A fire Tuesday night in San Francisco's Tenderloin damaged a six-story building and displaced 25 people, but thankfully no one was injured in the blaze.

The fire broke out around 11:30 pm Tuesday on the second floor, in the light well of a six-story building on the 200 block of Turk Street, between Jones and Leavenworth streets.

The one-alarm fire escalated to two alarm, as the San Francisco Fire Department explains, when the fire traveled through the light well up to the roof of the building.

As KPIX reports, 25 residents of the building were displaced. The extent of the damage to the building is unclear, but the fire department noted they were continuing to extinguish flames in the walls of the structure over an hour after the fire began.

No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The San Francisco City Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to shut down a problematic store called The Corner Store, which in addition to selling weed and illegal flavored tobacco products, was also apparently selling meth.

The Corner Store at 401 Eddy Street sits at the corner of Eddy and Leavenworth in the Tenderloin, and it has been a source of trouble for San Francisco police since the current owners took it over in February 2023, according to the City Attorney's Office. The SFPD documented a dozen incidents including thefts, physical altercations, and arrests at or outside the store between March 2023 and November 2025.

Additionally, the city began getting complaints about the store selling tobacco products without a permit, which prompted a Department of Public Health undercover sting. The city found that The Corner Store was selling illegal flavored vapes and other products that were not FDA-approved, and issued them a violation notice.

Subsequently, in November 2025, the SFPD raided the store, conducting an inspection with DPH and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and they seized 48.1 grams of methamphetamine as well as around five pounds of illegal cannabis, along with a ghost gun and a variety of illegal tobacco products.

But The Corner Store apparently continues operating, and one of its owners also owns SF Discount Market, a nearby Tenderloin store that was busted in late 2024 for being an underground gambling den that also sold drugs and drug paraphernalia.

"For too long, a small number of bad actors have exploited the Tenderloin’s most vulnerable residents while evading real consequences," said Supervisor Bilal Mahmood in a statement. "When a corner store turns into a hub for drug activity, it undermines the safety and dignity of the entire neighborhood."

"The Corner Store didn’t just promote drug activity – it became the drug dealer," says City Attorney David Chiu, in a statement. "Families and minors rely on convenience stores, and we will not tolerate a store that that sells drugs."

Chiu adds that his office is "asking the Court to protect the community, shut this store down immediately, and level the playing field for law-abiding small businesses."

The legal complaint filed Wednesday, which can be read in full here, names defendants Karen Trinh, Abdulrahman Almehdhar, and Mustafa Mehdar Almehdhar, along with five unnamed defendants listed only as Does 1 through 5. Mustafa Almehdhar is identified as the manager of the store.

The city is seeking to shut down The Corner Store for one year, in addition to seeking damages and penalties.

Related: SF City Attorney Files Lawsuit to Shut Down Tenderloin Corner Stores Raided for Being Gambling Dens

Following a judge’s order last week to release Tony Phillips after determining Mayor Lurie’s bodyguard initiated the fight and assaulted him, Phillips was arrested again Monday and booked on charges of violating a court order.

As the Chronicle reports, police officers encountered Phillips Monday while patrolling the alley at Cedar and Larkin streets, where the March 5 scuffle took place — an alleged violation of a stayaway order stemming from the incident, and a previous stayaway order pertaining to this block.

As SFist reported previously, neighborhood advocates have been concerned about potential overreach, as police began conducting sweeps and arrests in the alley following the incident.

Last Wednesday, Judge Sylvia Husing reviewed the video footage of the scuffle between SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail and suspect Tony Phillips, as SFist reported, and verified that Phillips was “violently assaulted" by one of the bodyguards, who initiated the altercation. Per SFist, Husing ordered that Phillips be released, in spite of his history of failing to appear in court and violating stayway orders.

As was previously reported, Phillips faced an attempted murder charge in 2019 pertaining to deadly fight that took place about a block away from the March 5 incident, but that charge was ultimately dropped for lack of evidence.

Phillips was scheduled to appear in court last Thursday on drug paraphernalia charges, as KTVU reported last week, as well as several misdemeanor relating to the previous stayaway order pertaining to Cedar Street.

Phillips’s defense attorney, Ivan Rodriguez, said he’s working to get Phillips into stable housing, per KTVU.

