That Tenderloin “corner store curfew” that shuts liquor stores down at midnight could be extended to a whole bunch of SoMa and beyond, as Supervisor Matt Dorsey wants corner stores shut down earlier in hopes of deterring crime.

Back when London Breed was still mayor, her idea to clamp down on the notorious drug trade and nighttime street circus that pervaded the Tenderloin District was to shut down corner liquor stores earlier in parts of the Tenderloin, and prohibit them from doing business between midnight and 5 am. That proposal got passed into law in June 2024 (taking effect the following month), and liquor stores on this 20-block area of the Tenderloin are now forced to close at midnight. That law is a pilot program that will remain in effect until July 2026.

But as seen above, Supervisor Matt Dorsey wants midnight curfews slapped on more corner stores — particularly in his South of Market District 6, and very particularly on the notoriously beleaguered Sixth Street. Dorsey floated the idea of a SoMa corner store curfew a couple months ago, but now it’s a concrete proposal with a specific map of where the liquor stores would be forced to close between midnight and 2 am.    

“This is a strategy that works, and it’s absolutely worth expanding to the 6th Street corridor and adjacent parts of SoMa that are disproportionately harmed by drug-driven lawlessness,” Dorsey aid in a Tuesday press release. “At the same time, I also recognize we’re asking many law-abiding small businesses to sacrifice to help solve problems they haven’t caused. I truly appreciate the many businesses willing to do their part, so we can give the neighborhood an overnight cooling off period — and make it a less welcoming environment for public drug use, drug dealing, and all the drug-driven lawlessness like illegal fencing operations that fund rampant drug use.”

As seen from the map above, Dorsey’s curfew expansion would result in earlier corner store closures between Market and Folsom streets, pretty much from Third Street way down to South Van Ness, plus also an additional patch of the Tenderloin. And as you can imagine, South of Market corner stores absolutely hate the idea.

“It’s not fair at all,” Sixth and Minna street’s ICU Market Deli & Ice Cream co-owner Hassan Manea told the Examiner. “We run businesses the way they are supposed to be run.”

Dorsey’s legislation was just technically introduced today, and will likely be heard in committee meetings for a month or two until the full Board of Supervisors votes on it. If the supervisors approve Dorsey’s SoMa corner store curfew, it would be a temporary program left in place for only 18 months.

Related: SF Supervisor Wants Tenderloin Liquor Store Curfew Expanded Into SoMa [SFist]

Image: Ed U via Yelp