bay, protecting the fact that our bay had for many decades until bcdc came along, been encroached by developments that not everyone thought was appropriate. and i think it's so special that we are focused today on making sure that this very spot and spots around the entire bay are protected. one of the interesting design aspects of what we stand on right now is that this is built to withstand sea level rise because we know over the next 50 years, it's estimated anywhere from 18 to 55 inches worth of sea rise will happen because of our environment. so, i want to thank bcdc for that. i also, of course, want to add and echo my thanks to the voters of san francisco for approving bond measures in 2008 and 2012 to get this done. we know that this spot for decades to come will allow us to celebrate the history of our city, allow us to celebrate the very best of the present of our city, and allow us to continue in making sure that san francisco is the most amazing destination in the entire world for the 21st century.

thank you so much. (applause) >> thank you very much, president chiu. i really appreciate your kind words on behalf of all of us at the port and the other city departments. you know, this work was scheduled to be done by 2020. it's 2013. it's a really good thing. and it could not have come as quickly or frankly as inspirationally without the work of all of our partners at the community advisory committees and our neighbors. and i want to say a special thank you to all of the volunteers who have dedicated themselves so tirelessly. i want to start by thanking our friend mimi for her leadership and tenacity on this. (applause) >> michael sweet who i saw in the crowd somewhere. [speaker not understood], and ellen in particular. karin woods, isabelle wade, [speaker not understood], and redmond. they have passed on but they

left us something really beautiful and we're pleased about that. i just want to say a special word of thanks to all of the community that live here. thank you so much for your dedication to this project, for your patience, for your tolerance as we close bike lanes, we close passage through lanes, we close the sidewalks, we drove piles, we poured cement, we laid grass. it was all worth it, and we really appreciate how tolerant and patient and the cheer leaders that you've been in doing that. so, thank you so much. and a special thank you to the district 6 supervisor who has remained equally vigilant, but also very tolerant and patient, our very own jane kim. please help me in welcoming supervisor kim. (applause) >> first of all, what a treat to have otis redding iii here with us this morning. i am a huge fan.

and as an elected official, as a politician, many of my role models are musicians and otis redding is one of them. and he sang my favorite version of the sam cook song, a change is going to come. beautiful, beautiful rendition. and it is amazing to have you here to bless this site where he based his last song before he died too young. as a district supervisor for this area, i am genuinely excited to welcome a new park into our district. many of our residents know this. we have the fewest parks and we have the smallest parks in the city. and compared to residents of other parts that may have 25 acres per residence, we have less than one, about .7. so, this park is a very important addition to completing the neighborhood that we live in. an active waterfront helps

address this deficit and i'm excited to see 57,000 square feet of a park and 400 foot expansive green go up in this neighborhood. and monique said it, that this neighborhood really lives through that. and, so, i want to thank our residents. we fielded many calls as people lived through the building of the neighborhood around them. but i want to thank this neighborhood because planners and architects and developers, we can build a neighborhood, but people have to choose to live here. and the residents who chose to live in south beach and rincon hill and mission bay knew they weren't just come tog a place where they could call their neighborhood home. they knew that it was a place where the neighborhood would continue to build while they invested their lives here. and it also meant they would have to continue to be engaged and active around the neighborhood planning and future of their neighborhood. and so many of our residents are here. i'll name a couple that have been incredibly active working with our office, working with

the port, working throughout the neighborhood. katy lydel, rincon hill neighborhood. robert mans field. alice rodgers from southpark improvement association. mimi filbert, you were here way before many others were here with delancy street foundation. you experienced the brunt we're experiencing today. it is a beautiful new addition to this area connecting to the blue greenway which will be a 13-mile corridor along san francisco's southeastern waterfront that started here. karin woods, already mentioned our citizen bay advisory committee. many these folks are advising us on an equally noncontroversial project on the waterfront. [laughter] >> which we'll hear more about in the next year and a half. i also want to welcome the relative of the late wong fu

yen who is with us today. both mayor and chiu mentioned this. we have a new wall to recognize the special contribution that asians and asian americans have made to this part of the waterfront and the city. as was mentioned, 9 the waterfront was the place asian immigration came to the united states and the california gold rush certainly brought a steady influx of asian american laborers who helped to build the infrastructure of this country, including our railroads. on june 23rd, 1877, a huge mob attacked chinese businesses here and headed for the local symbol of chinese immigration, the pacific mall wharf where we stand today. they tried to burn the beer, but failed. i think it's important that we recognize and remember our history because as we move forward, as we celebrate our victories, our progress, it's really important to remember those that came before us and the history that was here today. but most importantly, i'm here

