SF Mayor London Breed’s latest gambit to get you to please go downtown and spend money again is her new proposed “entertainment zone” where establishments can sell alcohol to street patrons, and the first of these could be on the Financial District’s Front Street.

Thursday night just saw the first Downtown First Thursdays party, which KPIX reports “drew thousands” to Second Street in SoMa to frolic beneath an oversize disco ball. Saturday will be the first show in the SF Live concert series, presenting DJ Galen, Doc Martin, and DJ M3 at the Golden Gate Bandshell from 2-6 pm. Both of these are civic initiatives to get people going out again, and on the Friday in between these kick-off events, SF Mayor London Breed just announced another program to get people back to a slowly recovering downtown.  

The SF Business Times reports that Breed is proposing legislation for downtown “entertainment zones,” where bars and restaurants would be able to sell open containers of alcohol to passersby on the streets. The proposal picks up on state Sen. Scott Wiener’s “Refreshment Area” legislation that would allow such open-container sales to localities that want to establish them.

Breed’s tweet above references this KGO report which describes her proposal as “an ambitious plan to revitalize downtown.” But as seen below, the plan is not terribly ambitious at first. It only establishes the “entertainment zone” on one block of Front Street. But that 200 block of Front Street is home to proven block party hosts like Schroeder's, the Royal Exchange, and the newly reopened Harrington’s, so you figure those places can probably make the best of it.  

“We are thrilled to be the first city in California to take advantage of this new law to bring opportunities that foster joy for our residents, workers and visitors,” Breed said in a Friday press release. “Our message is clear: San Francisco is having fun, thriving and open for business.”

This is still just a proposal, and there is no actual event scheduled yet that would allow such alcohol sales. But the Business Times reports that the Downtown SF Community Benefit District and the Building Owners and Managers Association of SF are “in the process of setting up a new recurring event on the block with live entertainment and other activations to take advantage of the new permissions.”

And there may be grant money for such events. The city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development is teaming up with the non-profit SF New Deal grants potentially up to $50,000 to throw such events. It’s called the Downtown Entertainment & Nightlife Revitalization Grant Program (ENRG), and there’s a grant application online. According to the mayor’s press release, the grant money can be used for “permitting costs, planning expenses, marketing material and design, event coordination, food & beverage, artists stipends, equipment, and on-site staff.”  

But as noted earlier, the “entertainment zone” proposal has not yet been passed as local law. The matter is currently scheduled to be introduced before the SF Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 7.

Related: Civic Joy Fund Hopes to Liven Up SF's Downtown With Launch of Downtown First Thursdays [Joe]

Image: Chris F. via Yelp