was torched and burned down on Eddy Street between Gough and Laguna Streets. A city employee who was at the park during the incident talked to me on a condition of anonymity.

According to them, so many unhoused people were in the park and on Eddy Street that morning. And, an unhoused man torched the car parked on Eddy Street.

A burned-down car and drug addicts doing drugs next to a car on Eddy Street

A burned-down car on Eddy Street between Gough and Laguna Streets

The owner of the car, Jon Diaz who lives 2 blocks away from the park, found out about it when he got home from work and walked his dog to Jefferson Square Park.

He parked his car by the park as a parking space costs $400 per month in his apartment building he said.

Diaz said, “No one called me. I checked on the car and that was when I saw what happened.”

Diaz called the Northern District Police Station to report the incident. He was told by an officer at the police station to file a police report and call his insurance company.

I emailed the Northern District Police Station Captain, Jason Sawyer about Diaz’s car.

Captain Sawyer responded, “I assume the vehicle owner has filed a report. When it is done, the report will be routed to the arson unit for investigation.”

I followed up with Diaz 2 weeks after his car incident.

Diaz said via text, “They [SFPD and SFFD} haven’t really provided anything helpful. At this point, I’m not waiting to hear back from them because I don’t know how much attention they’re devoting to this. I just want my insurance company to pay for the car and then move on from this. It has been quite a draining experience.”

The Neighbors Don’t Want Homeless Encampments As The New Landscape In The Park

A homeless tent in Jefferson Square Park overlooking the Departmentof Emergency Management Headquarters

Jade Lim who lives across the street from the park sees many needles on the sidewalks around and inside the park when she walks her dog. She is worried that her dog will step on needles or accidentally ingest drugs.

“It’s mind-boggling that Governor Gavin Newsom signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores yet allowing the use of syringes on sidewalks and parks. Talk about polluting the environment!”