SF News SF Rec and Parks Chief Phil Ginsburg Stepping Down After 16 Years The head of the SF Rec and Park Department Phil Ginsburg announced his departure Monday, amid controversies over the car-free Great Highway and the finances of the SF Park Alliance, though it appears he just got a better-paying job.
SF News Jilted Neighborhood Groups Vent Over How Much of Their Money the SF Parks Alliance Made Disappear We heard from several small organizations Thursday about how much of their money the SF Parks Alliance blew through before that group dissolved this week, but it sure looks like there will be subpoenas issued, and audits to autopsy what all went wrong.
SF News Mayor Breed Presses Forward With Embarcadero Plaza Revamp on Eve of Election On the last day before Election Day, SF Mayor London Breed held a press conference in Embarcadero Plaza, announcing a public-private partnership that, if approved by the Supes, intends to entirely remake the plaza along with the adjacent Sue Bierman Park.
Arts & Entertainment SF’s Most New Expensive Park Opening Saturday, as India Basin Waterfront Park Spruces Up Hunters Point After being fenced off for years, the 2.5-acre India Basin Waterfront Park at 900 Innes has its grand opening Saturday, and will eventually be part of sprawling 65-acre park that hopes to rejuvenate Bayview and Hunters Point.
SF Politics $1.7 Million Noe Valley Public Toilet Will Now Only Cost the City $300K The city of San Francisco is reportedly being gifted a pre-fab public restroom to install at a small park in Noe Valley, saving the design and construction costs that helped jack up the price tag on the project to $1.7 million last year. But it's still going to cost $300K?
Arts & Entertainment Check Out Some New Public Art — and Doggie Diner Heads — In Golden Gate Park This Weekend The Golden Mile Project, the latest project from Illuminate — the nonprofit that put up the Bay Lights and did that rainbow laser installation up Market Street during Pride — has brought a series of public art pieces to JFK Drive.
SF News Rec and Parks Gets Ripped Off for $4.5 Million In Cost Overruns on Portsmouth Square Parking Garage An alphabet soup of transit authorities and nonprofit organizations was responsible for a Chinatown parking garage renovation that was completed four years late and went $4.5 million over budget, but a city auditor blames lax Rec and Parks Department oversight.
SF Politics Audit Finds $3.5 Million In Anonymous Donations to SF Parks Alliance, Calls Out 'Potential Conflicts of Interest' Supervisor Connie Chan is not done snooping into the finances of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, with an audit she ordered finding millions in anonymous donations, but no smoking gun.
SF Politics Parks Alliance Pushes Back On Accusations, Tells Supervisor Chan to Kiss Richmond Playground Goodbye The drama! A wealthy San Francisco nonprofit that helps support the city's Rec and Parks Department is having none of Richmond District Supervisor Connie Chan's insinuations.
SF News Blue Boy, One of the Two Swans at the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon, Has Died From Zinc and Lead Poisoning A 17-year-old male mute swan, one of two who have ruled over the lagoon at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, died last week of apparent zinc and lead poisoning — which his mate was also being treated for in recent weeks.
Arts & Entertainment Rec & Parks Looks to Keep Giant Ferris Wheel In Golden Gate Park Through 2025 Originally slated as a one-year installation that was part of the celebration of the Golden Gate Park sesquicentennial, the 150-foot-tall observation wheel at the Music Concourse might get a four-year extension.
SF News Washington Square Park Takes Its Turn For Six-Month Closure, Upgrades Following on the renovations in recent years of Alamo Square and Dolores Parks, North Beach's Washington Square Park is now taking its turn — specifically to upgrade a 65-plus-year-old irrigation system that was wasting more water than any other city park.
SF News New 17-Mile ‘San Francisco Crosstown Trail’ Connects City’s Parks, Hiking Trails, and Little-Known Outdoor Gems The newly christened hiking route creates a diagonal trip across San Francisco, turning our seven-by-seven city into a 16.5-mile hike or bike trip.
SF News Security Camera Installation Begins At Dolores Park We heard the news earlier this month — San Francisco would be installing security cameras in Dolores Park, the popular Mission District hangout that's seen a recent wave of violence. And it
SF News Justin Herman Plaza About To Be Renamed, But Rec & Parks Commission Flubs Vote The name of Justin Herman is all but certainly going to be removed from the plaza at the foot of Market Street, but a vote taken by the Recreation and Parks Commission in
SF News Land Under SF Freeway Overpasses Could Soon Become Parks San Francisco might have more than a few new parks in its future as 10 plots of land located underneath the city's elevated freeways could potentially be converted to parks and
SF News Appalling Embarcadero Fountain Would Cost a Half Million Dollars To Turn Back On I love the angular Vaillancourt Fountain, the 40-foot tall concrete tangle of disjointed modernist square tubes at the northern end of Justin Herman Plaza, mostly thanks to fond memories of the location
SF News SF Parks Department Moves To Ban Sandboxes When you consider the playgrounds you frolicked in as a child, they might be Mad Max-esque hellscapes to a kid of today — youngsters flying off out-of-control merry-go-rounds, teeter-
SF News Vandal Melts Slides, Causes $1 Million Damage To Popular Golden Gate Park Playground An early-morning arson fire destroyed a popular Golden Gate Park playground Sunday, an act that will cost a million dollars to repair. NBC Bay Area reports that firefighters were called to the
Arts & Entertainment Sneak Preview: Conservatory of Flowers 'Summer of Love' Projections Come Alive The wildly anticipated trippy Summer of Love light show at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has its grand lighting ceremony Wednesday night, but the technical and artistic aces of Illuminate
SF News Video: Dozens Of Horses On The Loose In Golden Gate Park Giddyup! Horses got loose from a stable in Golden Gate Park this morning. https://t.co/bq7ykbEngs pic.twitter.com/KskVbswgNJ — Lisa Fernandez (@ljfernandez) June 7, 2017 More than two dozen horses got
Arts & Entertainment Summer of Love Anniversary Concert Is Really, Definitely Not Happening It’s not like San Francisco has a shortage of 50th anniversary commemorations of the 1967 Summer of Love squat-in, with a "Summer of Love Experience" exhibit underway at the
Arts & Entertainment Video: Drone Footage Of The Newly Renovated Alamo Square The fences have come down, the dogs have returned to their long-closed play space, and Alamo Square Park is open once again, for the first time in a year following a $5.
Arts & Entertainment Get Ready For Alamo Square's Post-Makeover Unveiling On Wednesday After a year and a $5.3 million renovation that's just a few months behind schedule, Alamo Square Park finally reopens Wednesday, having been purposefully kept fenced off until the Bay
SF News Huge Fines Proposed for Dolores Park Litterbugs As sure as the sun rises every Sunday and Monday morning, the sun will greet a completely trashed Dolores Park landscape following any warm weekend afternoon. Park revelers have been leaving hundreds of