Phillips told KPIX last week that his only focus during the incident was protecting himself without hurting anyone else. As SFist reported last week, Phillips didn’t know at the time that Lurie’s bodyguard, who was in plainclothes, was a police officer.

“I was just trying to regain my balance while getting pushed off my feet, being attacked,” Phillips said. “That’s all I had on my mind — being attacked and trying not to attack nobody.”

Per KPIX, Phillips’s defense attorney, Ivan Rodriguez, said he’ll be requesting that District Attorney Brooke Jenkins look into the actions of Lurie’s security detail. As SFist reported, Rodriguez called into question Lurie’s habit of engaging with people on the street, saying it puts the community at risk and insisting that Lurie take accountability for his role in the incident.

"I don’t know how that’s right for the mayor to be doing so,” Rodriguez said. "I don’t think that’s leadership. I think that’s performative. It’s a situation where he put his security detail [and residents] at risk."

Per SFist, Lurie continued to defend his actions, saying it’s his job “to lean in,” which he’s modeling for other city department heads.

Phillips’s next court appearance was scheduled for April 15, per KTVU.

Image: Google Street View

Previously: Lawyer For Man Accused In Altercation With Bodyguard Says Mayor Lurie's Street Outreach Is 'Performative'

The lawyer for the man accused of assaulting Mayor Daniel Lurie's bodyguard in a Tenderloin alley last week suggests that the confrontation was entirely the mayor's fault, and he did not need to stop his vehicle to engage with the men on the street.

An initial report about last Thursday's altercation between SF Mayor Daniel Lurie's security detail and two men on the street at Cedar and Larkin streets suggested that the mayor and his bodyguards had exited the SUV after it was blocked from proceeding down the alley. But Lurie later clarified that he had stopped to talk to the two men becuase he was "worried about them" — as part of the ongoing on-the-street outreach he has done since taking office last year, specifically in the Tenderloin.

44-year-old Tony Shervaughn Phillips is now charged with assault on a police officer, and resisting an executive officer and causing great bodily injury, and he was arraigned on those charges Wednesday morning. Phillips additionally faces a charge of contempt of a court order, because he was reportedly under a court's stayaway order pertaining to the very block where the incident occurred. (We also learned last week that Phillips was a suspect in the the August 2019 killing of 42-year-old Curtis Neal on Fern Street, about two blocks away from where last week's incident occurred, but charges were ultimately dropped for lack of evidence.)

The bodyguard, an SFPD officer, reportedly intervened when Phillips appeared to move toward Lurie, and the ensuing scuffle was caught on video from at least two angles. One video showed the officer shoving Phillips to the ground before he got up and then began wrestling with the officer, quickly pulling him to the ground.

According to court documents, Phillips allegedly yelled "Bruce Lee I’ll kick your ass!" at the officer before the shove occurred.

Lurie could be seen walking out of the video frame as the tussling began. In the days since the incident, the mayor and his security detail have been accused of overreach, and Phillips's sister has spoken out about how her brother suffers from mental illness, telling the Chronicle that he also probably didn't know he was engaging with a police officer, because the security guard was dressed in a suit.

As the Chronicle reports, Phillips's defense lawyer, Ivan Rodriguez, spoke to reporters outside the courtroom after Phillips entered a not guilty plea Wednesday.

"I don’t know how that’s right for the mayor to be doing so,” Rodriguez said, regarding Lurie's outreach stop which led to the incident. "I don’t think that’s leadership. I think that’s performative. It’s a situation where he put his security detail [and residents] at risk."

Rodriguez further said Lurie was "wrong for what he did," and said the mayor should admit as much.

Lurie held firm in a Chronicle interview Wednesday, saying, "It is my job to lean in. If I’m not doing it, how can I expect my department heads and my [police department] and sheriff and park rangers to interact with people that are of concern?”

Lurie also tells the paper that "The video is an incomplete view of the situation," and that this was "the first time that there’s been any physical altercation out of hundreds and hundreds of interactions that I’ve had on the street."

He insists he's going to continue doing these check-ins with individuals on the streets, adding, "I did again this morning."

