DPW

Seats of Power: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Moving Bronze Art Chairs Across the Street

Lech Walesa's Name Isn't Coming Off San Francisco Street Anytime Soon

Earlier this week we reported that Supervisor Jane Kim was asking around about what it'd take to wipe Lech Walesa off the map. The former Polish president and democratic leader wasn't exactly espousing San Francisco values when he suggested homosexual politicians should sit "behind a wall" in Poland ... More >>

Edgar Lopez: City Architect Has Plans Big and Small

Loser Pudding: JELL-O Dispensaries, Ronnie Lott Given the Bum's Rush

Yesterday we reported on JELL-O's bizarre and more than a little demeaning plan to ease the pain of San Francisco 49ers fans by doling out free pudding to the hapless denizens of the Super Bowl's loser city. The plan to unload large amounts of free food, often in San Francisco's grittier neighborhoo ... More >>

S.F. Prepares for More Powerful Storm This Evening

Yesterday afternoon's sunny skies were nothing more than a calm before the storm -- literally. We're now bracing for a second, more powerful rainstorm this evening, which could cause mild flooding in parts of the Bay Area. The city earlier this week issued advice to residents on prepping for these ... More >>

Here's How to Prepare for the Torrential Rains That Will Hit San Francisco This Week

As you already know, heavy rains and strong winds on their way to San Francisco. So enjoy your last few moments of dry land while you can. Also, spend this time to prepare yourself for something bigger than a light West Coast drizzle.The Department of Public Works has been kind enough to start clear ... More >>

Cops Crack Down on Couch Potatoes in Golden Gate Park

San Francisco is one of those cities where you think you have seen it all -- and truth be told, you probably have. Which is why we were kinda surprised that a San Francisco Police captain was surprised to find two dudes lounging on a sofa in Golden Gate Park together. Captain John Feeney tells us he ... More >>

Massive Piles of Crap Irk City

San Franciscans are often an entitled bunch. And massive piles of rancid waste are often unpleasant. Put the two of them together and what do you have? An angry city government. Entitled locals who feel free to leave tons of heaping debris and waste festering on public land have struck a nerve with ... More >>

Jesse Nesbitt, Accused Occupy Brick-Tosser, Previously Arrested for Bottle-Tossing

Sticks and stones may break my bones. So do bricks. And, so do bottles. Jesse Nesbitt has been accused by San Francisco police of hurling the latter two at city employees; yesterday his alleged brick tossed off the roof of 888 Turk Street missed a police officer but did strike a bystander. Nesbitt, ... More >>

How Does City Count Human Feces?

Yesterday's Chris Roberts piece on cleaning human dung from the streets of the Tenderloin was so intriguing, it deserves not just one follow-up but a second. So, yes, this is follow-up No. 2. Department of Public Works spokeswoman Gloria Chan tells us the DPW responded to 2,500 calls between July of ... More >>

A Real Waste: Lack of Paper Clogs Plans for Tenderloin Toilet

Cesar Ascarrunz, Failed Mayoral Candidate, Fights for Mission's Only Legit Hot Dog Cart

​Cesar Ascarrunz is the Don Quixote of mayoral candidates -- dreaming the impossible dream, valiantly stabbing at City Hall like a windmill again and again, with no chance of success. Much to the chagrin of a Mission cardboard collector who posted Ascarrunz's campaign poster on his beat-up truck, ... More >>

Rocky Road: Food Trucks Clash with Downtown Businesses

Doc's of the Bay Owner on SF's New Food Truck Regulations: 'The Law Is Flawed'

John BirdsallThe Doc's of the Bay truck.​As I chronicled in this week's food lead story, the San Francisco Board of Appeals last week struck down two street-parking permits that the Department of Public Works had granted to Kasa's kati roller truck and Doc's of the Bay after an arduous eight-month ... More >>

Chaac Mool Is Being Moved Out of Dolores Park Into the Street

Dolores Park Works/FlickrChaac Mool's trailer in Dolores Park.​ For such a little cart, Chaac Mool has been the target of a large scandal. More than a year ago, some Missionites began complaining about the SF Department of Recreation and Parks' decision to award food-vending licenses to Blue Bottl ... More >>