to celebrate this open space, will be an incredibly important addition and resource for our families, our kids, our seniors who want to encourage to continue to stay here in san francisco and be a part of this thriving, vibrant neighborhood and community. but again, i'm most grateful for the fact to work with residents who are so engaged, that care so deeply about the city and neighborhood, that they volunteer tons of their hours when they can be doing other thing, making sure that they are a part of that. so, thank you. (applause) >> thank you, supervisor kim. we really appreciate it. if i could all direct all of your attention to her fabulous psychedelic boots, befitting of this moment. [laughter] >> i told mr. redding she put those on especially for him. it was very apropos as always. thank you so much. we've had many, many partners, and one of the biggest was from

the federal government. as you may know, this project went from being about an $11 million project to about a $26 million project and had a few surprises for those that related to the seawall and some of the other things we wanted to do. with the help of congresswoman nancy pelosi, we were able to find $5 million in grant funds to close that gap and move this project forward. and it created for us not just the ability to do this great project, but the ability to find ourselves a fabulous new partner in the united states army corps of engineers. so, i want to say a very big thank you to the [speaker not understood] people, especially tessa bernhardt for your dedication and your help in getting our old and blighted pier 36 out of this great bay to make room for this new addition. and i especially want to say thanks to leader pelosi for always advocating for ports around this country, especially our port, for the work that she

does to make sure that the jobs that ports provide stay in place not just in our ports but around the country. and for one of her most brilliant decisions ever, which was the hiring of dan bernau as chief of staff for the san francisco office. [laughter] >> and his tireless leadership, his dedication to biking, our waterfront in preparation for his statewide ride, and just his true great friendship. so, please join me in welcoming dan bernau. (applause) >> wow, thank you monique. well, leader pelosi was already disappointed she couldn't be here today, but wait until i tell her about otis redding and all our friends up here and in the audience, mimi, veronika, david liu which is, all of you here. she missed out. while she couldn't be here she asked me to bring a greeting which i'll read now. dear friends, thank you, mayor lee, members of the board of supervisors, and the port commission for inviting me to

the special ribbon cutting at the new brandon street wharf. thanks for the port of san francisco and the san francisco bacon certification and development commission for their vision in preserving and enhancing our magnificent and historic waterfront. while congressional business keeps me in washington today, i join you in spirit to celebrate the transformation of a once dilapidated pier into an exciting new space for out door recreation. ~ i wish i could be with you on this special day to enjoy otis redding's rendition of his father's dock of the bay. pier 36 was condemned due to deterioration. democrat laytion not only removed environmental hazards in san francisco bay, but opened the door for enhancing the connections between san franciscans and our beautiful waterfront. i have been proud to fight for federal resources to fill fa* sill tate for the south beach neighbors and all of san francisco. today the brannon street wharf with its public space is new

park has become another jewel along san francisco's magnificent embarcadaro. the open spaces and plazas will provide a safe and healthy environment for san francisco's families and children to gather and the interpretive exhibits including the beautiful portrait of wong fu yen will help visitors and residents learn about san francisco's rich labor and maritime history and vibrant immigrant communities. thank you again to mayor lee and mayors newsom and brown before him for making this possible and best wishes for memorable celebration. best regards, nancy pelosi, democratic leader. thank you. (applause) >> thank you, dan, very much. and please take our best and most gracious respects back to congresswoman pelosi, your colleagues in your san francisco office and of course in the capital. they are just fabulous for all of us. another group that needs recognition is the port commissioners themselves,

present and past. they have been with us for this project along the way. they have worked hard to marshal scarce resources to make this project possible as the budget kept rising and the need to do more work kept rising with it. and to say a few words of gratitude on all of our behalf, please welcome port commission president doreen wuho. (applause) >> thank you, monique. and i will try to be brief. you've had a lot of speeches. but i'm just as excited to be here and having heard that song, it really brought back memories as well. just two years ago as you heard, this newly constructed wharf and beautiful space was a thousand feet of closed waterfront. you've heard all the obstructions we had, and had a chain link fence and red tag as we call and was not usable. now it's the center piece of the waterfront. a new public space that welcomes the city to the bay. and thanks to the hard work and diligence of many people. i just want to reiterate, open space is a very important

component of the port's planning process for the development of the waterfront and the commission works very hard with the port staff. in the port's waterfront land use plan, our blueprint for the 7-1/2 miles of waterfront, we make a conscious effort to plan and maintain open access for the benefit of our residents and our visitors. and the port now has 86 acres of open space which is about 10% of the port property. and our ongoing plan can youxv for increasing this amount to 28 acres within the next eight years. so, this is not the beginning or the end, but we're in the midst of what we're trying to do. but as you know, you heard from all the other speakers, providing open space is a very expensive undertaking. in the past 13 years, the port has spent approximately 109 million on public spaces. and we've been able to do this, as you heard various sources of funding, but we want to acknowledge in particular today the tax payers of san francisco that have passed the two general obligation bonds in 2008 and 2012 that have made