Previously: Two Men Charged In Altercation With Mayor's Bodyguards In Tenderloin

The two Tenderloin denizens who got into a street scuffle last week with bodyguards assigned to Mayor Daniel Lurie have been charged and will be arraigned Tuesday.

44-year-old Tony Shervaughn Phillips, the man seen on video tussling with one of Mayor Lurie's bodyguards Thursday night at the intersection of Cedar and Larkin streets, is now charged with resisting an executive officer and causing great bodily injury, as well as assault on a police officer, and contempt of a court order.

As District Attorney Brooke Jenkins explained at a press conference Monday afternoon, the latter charge relates to a stay-away order that had been issued to Phillips for the very location where the Thursday incident happened.

The DA's office also announced charges against the second man involved in the incident, 33-year-old Abraham Simon, and he's been charged with resisting or obstructing a police officer.

"We are seeking Mr. Phillips' detention in this case given the assaultive conduct that does present a public safety risk," Jenkins said, also noting the violation of the stay-away order.

As we learned last week, Phillips was previously arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a 2019 fight in which another man died in an alley near where Thursday's incident took place.

Over the weekend, new video surfaced showing the bodyguard pushing Phillips to the ground before the subsequent tussle began, leading to calls of possible police overreach.  As the Chronicle reports, the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability has confirmed that it is opened a probe into the incident, which involved two SF police officers assigned to Lurie's security detail.

Also over the weekend, Mayor Lurie was mocked by the California Post for walking away from the fight, in which his bodyguard sustained a head wound.

Previously: Advocates Express Concern Over Potential Police Overreach Following Mayor’s Tenderloin Scuffle

• Climate advocates say that the San Francisco Environment Department could be gutted under Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed plan for balancing the city’s budget. The plan would reduce the department’s city funding by 80%, and federal and state grant funding, which have historically accounted for a large portion of the department’s budget, have also dried up. [SF Examiner]
• The Tenderloin and Lower Nob Hill neighborhoods now have the highest number of Airbnbs in the city due to their proximity to downtown, beating out the Mission, which held the title for a decade. Perhaps this means heavy police presence in the area could potentially become a mainstay, as SFPD conducted at least one sweep Friday following the recent scuffle involving Mayor Daniel Lurie's security detail. [Chronicle/SFist]
• An Ebony Alert was issued for three teenagers, Kaliyah Jones, 17, London Scott, 15, and Xyer Thomas, 16, who were last seen in San Leandro, in the area of 163rd Avenue and East 14th Street, around 6:20 pm Friday, and it’s believed they’re on foot. [Bay Area News Group]
• Hundreds of thousands of spectators attended the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco Saturday, and prior to the festivities, lion dancers made appearances across the city, including Green Apple Books and a protest against US involvement in the Middle East. [Chronicle]

• Two students at Berkeley High School tested positive for the mumps last month, and while there’s no evidence of an outbreak, public health officials sent out an alert about potential exposure at the school on February 19 and 20. [NBC Bay Area]
• Olympic figure skater and gold medalist Alysa Liu, who’s still getting accustomed to her newfound fame, says a fan followed her to her car at the airport when she returned to the Bay Area after the Olympics. [Chronicle]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

There was heavy police presence on Cedar Street, an alley on the edge of the Tenderloin, following Thursday’s violent scuffle involving SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail, with two additional arrests Friday, and neighborhood advocates worry about potential overreach.

As Mission Local reports, police officers conducted a major sweep on Cedar Street near Jane Cafe in Lower Nob Hill Friday, following the scuffle that occurred Thursday between San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard and 44-year-old Tony Shervaughn Phillips, who was reportedly blocking the mayor’s SUV, along with multiple others.

As SFist reports, a second video of the incident surfaced Friday that shows the bodyguard shoving Phillips into a pile of debris — while Lurie stood a few feet away — prior to Phillips pushing the bodyguard to the ground, resulting in an abrasion to the bodyguard’s head.

At least two people were reportedly arrested during Friday’s sweep, as seen in the below video footage by X user jj smith, per Mission Local.

While advocates had hoped the incident would help shed light on the need for improvement on Tenderloin streets, they emphasized to Mission Local that heavy policing does more harm than good without the support of crucial community-based programs, which have been drastically cut in recent months, per the SF Examiner and Mission Local.