How the New Path in Dolores Park Will Benefit Disabled People and City Trucks

​​The width of the new path that will snake through Dolores Park after the renovation -- toward the top of the hill on the park's right and then bisecting the park's left-side to reach the playground -- doesn't have many fans. Uptown Almanac has called it a "giant concrete phallus of injustice," ... More >>

Filmmakers and AntiGraffiti Vigilantes Butt Heads Over Illegal Posters

​The Department of Public Works put out a call today asking the public to report sightings of illegally posted movie posters. But these are not just any movie posters -- they're posters for Vigilante, Vigilante: The Freedom of Expression a documentary about antigraffiti vigilantes which will premi ... More >>

This Weekend: Toasty Melts Folds Up the Card Table

ThrillistWith this weekend's truck launch, Toasty Melts makes the leap from underground to onboard.​Back in 2009, SFoodie got pinged by a guy who was teaming up with his girlfriend to wade into the slightly anarchic card-table Mission new-school street-food scene. Their name: Toasty Melts. The ... More >>

Who Owns the Castro Rainbow Flag?

Off2riorobFlagged...​Don't like the way the Castro's iconic rainbow flag is administered? Go get your own! That's the message from Steve Adams, the president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC). It's his group that pays for the oft-replaced flags, insures them in the event of a cost ... More >>

Street-Food Vendors Form Tent City to Apply for Permits

Anamika and Suresh KhannaWould-be mobile vendors begn camping out Friday night to be among hte first in line to apply for newly administered DPW permits.​Today, the Department of Public Works took over issuing authority for street-food permits with the launch of its Mobile Food Facilities Prog ... More >>

Arizmendi Parklet Looks Like a Sure Thing

Arizmendi Bakery​The Inner Sunset's Arizmendi Bakery appears to be on its way to getting a parklet all its own. Yesterday's public hearing before two officials in the Department of Public Works saw some 15 neighborhood residents (out of about 20 in attendance) speaking out for the sliver of pu ... More >>

Friday: Town Hall Meeting to Explain New Mobile Food Rules

Gil Riego Jr.DPW's formal implementation of S.F.'s new mobile vending ordinance starts Mar. 7.​The city's new mobile food ordinance was formally approved back in January, but as anyone closely following the JapaCurry saga can tell you, implementation has still been in the hands of the Police D ... More >>

New York Volunteers Clean Up After S.F. Valentine's Day Pillow Fight

New York cleaning up after you​It's been widely reported that the clean up cost for the annual Valentin's Day pillow fight was cut by 90 percent due to the smaller crowds that attended this year. But the story that hasn't been widely told is how two East Coast residents played a big role in helpin ... More >>

Fewer Feathers Fly at Valentine's Day Pillow Fight

Gil Riego, Jr.Fewer people, fewer feathers...​Update: The Department of Public Works says it cost the city $3,500 to clean up feathers at the Justin Herman Plaza yesterday. Itemized bill to come.Original Story 1 p.m.: If anyone is thrilled with the long overdue rain in San Francisco, it's the cit ... More >>

Garbage Collectors Allow Homeless Snoozing on Discarded Couches to Sleep In

Looks like this couch is occupied​You tried to do the responsible thing. Rather than just dump your aging couch on the curb, you called the garbage collection agency and scheduled a "large item pickup." You scratched away the last few cents of your deposit, marring the walls with a wide couch in a ... More >>

Castro merchants say PG&E mishandled gas leak

How Much Does Cleaning Up Illegally Dumped Crap Cost San Francisco?

Urban SnapsTake the couch. Hell, take the hipster, too. ​According to the city, the couch you benevolently leave on the street so some couchless person can cart it off may be costing San Francisco millions. Actually, that's not true. People leave couches on the street because they're lazy. People ... More >>

Graffiti Shifts From Public to Private Property, City Reports

He's hopping off of public property​Following a lengthy and expensive crackdown, graffiti seems to be migrating from public to private property, the controller's office reports.According to a memo from the city controller presented as part of the the communications packet for this week's Board of ... More >>

DPW Crew Caught Shopping, Applying Makeup While Parked in Bus Zone

Njon WeinrothNot in the bus zone! ​It turns out, regardless of who you work for, there are only three good reasons to park in a bus zone: You're a bus; there's an emergency going on; or you're a scofflaw. Sadly, it appears a Department of Public Works employee or employees caught on film by an ira ... More >>

