<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"><channel><title><![CDATA[skatepark - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports]]></title><description><![CDATA[SFist is San Francisco's source for fun, witty, & serious news. With updates about restaurants, events, sports, politics & more, SFist reaches millions of users in California.]]></description><link>https://sfist.com/</link><image><url>https://sfist.com/favicon.png</url><title>skatepark - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, &amp; Sports</title><link>https://sfist.com/</link></image><generator>Ghost 2.12</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:21:13 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://sfist.com/skatepark/rss/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[Skateboard Flashmob Takes Over Dolores Street]]></title><description><![CDATA[A group of what appears to be at least 100 to 150 skaters commandeered Dolores Street Thursday evening and turned the hill between 21st and 19th into their own skate ramp for a good ten minutes or mor...]]></description><link>https://sfist.com/2016/07/10/skateboard_flashmob_takes_over_dolo/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5c24318f44ad066cdcf99920</guid><category><![CDATA[SF News]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dolores Park]]></category><category><![CDATA[skatepark]]></category><category><![CDATA[skaters]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Barmann]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2016 10:40:03 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://img.sfist.com/assets_c/2016/07/skaters-dolores-thumb-640xauto-955955.jpg" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://img.sfist.com/assets_c/2016/07/skaters-dolores-thumb-640xauto-955955.jpg" alt="Skateboard Flashmob Takes Over Dolores Street"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;">  </span></p>

<p>A group of what appears to be at least 100 to 150 skaters commandeered Dolores Street Thursday evening and turned the hill between 21st and 19th into their own skate ramp for a good ten minutes or more, blocking all vehicle traffic. You can <a href="https://www.periscope.tv/w/1yoJMLWXgXOGQ">see the a seven-minute Periscope video of the shenanigans here</a>, complete with one nasty wipeout, as dozens of skateboarders whiz down the hill for an audience on both sides of the street.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.doloresparkworks.org/2016/07/skaters-dolores/">Dolores Park Works says</a> this all happened around 7 p.m. on Thursday, and this was "a seemingly spontaneous skateboard meetup of a hundred mostly young men."</p>

<p>In the video you can see guys catching rides back up the hill on the back fenders of cars heading up Dolores on the other side of the median. </p>

<p>Good times.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[After Almost Two Years Of Complaints, SF's $2,258,300 Skate Park Remains Full Of 'Festering' Puddles Of Urine]]></title><description><![CDATA["There was discussion with neighborhood groups about a bathroom...But there was a concern the restrooms would attract nuisances."]]></description><link>https://sfist.com/2016/03/14/after_almost_two_years_of_complaint/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5c2428f544ad066cdcf530ab</guid><category><![CDATA[Arts & Entertainment]]></category><category><![CDATA[dpw]]></category><category><![CDATA[pee]]></category><category><![CDATA[restrooms]]></category><category><![CDATA[skatepark]]></category><category><![CDATA[skating]]></category><category><![CDATA[soma]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eve Batey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:30:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p>

<p>Since <a href="http://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/videos/sf-soma-skatepark-opening-day-07012014/">its opening in July of 2014</a>, <a href="http://www.sfdpw.org/soma-west-skate-park-and-dog-play-area">San Francisco's SoMa West Skatepark</a> has gotten mixed reviews: While skaters seem to love the place, <a href="http://kron4.com/2014/07/21/people-behaving-badly-soma-west-skatepark/">neighbors have complained about noise and graffiti</a>, and both area residents and park users have decried the park's lack of restrooms as making for a, uh, pissy situation.</p>

<p>Just days after the park's opening, folks like former skateboarder and 20-year Stevenson Street resident Gregory Hutchison <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chronicle-Watch-SoMa-skate-park-grinds-on-5642118.php">told the Chron</a> that since the park opened, "The place we keep our trash bins, people are using for their bathroom."</p>

<p>The city is to blame, another neighbor said at the time, noting that "People are organizing to travel to this skate park. If they are spending hours there, they obviously need to use the restroom. It's unacceptable."</p>

<p>A skater <a href="http://www.missionmission.org/2014/07/21/a-veteran-skater-reviews-the-new-soma-west-skatepark/">who reviewed the park for Mission Mission</a> also decried the lack of facilities, saying "Need to piss? There aren’t any public port-0-johns in the area, but people are asking the City for them. Try Cash N’ Carry on Van Ness, Zeitgeist, or Rice Paper Scissors at Brick and Mortar Music Hall (make sure to order a banh mi!)."</p>

<p>People asked, perhaps, but they did not receive. As skate park user Travis Knapp-Prasek tells SFist, here we are nearly two years later and the park is still full of "a bunch of puddles of pee that have been festering for months." Though Knapp-Prasek says he's reported the piss "using the 311 system, sending emails and leaving voice mails," DPW has been idle on the urinary issue. So, he took matters in to his own hands:</p>

<p><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/158843560" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>

<p>"It's overwhelming" Knapp-Prasek says as he cleans up the mess. "There's flies everywhere, and caked dirt, piss, shit, trash, throw-up, whatever else...toxic shit, that's where kids play."</p>

<p>According to DPW spokesperson Rachel Gordon, "There was discussion with neighborhood groups about a bathroom...But there was a concern the restrooms would attract nuisances" so the facilities was removed from the table.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chronicle-Watch-SoMa-skate-park-grinds-on-5642118.php">According to the Chron,</a> "Paying for and maintaining the bathrooms" for the park, which <a href="http://www.sfdpw.org/soma-west-skate-park-and-dog-play-area">according to the DPW's website cost $2,258,300</a>, "under limited city budgets were concerns as well." </p>

<p>Back in 2014, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chronicle-Watch-SoMa-skate-park-grinds-on-5642118.php">Gordon told the Chron</a> that "the city is considering mobile bathrooms," but that a pair of that type of toilets would "cost about $100,000 a year." It appears that that $100K was too much for the city to handle, as here we are years later with a pee-covered park.</p>

<p>So, for now, Knapp-Prasek will be out there, climbing the fence with his trusty bucket and his "QUIT PISSING IN THE SKATEPARK!" signs. "If you see someone attempting to pee inside of the skatepark, call them out!" he urges, as since "the city has not responded to requests to clean up the pee...it just sits there."</p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>