“We just don’t want to be in this cycle of moving folks around. We want to find a pathway to getting people healthy,” a law enforcement source told Mission Local. “If you get people healthy, you just eliminate so many issues.”

Randy Shaw, executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said the Tenderloin is largely ignored in city policies. “The Tenderloin needs a higher level of service than it is getting,” he told Mission Local. “That seems kind of obvious, but it hasn’t yet translated into a policy action.”

Shaw said the city’s neglect of the Tenderloin helps fuel MAGA rhetoric, and predictably, as Mission Local reports, both the New York Post and the account, Libs of TikTok, took the opportunity to mock Lurie for failing to step in during the scuffle.

The Chronicle spoke to Art Tilis, a local private investigator and former police officer, who says he considers Lurie’s habit of engaging with people on the street a security risk, especially when he's not willing to step in to help during conflict.

“I can’t believe he just walked away,” Tilis told the Chronicle. “All it takes is one other person to help put somebody on the ground.”

“You are not only putting yourself as mayor in harm’s way, you are also putting officers in harm’s way,” he added. “He shouldn’t be doing stuff like that if he doesn’t expect to help.”

Del Seymour, founder of the nonprofit Code Tenderloin, told Mission Local that people on Tenderloin streets are often dealing with addiction and mental health struggles, which makes their behavior unpredictable.

“You can’t be driving through the Tenderloin jumping out trying to be Mother Teresa,” Seymour told Mission Local. “You think you’re a celebrity being the mayor and you think everyone loves you, and most of us do, but there are people that don’t know who you are and you mean nothing to them.”

The mayor “has learned that now,” he added.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Image: Mayor Daniel Lurie's Security Detail Attacked In Tenderloin Scuffle, Two Injured

A strange and violent incident unfolded Thursday evening on a Tenderloin alley where SF Mayor Daniel Lurie's black SUV was reportedly blocked in by multiple people, and two of his security guards, both SFPD officers, became involved in a physical fight.

The incident happened just after 5:30 pm Thursday at the intersection of Polk and Cedar streets. As Mission Local reports, it appears that the mayor's SUV was coming down Cedar Street — an alley that runs parallel to Geary Street, between Van Ness and Larkin — when it was blocked by three individuals in the street.

Mayor Lurie himself reportedly got ouf of the vehicle to ask them to move, and they initially seemed to be complying, Mission Local reported via the SFPD, but then one individual began "talking gibberish" and refused to move. One SFPD officer assigned to the mayor's security detail then got out of the vehicle and tried to shuffle the man aside, but this is when the altercation began.

Video obtained by Mission Local shows Mayor Lurie briefly looking on and then walking out of the frame as this scuffle begins, but the suspect quickly overpowers the security officer and slams him to the ground — where he apparently hit his head.

A second officer was apparently engaged with another individual, which is not captured in the video.

The two officers both sustained non-life-threatening injuries — and a photo from the scene shows the first officer, who is bald, with a bloody abbrasion on the back of his head.

Other SFPD officers soon descended on the scene and arrested two suspects, as the Chronicle reports.

"We are grateful that the officers assigned to the mayor’s security detail acted swiftly and courageously to protect him in a dangerous and unpredictable situation,” said Louis Wong, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, in a statement.

The suspect who pulled the officer to the ground has since been identified as 44-year-old Tony Shervaughn Phillips. He is being held on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer with force likely to cause great bodily injury, threatening an officer, battering an officer, and possessing drug paraphernalia.

As the Chronicle reports, Phillips previously was arrested on suspicion of murder in 2019 but never faced charges. That arrest was in connection with the August 2019 killing of 42-year-old Curtis Neal on an alley not far from where Thursday's incident occurred. Neal was stabbed on Fern Street, about two blocks north, near Van Ness Avenue.

Phillips was accused of stabbing Neal in the course of a fight, but was not charged for lack of evidence, as the Examiner reported at the time.

Several of these alleys between Van Ness and Polk, including Cedar, Fern, and Willow streets, have been consistent magnets for homeless tents and encampments going back to pre-pandemic years.