Zynga Mafia Wars Stickers Prompt City Attorney to Go to the Mattresses

Yes, money is power. But having the Unfair Competition Law at your disposal is power, too.​San Francisco's city attorney has decided that money is not enough to compensate for ad firm Davis Elen plastering 4,000 Zynga Mafia Wars stickers onto San Francisco sidewalks. And, unless ad executives agre ... More >>

Your Final Tally on Bay to Breakers Cleanup Costs

Joseph SchellYou think they care how much it cost to clean up after Bay to Breakers? Well, since organizers pay for it -- does anyone?​Last month, we reported that Bay to Breakers revelers left behind 24 tons of trash. The Department of Public Works amassed 18 tons of filth, while the Recreation a ... More >>

And the Final Tally of How Much Filth Bay To Breakers Left Behind Is...

Joseph SchellCan you weigh pee? If so, San Francisco is much heavier this week. ​It's here! It's here! The dilapidated floats, cast-aside former drink receptacles, and any other manner of crap people deigned to toss in the streets during Bay to Breakers have been weighed. And a grand total of 24 t ... More >>

Wishful Thinking: Bay to Breakers Runners Urged Not to Litter, Get Drunk, Pee

Jim HerdPer the cops and DPW, as long as she doesn't pee in the corner or litter, she's kosher​On the eve of San Francisco's yearly Bacchanalia in running shoes known as the Bay to Breakers, city officials are urging race participants to behave themselves and not make a mess. Well, that ought to d ... More >>

DPW Workers Caught Parking, Yapping in Bus Zone

What, again? ​Last year, a camera-wielding civilian sent SF Weekly photos of a cop parked in the bus zone near Mission and 20th, ordering his delicious lunch at Pete's Barbecue. For you and me, that's a $250 fine; for the cops it's an admonishment for making the SFPD look bad. Of course, a police ... More >>

How Romantic: DPW Worker Robbed of Work Equipment on Valentine's Day

Audrey FukumanWhat better gift than the gift of mop? ​If your beloved gave you the gift of rakes, shovels, and brooms on Valentine's Day -- beware. You may be dating a miscreant who has filched municipal property. A Department of Public Works employee tasked with scouring filth on a day most folks ... More >>

What Does 33 Cubic Yards of Sewer Filth Look Like? And Can I Get It In Red?

Joe EskenaziWave back at the nice man cleaning detritus from the antebellum era out of the city's sewers...​Posit the question "How do they clean the sewers in San Francisco" and you'll be surprised. Unless, of course, your answer was "They roll out a device resembling a Victorian-era laboratory c ... More >>

Surfers think city's exposed sewage tunnel warning is a bunch of crap

Yet Another Harbinger of Doom for Print Media: 40 Papers Have Dropped Out of City's Racks, Many Have Likely Ceased to Exist

Joe EskenaziThe city is now filled with these 'ped-mounts' -- but how long will papers be around to fill them?​You, the guy who derives fiendish joy from mutilating SF Weekly's newspaper boxes? Your days are numbered. As we've reported before, newspapers' distinctive boxes (ours are red!) are bein ... More >>

Art Vandals

Mural gets a paint job after city crew issues warning about graffiti.

The Great San Francisco Pillow Fight of 2009 -- Caught on Video!

Thousands and thousands of mostly young people -- but we did see some septuagenarians -- packed Justin Herman Plaza on Valentine's Day for the annual soft smackdown. Note the girl in this video holding her head as she leaves the fight; I wonder what happened? Moments after shooting the above video ... More >>

Building Overtime

Off-duty police officers making time and a half are swarming over construction sites, handing out tickets. Only in S.F.

Valencia Street: The New Yellow Brick Road?

Dead Trees Littering SF Streets Not Created Equally - Too Many Branch Offices in SF, Not Enough Wood Chippers

Chuck & Run

Thinking Small

As Bush heads to war, the Chron bashes city bureaucrats for not putting up parking meters fast enough

It Ate City Hall

If you like monstrous cost escalation, you'll love Don Todd Associates, whose mutating consulting agreements typify the city's horrifying contracting problems

Riff Raff

Trench Warfare

Do you know which streets will be torn up on any given day? Of course not. Neither does the city. SF Weekly's Lisa Davis maps out the mayhem.

Dome and Dumber

Q: How's it possible to spend $244 million to renovate one city building? A: Do the words "toilet partition metal head assembly" mean anything to you?

S.F. gets off the crapper