Just a few days before people were performing fellatio in the streets of San Francisco, New York City's famed Naked Cowboy was arrested in Union Square. Sporting a cowboy hat, a guitar, and some "skin-tight underpants" (hey, that's technically not naked!), Robert Burck was picked up by SFPD for "performing his act in a restricted area." Burck, according to reports, was ticked for violating "rules posted in Union Square against soliciting and playing an instrument."(Whew.......

While most mainstream media didn't cover last week's suicide, which happened last Thursday on Powell Streets H&M/The Odeon building, an SFist commenter pointed out that the Examiner did. Their article on the noontime tragedy was quite revealing: ...

We just received the following, rather tragic alert from a reader:...

Even with all the nasty weather, this weekend proved to be yet another violent one in San Francisco. For sure. After five shootings took place within a 24-hour time period, two people lost their lives. Let's go to the rewind, folks: Yesterday, on Rosie Lee Lane in the Bayview district, Torrance Gray, 16, was found dead of multiple gunshots wounds. SFPD were responding to a call when they found him. A few hours earlier,......

Free Rides on New Years Eve!...

They must. Otherwise the store would go out of business. [Sorry to go all Noe Valley on you lovely readers, but yes, one more SFist writer is knocked up and ready to rant.] A Pea in a Pod near Union Square was on the list of dreaded maternity-clothes-shopping destinations when we realized that we could no longer button our jeans. Mistake. Big mistake. APIAP's non-designer jeans (We are not spending $130 on elastic-banded 7 For......

Photo of GM's new plug-in electric car concept...

We came back from taking down the recycling yesterday evening to find we had locked ourselves out of our apartment. "Noooo!!" [Insert Emo Darth Vader ballad here. Warning -- audio.] We dialed the apartment manager on the call-box but got his voice mail. Lucky for us, the manager, who wouldn't be back until 10:00, called our s.o., who wouldn't be back until 8:00, and our s.o. called our friend who lives a few blocks away.......

No, not Frank Chu -- although a Gav versus a crazy would be most fascinating, indeed -- Carmen Chu. Let's back up a bit here: In her first hickory-bold move since taking over for he who shall remain nameless, Chu decided to chip away at the homeless problem in the Sunset. Chu, according to the Examiner, "publicly demanded that several city departments come up with a specific plan to address her west side district’s homeless......

-- Really? At Union Square? Where we sit and enjoy our Border's-bought cream cheese stuffed pretzel? Let's back up a bit: according to SF Crime, a 16-year-old boy was shot while kicking it in the Union Square area at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. "A bullet struck the teen in the ankle and he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital in stable condition" just 30 minutes after SFPD responded to yet another......

Today's toy test event in Union Square....

Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, the day where big retail shoppers traditionally break even for the year! Traditionally considered the biggest shopping day of the year! Is it retail therapy? ....Or is it kowtowing to the gods of capitalism and binding the workers who long to be free? Well, if you're heading out to Union Square today but feel kind of guilty about it, you can at least make yourself feel a little better......

Blah blah blah soup kitchens blah blah fun-runs blah holiday schedules. All that stuff's fascinating, of course, but here's what we really want to know: Muni, where can we find all the hottest Xmas shopping deals? Aside from Dress Barn, of course. Fear not, shoppers, for Muni's assembled a guide to holiday buying, starting on the day after Thanksgiving and extending to late December. Thanks to the MTA, you are now fully prepared to......

Photos of the doggies and kitties in the windows of Macy's Union Square...

Photo of protest by Filipino-American's at the Disney Store....

With Gavin caught up in a tough re-election campaign against...ummm...well...huh.... he's started playing up his street people street cred. Recently, he announced a plan to deal with all the vagrants caught doing vagrant-like by sending out "Homeless Outreach Teams" to deal with it. The teams consist of police officers and social services and when they catch somebody doing something unpleasant, they're supposed to give them a choice between going into outreach services or being issued a citation, which as far as we can tell, is the handing out of giant frowny faces that will be put on a giant white board in the local police station. The program will be focused on targeted areas around Union Square and SOMA, read, tourist traps. Apparently, tourists don't appreciate seeing people defecate in the streets while riding the Cable Cars and eating soup in a sourdough roll-- kinda gives new meaning to the phrase "San Francisco Treat." Gavin has been putting putting some of these policies into effect lately but is now making a bigger deal out of it. ...

Film Night in the Park Union Square...

We feel way dirty for posting this, but maybe someone cares. According to what is supposedly actually Paris Hilton's blog via some youth-oriented contraption called "MySpace," the omnipresent socialite is going to be at Macy's Union Square tomorrow at 3 p.m. to launch her clothing line....