The 37-year-old suspect in a February 11 homicide on Turk Street was arraigned Wednesday, and his defense is claiming that he acted in self-defense. The victim, however, was shot in the back and was only armed with pepper spray.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office has charged 37-year-old Sefanaia Alatini with murder in connection with the February 11 shooting on the 100 block of Turk Street. The incident, which took place in a small gated parking lot near Aunt Charlie's Lounge just before 9 am on a Wednesday morning, was captured on surveillance video.

Alatini works as a security guard for the parking lot, and according to prosecutors, video shows the unnamed victim engaging Alataini in a conversation. This is "followed by Mr. Alatini walking away and returning with a firearm," at which point the two continued to exchange words, and the victim then allegedly pulled out a small bottle and sprayed it in the direction of Alatini before turning to walk away.

"The video then allegedly shows Mr. Alatini shoot the victim in his back," the DA's Office says in a release.

The victim has not been publicly identified, and it's unclear whether the suspect and victim knew one another. Alatini apparently remained at the scene and was arrested later that same day.

The bottle that the victim pulled out was apparently pepper spray, and the DA's office does not believe that Alatini shot the victim in self-defense.

"What we did see is a brandishing of a firearm prior to the victim ever displaying pepper spray and/or using that pepper spray," says District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, per NBC Bay Area. "So actually in that sense, it would support the victim having used some form of self defense."

Alatini's arraignment happened Wednesday morning, and he was expected to plead not guilty. Prosecutors are asking that he be held without bail, due to the violence of the crime and due to a prior felony conviction from 2013 in Hawaii.

Public defenders are arguing that Alatini is a beloved member of his community, and over a dozen family members and friends were in court to support him Wednesday morning, as NBC Bay Area reports.

We'll update you once we learn the judge's decision regarding bail.

Previously: San Francisco Sees Another Homicide, the Second In a Week

Popular Tenderloin pizzeria Outta Sight may be outgrowing its Larkin Street storefront, but pizza may or may not even make it on the menu at the owners' new venture a few doors down, which will be called Reggie & Maude's.

The name is a nod to Reggie Gamble and Maude Spencer, two pioneering madams in the Tenderloin who led a sex workers' rights movement in 1917 as the city was trying to evict brothels, as Mission Local reports. And owners Eric Ehler and Peter Dorrance — both former Mister Jiu's chefs — say they plan to reopen the space at 460 Larkin as a dive bar with value-oriented prices and "top tier" bar food.

As Dorrance summed it up, "Wouldn’t that be cool if you could get a burger that’s really good, and a martini, for $20 bucks?"

They have not said whether their excellent pizzas will be available at the bar — not even the Tavern Pie?

The Larkin Street space was most recently home to Pomeroy Bar & Grill, but you may remember it as Irish pub Shovels pre-2025, and/or Harrington’s Harry Pub, which was its name for many years. And it's on the same block as the Outta Sight pizza shop that debuted four years ago, following Ehler's successful pandemic pop-up run at Fig & Thistle in Hayes Valley.

Outta Sight, which has received Chronicle raves and counts many fans, already expanded with a second location in Chinatown, at 643 Clay Street, which opened in January 2025.

The opening timeframe for Reggie & Maude's isn't totally clear — "hopefully sooner than later" was the line on the Instagram post about it. And, Ehler and Dorrance add, "we love the TL and want you to love it with us [heart emoji]."

And they likely don't want the place to stay dark long, as reportedly it's become a regular hang for UC Law students, whose campus is a short walk away.

Pomeroy Bar & Grill closed over the weekend, with owner Mark Yatabe telling Mission Local that it was closing because his partner wanted out of the business, and he wasn't interested in managing things on his own.

Photo via Yelp

This week: peak magnolia season, a library in the woods, fashion-forward utility wear, and the ethereal art of Christopher Burch. Also, local designers partner up with the NFL, the artist behind the Super Bowl 60 art, the return of Falafelland, and commemorating beans.

Field-ready type

Prior to kickoff, local artist Erin Fong’s hand‑printed artwork sets the tone for Super Bowl 60. Her bold letterpress designs now anchor the game’s official theme art, from digital tickets to printed programs, alongside a larger suite of hand-printed works honoring 60 years of Super Bowl history.

