by Jack Morse

In an apparent doubling down on his controversial April comment that "there won’t be any room" for San Francisco's homeless once the Super Bowl 50 Fan Village is up and running, Mayor Ed Lee yesterday told KPIX 5 that "[the homeless] are going to have to leave."

As KPIX reports, the homeless have no place in the Mayor's Super Bowl plans:

In about six months, San Francisco is going to transform into the center of the football universe for Super Bowl 50. With part of Market Street being converted to Super Bowl City, the mayor said the homeless in the area must clear out.

“They are going to have to leave,” Lee said, summing up his plan for how to handle the homeless when Super Bowl festivities come to town.

“We’ll give you an alternative. We are always going to be supportive. But you are going to have to leave the streets.”

Perhaps wary of the optics of prioritizing a "fan village" over the city's less fortunate, the Mayor attempted to portray his plan as one in the interest of San Francisco's homeless population. Again, from KPIX 5:

“They can’t be on the streets,” the mayor said. “Not just because it is illegal, but because it is dangerous for them.”

The Justice Department may have something to say about that comment about being on the streets being "illegal." And why it is atypically dangerous for the those without homes to be on the street during the Super Bowl is unclear, especially as the event will likely bring increased security with it. But Lee is standing his ground.