our open space programs possible. and our partnership, as i said earlier, with our local, state, and federal agencies. this important project is also about our bay and everybody mentioned the important part in terms of addressing the seawall and addressing the sea level rise in the future. so, we hope to use this park to educate people about how active our bay and tides are with tidal columns that illustrate tidal change we experience each day. the change that can go up as high as eight feet. so, the port's open space is a reason for many people, both local as well as tourists to visit the waterfront in san francisco and we have become one of the most visible and loved waterfronts, i think, in the world. and all of us at the port commission are extremely proud of that. but i also want to mention as i have mentioned earlier, this is not really the work of just the current commission and i want to thank again mayor ed lee, the board of supervisors, bcdc, and the port commission. and our current port

commissioner which leslie is here today, my other fellow commissioners, commissioner kim lee brandon, commissioner willie adams, and commissioner murphy. and our former port commissioners. (applause) >> fx crowley, rodney fong who is here, mike halstead [speaker not understood], and dennis mccarthy and brian williams. they worked hard to make this day possible. and i have to recognize you again, mimi, for all the work that you have done. monique moyer and her staff have been very active in development of the brannan street wharf and i want to especially mention again on behalf of the commission the work of dan hodaf and stephen reid, and our neighbors and friends here in south beach. and as i like to say and in closing, one of the things i'd love to talk about in the waterfront when people ask me about it is we do have a conscious policy that every five to seven minutes you're going to come across an open space so you can enjoy the beauty of this bay. thank you. (applause)

>> thank you very much, president wuho. it means a lot to us you're here with commissioner katz and former commissioners. it's been a very long haul. the inspiration and vision for this open space and open space of the san francisco waterfront goes back at least 20 years, maybe 40 years, maybe 45 years. and the inspiration behind that has already been mentioned, but it is our colleagues at the san francisco bay conservation and development commission and many bay advocates including save the bay, san franciscans for a better tomorrow, all kinds of friends,san francisco beautiful, et cetera. and i want to say a special thanks to brad mcray and mindy young and travis before him at the bay conservation and development commission for advocating for open space, demanding it, penalizing us when we didn't do it as fatv as they like, and being very patient as well when it took longer and more money than anybody envisioned.

so, please join me in thanking bcdc and welcoming larry gold span, the executive director of bcdc. (applause) >> thank you, monique. and i want to recognize all the elected and appointed officials here today. and i especially want to thank supervisor chiu for his leadership on bcdc. and for all of their hard work on developing the great brannan street wharf. together, bcdc and the port of san francisco always seem to figure out how to make something get done for the waterfront. and we really do that in the spirit of cooperation and we try to do that in the spirit of creativity. and as you look around this marvelous space, i think you see both. plainly evident before you. let me say the only person between you and actually enjoying the space, i'll be very short. we all recognize that the bay is a regional resource that's

protected by the state. and the brannan street wharf is a project that is a major success of bcdc's and the port's shared vision of the san francisco shoreline. because the wharf is one of the key public benefits arising from the special area plan for the waterfront, a plan that was developed well over a decade ago by bcdc and the port to bring into alignment the needs and hopes of a wide variety of community groups, individuals and other stakeholders who are also interested in conserving and developing the bay and its resources. and conserving and promoting open spaces along the waterfront is increasingly important as the region grows. so, though the bay is 550 square miles and it goes from san jose to napa and solano county, as we look out it seems we can see so much of it. along with the bridge that carries its name, and we want to congratulate the city and

county of san francisco and the port of san francisco for creating this magnificent, magnificent piece of space that we can all enjoy. we have worked collaboratively with the community stakeholders who helped design it and we have created a public space that meets the needs of the people who both live around here and who visit san francisco. so, i'll get out of your way and let's now enjoy it. thank you very much. (applause) >> one more group to thank and it's the most important one. i would very much like to thank the men and the women who have worked tirelessly in the water and out, to demolish pier 36, rebuild our seawall, and create this great park for all of us led by [speaker not understood], i won't say everybody's name. but thanks to them, leslie builders, [speaker not understood] detrick construction, well man

landscape, and many, many more, we now all have this park today and for many generations to come. so, it is with great pleasure that i would like to invite the mayor, the members of the board, members of congresswoman pelosi's office, the port commissioner staff and president and my fellow department heads to cut the ribbon. [cheering and applauding] >> yeah, let's hear it. come on, pride the dock. [cheering and applauding] >> and when we are done, we invite you for some refreshments. please explore the park. there are interpretive panels. as you've seen, there are docents to talk you through the panels on labor on chinese immigration, or many other topics. ~ labor or please check out the title columns. all kind of great things for to you explore. so, thank you all for coming today and let's cut the ribbon. >> 4, 3, 2, 1. [cheering and applauding]

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