Some very sad news. According to Bay City News, "[t]wo men among the midday shoppers" smashed the storefront window at Gucci (Union Square) and stole an undisclosed amount of jewelry. No one has yet to be arrested for the luxury-store violation. During midday? Really? Wow. Were they super villains? Because how else did they evade capture in the afternoon light? Someone at Burning Man is found and arrested for flicking their Bic during a......

Who doesn't love free movies? Comcast and cable channel IFC are sponsoring three nights of free movies starting today through Thursday in Union Square, to celebrate the awesomeness of indie film. Plus: free! They're screening Raising Arizona tonight, and Napoleon Dynamite on Thursday, but the one we're guessing will have the entire town crammed onto that little concrete plaza outside Macy's is tomorrow's screening of every single human being in the world's favorite movie, The......

A lot fewer people activated their iPhones than expected. Apple stock drops about 5% on the news. That guy who started Netscape just sold his new company to HP for $1.6 billion in cash. He gets $138 million of it. The company he just sold (Opsware, originally LoudCloud) makes software for servers. They're coming out with a cheaper high-def TiVo. Everyone's abuzz about those YouTube/CNN debates last night. Is the power still out at Craigslist/Six......

We got these great pictures of the iPhone debut at the Apple Store in Union Square from Matt Johnson, a visiting staffer from our sister site Phillyist. Hope you had a nice time in San Francisco, Matt! The Chron reports that there were over 200 people in line, but you didn't actually have to wait in line to get one -- the last person in line got in a couple minutes before 6 and......

Unlike the way things work on Geary, just south, the block of Post between Leavenworth and Jones features no low-budget street vendors hawking old sweat pants and older Singer sewing machines. If that doesn’t put the “Nob” in “TenderNob,” what does? Welcome to the neighborhood whose name would get you immediately escorted out of a proper English tea garden party. Post seems to be the southern border of this ‘tweener section of town: Nob Hill shines to the north, Union Square falls due east, while the Tenderloin lurks in the other two directions. A few walls here may still get tagged, but it’s a different game on this mixed-use stretch of Post: one part business, another part residence, and still another part lodging....

Got old athletic shoes? Put them to good use. Help Nike turn old sneaks into community playing surface . The company's program has turned more than 19 million pairs of unwanted shoes into so-called "Nike Grind" for that purpose -- notable city spots include a basketball court in Hunter's Point and the first tee at Harding Park golf course. Until May 30, you can take your old athletic shoes to the Union Square Niketown (Post at Stockton)....

There was a huge and spectacular fire at an abandoned warehouse on Treasure Island early Thursday morning. The SFFD let it burn because there was no risk that the fire would spread and it was too dangerous to send people in. They had to use the fire boat (which uses water from the bay) to put out the flames because there wasn't enough water pressure on Treasure Island itself for the hydrants to work. A......

What did we see parked in Union Square but a Cushamn-type three-wheel motorcycle parked amongst the scooters. It appears that somebody is using an auctioned-off parking patrol vehicle as personal transportation. Groovy customizations include a purple Muppet pelt seat cover and, of course, everybody's favorite undocumented botanist, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, who seems to have an injury even a glowing finger couldn't fix. Is this legal? Perhaps this is the start of an "auto rickshaw"......

Update: So hey! We just got this in our inbox. JetBlue is giving away round-trip tickets to the first 150 people who show up in Union Square tomorrow Saturday (we totally thought today was Friday) dressed up as their favorite New York icon and carrying two or more canned goods to give away to a local food bank. Contest starts at 10 a.m., line starts at 7 a.m. SFist will throw in your lunch for......

Running a little late today! Here's today's story of awesomeness! You know Project Prom, the protest where teenage girls dress in prom dresses and combat boots to support safe cosmetics in Union Square? (We' might be getting some pictures of it, and if you have any, tag 'em SFist on Flickr!) Well, one girl was at Tuesday's protest in a silver prom dress, tiara, and boots when a group of three guys raced by and......

Dazzle yours senses with SFist tonight's picks... Music by the Eyeful The first of three concerts featuring inventions in visual audio, exploring the moving boundaries between music, film, optics, graphics, loops and reels. Guest curated by Suki O'Kane [www.myspace.com/sukiokane], musician and curator of The Illuminated Corridor, an outdoor cinema project in Oakland. Event starts at 8pm with a $6-$10 sliding scale. Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market Street, SF. Celebrity Chef Alert! Join Food Network's Tyler......

We're getting so upset to have to keep writing the same post over and over again -- yet another San Francisco independent bookstore is shutting its doors. This time, it's the not-so-long-ago opened Cody's SF, next to the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, who made it about a year and a half before the news today. Is that retail space cursed or what? The store's last day will be April 20, but the Cody's......