Fong produced the pieces by hand on a vintage Vandercook press, layering vivid color with wood type that carries its own quiet lineage. The full collection is on view at Moscone Center North during the Super Bowl Experience, running through Saturday. — 7x7

From trunk to sidelines

Nostalgia, the Bay Area streetwear brand co-founded by Jaden Yo‑Eco and Humbert Lee, is collaborating with the NFL for its Origins collection, timed with Super Bowl LX festivities. The duo went from selling T‑shirts out of a car trunk to designing pieces that reflect their Asian American heritage and Bay Area upbringing, blending cultural symbols with modern streetwear.

The collection highlights just three local brands. A handful of the new pieces will be available through the NFL Shop and pop-up events around San Francisco. — KPIX

Many-eyed stories

Christopher Burch’s portraits sit in a space between realism and folklore, grounding the viewer before slipping in something uncanny — extra eyes, symbolic hands, moments that feel both personal and mythic. Working across drawing, painting, sculpture, and music, the San Francisco artist uses these figures to explore shared memory, spirituality, and lived Black experience.

His new show, I’ll Be Back This Way, opens Saturday at Arcana with live music by The Revenge of the Four Fives, and his murals can be found around the city, including near Turk and Leavenworth and the African American Arts and Cultural Center. — Broke-Ass Stuart

Utility and craft

Shopping at Paloma SF in the Outer Richmond (formerly Hayes Valley) feels like stepping into someone’s well‑curated closet. Founder Laureano Faedi handcrafts leather goods under the SF Breakers label and designs the Gangs of San Francisco line, while also showcasing his favorite Japanese denim, workwear, and home goods pieces.

One standout includes a chore coat from the brand Tellason with a pocket that fits a full wine bottle — it definitely caught SFist’s eye on Instagram! Stop by the shop to see the pieces in person or explore custom items and accessories made on site. — Paloma SF/Instagram

Tenderloin homecoming

Billy Alabsi has worn many hats—limousine owner, blockchain developer, and restaurateur—before landing back in the Tenderloin with a new Falafelland. After losing his first restaurant and spending years traveling the country, taking odd jobs, recovering from car accidents, and even staying in a Los Angeles shelter with his family, he returned to San Francisco to open a small storefront.

His menu blends old favorites, like avocado-blueberry falafel, with new experiments, including a Dubai-inspired chocolate he’s been refining all morning. The shop carries ieces of Yemen and Alabsi’s boundless energy, while a city grant helped make this comeback possible. — Mission Local

Legumes as a lifestyle

In Berkeley, Madeline Schapiro, who goes by Bean Supporter online, has turned a nine-year obsession with beans into a public experiment. From her apartment kitchen to social media, she tests recipes ranging from red-lentil “gut bowls” to beanut butter cups, sharing both results and self-deprecating humor with her followers.

Her focus is practical, consisting of affordable, fiber-rich meals that support health and sustainability. Schapiro also hosts bean-centric meet-ups in Willard Park and partners with local organizations to encourage more plant-based eating, including work with Berkeley schools. — The Oaklandside

Magnolia season in bloom

The San Francisco Botanical Garden has entered its most colorful stretch of winter, with more than 200 magnolia trees flowering across the grounds. From the Himalayas to Mesoamerica, the garden’s collection spans dozens of species and cultivars, including rare and historic specimens like the Magnolia campbellii planted here in 1940.

Visitors can wander through the Camellia, Moon Viewing, and Garden of Fragrance areas while catching peak bloom, which the Gardens expect to last through early March. Sketching workshops and field guide sessions are happening this weekend and next for those who want to linger among the petals. — Secret San Francisco

Literary refuge in the redwoods

Tucked into the Big Sur forest, the Henry Miller Memorial Library feels like a place out of time. Visitors move from the art-lined path outside to shelves filled with books that were once smuggled into the country, settling into velvet chairs or petting the resident cat while the world slows down.

Sculptures like the “Technological Crucifixion” jolt you out of scrolling habits before you even reach the stacks, and inside, the quiet of reading takes over. The library welcomes families and travelers alike, offering a chance to linger among Miller’s works and the surrounding redwoods. — Travel Realizations/Instagram

Top image: Christopher Burch

Previously: Field Notes: Free Trinkets, Wild Garlic Season, Oscar Grant, and ‘Taking a Knee’ During the Anthem

Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen is back with another splashy donation, this time $5 million for a plan to add new security gates to businesses on Larkin Street, plus to power-wash the sidewalks more and put up more lights.

Mayor Daniel Lurie has been passing the hat among his ultrawealthy friends lately to get private donations to clean up San Francisco’s ills. But Ripple Labs co-founder and local $15 billion man Chris Larsen has been on that jam for years.

Larsen notoriously paid for privately funded surveillance cameras all over town in 2019, and last year donated $10 million for SFPD drones and surveillance tools. On less controversial notes, Larsen donations have also single-handedly saved this year’s Fillmore Jazz Festival, propped up Downtown First Thursdays for another year, and also helped to fund the Downtown Development Corporation that put those murals on the dead mall SF Centre, so that it does not look like a dead mall to Super Bowl tourists.

And Larsen is at it again. The Chronicle reports that Larsen has made a $5 million private donation to revitalize Larkin Street, the Tenderloin corridor that’s home to popular restaurants Naan n Curry, House of Thai, and Draymond Green’s new place Meski, but many feel has been a more blighted area since the pandemic.

“Now it’s time to really think big — how can you go beyond anything that’s been there before?” Larsen told the Chronicle. “If the Tenderloin’s not doing well, the city’s not doing well.”

The most significant aspect of this donation is that it will reportedly provide 20 of these “decorative security gates” that will be backlit (with changing colors!) to look cool at night, and additionally protect the storefronts from break-ins or vandalism.

According to the Chronicle, “The project will also include enhanced lighting, daily pressure-washing to keep sidewalks clean, and expanded street ambassador teams to provide additional security.”

So why Larkin Street, instead of Polk or some other street? As the Chronicle explains, Larsen’s wife is a native of Cambodia, they like eating at Little Saigon neighborhood restaurants, and they think the neighborhood looks awful lately.

Larsen sells himself as an anti-crime crusader, but his company has been on the wrong side of the law before. Biden’s SEC tried to fine Ripple Labs $2 billion for selling unregistered securities as if they were registered. Once Trump was in office, Ripple Labs brown-nosed Trump to the tune of $5 million, and that fine was reduced to a mere $125 million.

So it is fair to connect Chris Larsen with other tech companies that pay-for-play when it comes toTrump. But if this effort succeeds in improving the quality of life in the Tenderloin and on Larkin Street, we’re happy to see that $5 million of Larsen’s crypto money was spent to that end.

Related: Fillmore Jazz Festival Back On Thanks to Donation [SFist]

Image: Google Street View

A stabbing on Saturday night in San Francisco's Tenderloin left one person injured, and a subsequent shooting on Sunday evening injured a second person. The shooting suspect remains at large.

The first incident occurred Saturday just before 7:10 pm in the area of Leavenworth and Turk streets. Police responded to a report of a stabbing, and found a male victim lying on the ground at the scene, suffering from life-threatening stab wounds, as KTVU reports.

According to the SFPD, two male suspects were soon identified and arrested for the stabbing.

"Officers developed probable cause and placed 45-year-old male Mario Pacheco and 53-year-old male Pablo Soberanis Medina, both from San Francisco, under arrest," the department said in a statement.

No motive for the stabbing was released.

Subsequently, a few blocks away at Eddy and Taylor streets, a person was shot and wounded on Sunday evening in an unrelated incident. As KTVU reports, the shooting occurred just before 5:10 pm, and the gunshot wound was determined to be non-life-threatening.

No suspect has been identified in that shooting, and an investigation is ongoing.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Photo by David Jowanka

• In addition to BART fares increasing by 6.2%, tolls on seven Bay Area bridges will go up by 50 cents January 1, including the Bay, Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges, but not the Golden Gate Bridge. [NBC Bay Area]
• The 60 tenants who were displaced by the large fire in the Tenderloin earlier in December still haven’t been able to retrieve their belongings from the building, and they’re demanding answers from Mosser, the building’s management company. [KRON4]
• Raw oysters are the suspected link in a widespread case of salmonella, which has affected 64 people across 22 states, with around 20 being hospitalized but no reported deaths. [ABC News]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist