people to continue to be able to live independently in san francisco. thank you. >> i want to thank the haight-ashbury council and the folk from faces across the street. we have father ray allen here from st. agnes church and the urban school, all of who really made this possible. it is really easy to stop something in san francisco. it is much harder to make it move forward. >> that agirl! >> thank you for all of those who helped it go forward. i want to thank steve wallace and the other employees. >> go, steve wallace. >> someone else hiding out there is tim dunn, who was our project manager. many of the folks live pretty close by. the person i'm about to bring up

is larry ferguson who has got many connections to this project and to all of us. and we have conversations and on the way to muni and sometimes we have a lot of time. i didn't say that. larry has been a force for affordable housing for many years. i think this is a project that is very near and dear to his heart. he is here representing the department of housing and urban development without whom we wouldn't have this project because they played such an incredible role. as the mayor said it's really -- it's too bad we don't have any current appropriations for rental subsidies for new projects like this. but hopefully more people hear about amazing work like this and not the construction budget, but the

end result. >> thank you. good afternoon. it's a hot day and it's a beautiful project. i'm delighted and honoured to be here representing hud. i want to congratulate mercy housing, arc san francisco. >> whew. >> their board of directors, their hard-working staff who put so much time and energy in to this wonderful development. we have had this thoughtful renovation that has created affordable housing and this

community will enable our developmentally disabled residents to live independently and to allow them to follow their dreams. we are proud to continue our partnership with mayor ed lee and the officers in housing. we would like to see more of these as well and we have supported housing dollars to help and providing a long-term rent subsidy to keep rents affordable to everyone who calls this home. our section 811 program, i'll talk about it for a quick sec has created high quality housing for over 25 years. and alshow the projects

coming in in california. this project itself has green and energy-efficient features. i could go on but let's face it. this isn't nearly housing, okay this isn't just about sticks and bricks here. this is what folks call home. this is what folks call community, okay? and this day is a really special day for the residents of mercy arc community. and on behalf of hud, i want to welcome each an every one of the residents to their new homes and their new community.

i, myself, have lived in the upper haight for 23 years. and i enjoy this and its charms and amen 'tis. so i hope the residents enjoy it more than i do. so i personally want to welcome each of you to my neighborhood, our neighborhood, all right? to close there are a couple of the people on the hud side, jim meyers, regina bill and darryl mutton. thank you for hearing what i have to say on behalf of the department. and welcome to the neighborhood. welcome home. [ applause ]

>> okay. believe it or not, we're almost through our program. there are a couple of people from the mayor's office. i want to call out ruby harris, the project manager. there she is in the back. joe mcnamara and theresa younga i don't know if it is the right word and helped this project come to be, mid-wifed it or something. we would not be here were it not for theresa. so thank so you much. and ms. menendez and the management company who will hopefully take care of this building as well as they do everywhere else. we do a lot of these openings with bank of america. they are probably, i would say, the most active bank right now in san francisco in terms of financing and investing in affordable housing. for the

last month or so, ary has been a very busy man and as i follow the mayor and as we celebrate the reopening of a lot of the buildings that have been renovated around downtown. he's done a great job of making the bank a partner with affordable housing and. >> all prospective jurors: of other sponsors and with that, i i bring you ari valleha. >> thank you, doug. it is an honour to be here roping bank of america at this grand opening. oftentimes people say it takes a village. in affordable housing it takes the city government, the state government, multiple mayors. a great mayor, a great supervisor, thanks and a lot of other people to getting thises done.

but we -- but every single part of that loves doing this work. so it's amazing how i always place last right before the tenant and the food, so i'll take the hint. i'll try to go quickly. first, let me thank many of those people. first of all, the affordable housing mayor, mayor lee. i'm really happy to follow you around. >> yeah. >> it is quite an honour. >> and the staff, the supervisor s, hud and, of course, the great organizations that are developing this project, mercy housing, as well as arc. you guys picked great partners to do this work. >> yeah. >> whew. >> our relationship with mercy goes back really far. we've done over 46 projects together and half a billion dollars. >> wow. >> so that's absolutely amazing

bank of america is really committed to san francisco. i don't know if you know this but bank of america got it start in san francisco as bank of italy. we've been here all along through the great fires, through the good things and through the bad things. we are following the mayor around. and we invested $2.2 million in financing or other projects. little projects are also important. every single unit matters. every single person who lives in these matter and we are happy to call home to these services. we're happy to contribute to big and small projects where we contributed $8.5 million. so we invest the deposits that you give us. our people invest their time. so we have over 4,000 associates in san francisco, including ann marie back there who -- who is the person that gets stuff done in the san francisco office. i apologize for embarrassing you.

>> awww. >> but i wanted to acknowledge you. an she and many other people contribute over 40,000 hours of community service every year in our communities. so thank you. thank you for allowing bank of america to be part of this. i hope there is going to be many more grand openings. we need every single unit. we need every single building. and thank to you the community who embraced this project and made sure that i went for it. [ applause ] >> okay. we saved the best for last year. one thing i wanted to say there were over 4,000 applications for the six units here. it was a strict set where not everybody could apply. you really needed this type of housing. there are only 44 units of 811 housing in san francisco prior to the work that has been done by the arc and in

the market. we've almost doubled the amount. but it's an incredibly small resource relative to the need. if you do run into an elected official, particularly, your congress people or your senators, just let them know how important and wonderful this resource is and that we wish we had more of it. it's not one of those things with he can afford to discontinue the way we're doing. all right. that's my little soap box. one of the folks that was lucky enough to move in will say a few words to us. i understand she's a little shy. so i know all of us will be incredibly supportive and welcome here. we'll love to hear what you have to say. with that, one of the newest residents of this neighborhood, rosetta burras.

>> good afternoon. i'm rosetta burras. i'm going to read you a piece of paper. welcome to my new home and allowing the presentations. >> so what are some things that you like about your new

apartment? do you like the elevator? >> yes. that's the main thing, the elevator. the elevator. >> all right. >> and then i like my apartment it's nice and cozy and roomy. i can get around in my apartment real good. thank you everybody for giving me this studio apartment. and to all people, i want to thank them, too. and you all are welcome to my

studio apartment. it is on the third floor. and thank you very much for having me here. >> all right. [ applause ] >> thank you. all right. so that i think concludes our program. i do want to thank -- i want to join everyone in saying -- i want to thank all of the residents for welcoming us here today. >> thank you. >> i'm extremely excited. i'm not as excited as you are. >> i am so lucky h. >> all right. you are making this real for all of us. >> and i was there. >> we're going to give it up again. there are tours. i'm looking around to tim. where will they start, tim?

>> moe. >> moe, who is in the back, is going to start. >> moe. >> if you would like to take a tour, moe is your guy. otherwise, enjoy the refreshments. okay. and if you spoke, we want you to come out front and join us for a quick ribbon cutting. thank you very much. >> a picture before we cut? okay. one, two, three. nice. let me get one more. okay. and one, two, three. okay. are you ready to cut? >> yeah. >> okay. cut. >> here we go. >> three, two, one. >> whew. >> it's going. it's going. >> yea

adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the

xurpz drinking alongside we're having a lot of ingredient that get there's a lot to do the district of retail shop having that really close connection with the consumer allows us to do exciting things we decided to come to treasure island because we saw it as an amazing opportunity can't be beat the views and real estate that great county starting to develop on treasure island like minded business owners with last week products and want to get on the ground floor a no-brainer for us when you you, you buying local goods made locally our supporting small business those are not created an, an sprinkle scale with all the machines and one person procreating them people are making them by hand as a result more interesting and can't get that of minor or anywhere else and san francisco

a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant we'll make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood of san francisco and a vibrant community >> we think over 50 thousand permanent residents in san francisco eligible for citizenship by lack information and resources so really the project is not about citizenship but really academy our immigrant community. >> making sure they're a part of what we do in san francisco the san francisco pathway to citizenship initiative a unique part of just between the city

and then our 5 local foundations and community safe organizations and it really is an effort to get as many of the legal permanent residents in the san francisco since 2013 we started reaching the san francisco bay area residents and 10 thousand people into through 22 working groups and actually completed 5 thousand applications for citizenship our cause the real low income to moderate income resident in san francisco and the bayview sometimes the workshops are said attend by poem if san mateo and from sacking. >> we think over restraining order thousand legal permanent residents in san francisco that are eligible for citizenship but totally lack information and

they don't have trained professionals culturally appropriate with an audience you're working with one time of providing services with pro bono lawyers and trained professionals to find out whether your eligible the first station and go through a purview list of questions to see if they have met the 56 year residents arrangement or they're a u.s. citizenship they once they get through the screening they go to legal communication to see lawyers to check am i eligible to be a citizen we send them to station 3 that's when they sit down with experienced advertising to fill out the 4

hundred naturalization form and then to final review and at the end he helps them with the check out station and send them a packet to fill and wait a month to 6 weeks to be invited in for an oral examine and if they pass two or three a months maximum get sworn in and become a citizen every single working groups we have a learning how to vote i mean there are tons of community resources we go for citizenship prep classes and have agencies it stays on site and this is filing out forms for people that are eligible so not just about your 22 page form but other community services and benefits

there's an economic and safety public benefit if we nationalize all people to be a citizen with the network no objection over $3 million in income for those but more importantly the city saves money $86 million by reducing the benefit costs. >> thank you. >> i've been here a loventh i already feel like an american citizen not felt it motorbike that needs to happen for good. >> one day - i pledge

allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, for liberty and justice for all. >> you're welcome. >> (singing). >> (clapping.) >> introduce the san francisco field officer director ribbon that will mirror the oath raise your hand and repeat the oath i hereby declare on oath repeating. >> citizens cry when they

become citizenship to study this difficult examine and after two trials they come back i'm an american now we're proud of that purpose of evasion so help me god please help me welcome seven hundred and 50 americans. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> she wants to be part of the country and vote so much puppy. >> you know excited and as i said it is a long process i think that needs to be finally recognized to be integrated that is basically, the type of that i see myself being part of.

>> out of everybody on tv and the news he felt that is necessary to be part of community in that way i can do so many things but my voice wouldn't count as it counts now. >> it's everybody i hoped for a bunch of opportunities demographics and as you can see yourself there's a good life for everyone. >> that's why. >> you have people from all the walks that life and they're

standing in water 8 hours to be an american citizen and contribute to the city and that's really what makes this worthwhile. >> ♪

>> okay. thank you very much, everyone, for being here. i'm assembly member phil ping and 57 was for all of us who spend time driving underneath 101 or 280. you see many spots that we wonder what could we be doing with these parcels, other than seeing them. i think the city was able to envision this many, many years ago with the skate park and dog park, which the city leased for 20 years at $4.8 million. and our bill allows the city to work with caltrains at a 30% of

market rate. and these are not used or not really -- >> whew! >> exactly. there is excitement everywhere. we could have the wedding move over here next. so we are very excited to work with our cities so we can make these underutilized parcels of land into parcels of land and open space. especially these neighborhoods, the land is very underutilized. a lot of this area is highly industrialized. you don't see parks. you don't have spaces where you can go play. i know the dogpatch this district has already taken a lead with the mission creek area with their volleyball courts and they have shown how we can do this and how it's going to be much more prevalent. i'm very excited to have worked with our city and bring this to our residents.

it is the district bill for san francisco. i would like to thank ca ltrains and the mayor has talked about this but there are a couple of parcels that they've already identified at some point soon they've negotiated and we can start the process of turning these vacant lots into open space and parks. so, with that, let me introduce our mayor, ed lee, who really worked with me hand in hand and championed this effort. thank you. >> let me say assembly bill 857 is a winner. i want to take this opportunity to thank. phil ting who spent years here and we're not only benefiting

from his life but senator weiner and david and all those who contributed to making sure this bill didn't have a cingular purpose but multiple purpose. that's what i like about our organization. when they are creating benefits, it's not just about one thing. it is multiple things. that's why people working in parks like former supervisor julie christiansen, people are working with our bicycle coalition, people are working with our parks alliance are all assembled together to say what can we get out of space? that, for many of us, has been dead space. you know, when you look at freeway land under the freeway, you're generally talking about assemblymen -- assemblages of people who are homeless, negative activity, maybe some industrial uses. and in a city as concentrated as san francisco, how do we creatively and innovatively use

space that is kind of dead and inviting of a lot of negative activity in to really opened, creative, vibe rant spaces -- vibrant spaces? and i encourage everybody to participate. walk your dog down there. get a basketball court. get a volleyball court. maybe you even want to do a little boating, kayaking along the mission creek. if you walk down there, you'll see the best example we have today on how we turned space that was going to -- that has been very negative for all of the residents around there. and in conversations with new residents around that area created space that descamps laments what i -- that complements that park where everyone lives that is what we're doing with spaces around

caltrains property and we're doing more in the much few years because of scott's leadership and scott and david chu but phil was the one that really turned the corner. because as kind of small as it might be about the that and how it should be needs to have open space and needs to have it within a 10-minute walk, this is the most treative effort creative effort we can share. we have 10 spaces. and, by the way, they don't just get created overnight. with the partnership in the parks alliance, these are

private spaces that will be taken care of 24/7. and i'd like -- more than "like." this is absolutely necessary in today's world where the housing crisis is impacting everything that we do. and we need to build more housing in areas that we've never built before. but we need to have for that spacing the comp lap meantary open spaces. but we need to have for that spacing the complimentary open spaces. and a benefit that phil ting has allowed us to have the conversation that, if we're in a housing crisis, it is 10 times more of a crisis than those on our streets. an we need to have areas of temporary shelter to serve that. so, as can you tell, i'm excited about this for all of the right reasons. the people standing behind me informed this, these language changes to make sure that our parks, our bicycles,

our way of life can continue with quality of life contributions that our open space has. and the mission creek sports complex is just one of many things that we've done through our recreation and park department in creating these opportunities for partnership was our private sector. because when you -- when you go down there, you'll see people walking their dogs and people doing all of the things that were not done under caltrain's property for many years. and now we're getting an excitement that we are going to turn pretty dead negative spaces into really positive, vibrant open spaces and connect them up with the critical housing that we need. it's going to be, i think, a game-changer in san francisco to work at all of space under the freeway. some work and some don't, so we'll be very selective about them. but i think you're going to see a very good transformation on these dead spaces into very lively spaces. this will be i think the

positive excitement we have with our delegation in san francisco that is making a difference, not just at the state level, but bringing back both the language to resources, to innovative approaches to making sure that our housing crisis is dealt with, our homeless crisis is dealt with, our open-space challenges are dealt with in a very positive way. so i can't say enough about how 857's going to benefit from us. but you'll see the same thing happen in open. you'll see the same thing happening in san jose. because they are all suffering from negative uses of the freeways for inappropriate kind of tent cities where it's dangerous. you're going to see harm reduction because of the collaboration we have with all of the other agencies to make these spaces vibrant and useful for everyone. so phil ting, thank you for your leadership up there. and, of course, as chair of the appropriations committee, we're going to ask for more because we

know we're going to get a lot out of 'ya. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you very much, mr. mayor, and to the entire city for working with us. next i wanted to introduce senator weiner, who was a partner in this every step of the way, myself, senator weiner, and david chiu, so it is part of a team to make this happen. >> thank you, phil. so we have -- we are lucky that we have a very cohesive delegation, myself and david chiu in this era where southern california has so much population and representation, we really need to stick together so that we can -- san francisco can continue to punch up its weight class in sacramento,

which we're continuing to do. so we look out for each other and we love to partner on these bills. he he want to thank phil for his leadership on 857 and i was happy to co-author it. this has been a terrific bill. i think in recent years the theme in san francisco and other cities, we're trying to rediscover urbanism, trying to get away from the era where it was all about housing sprawl and moving away from public transportation and focusing on the needs of cars, not people. and now we are refocused on dense, compact housing and walkable neighborhoods and bike infrastructure and better public transportation, and rediscovering urban public space and one of the things we've been doing is rededicating land that was really car focused into people-focused places. so whether it is the paving the parks program with jane warner plaza in the castro or the noey

town square where we turned the city into a park or what the city did with oct avia turning it into a square. now this the freeways caused problems in the market, and potrero hill, dogpatch and we know that anything we can do to make them usable is great. and this bill will empower the city to be able to work with caltrain, to create new parks and to really invigorate these neighborhoods. so i'm really, really excited about this step and i know that san francisco will take the next step and actually make it a realty, so thank you.

[ applause ] >> thank you, senator. next i want to bring up those who have been an advocate of the public land and that is around urban areas and for communities that hasn't historically had much recreational space. mary? >> thank you so much. thank so you much, assembly member tang. i'm so excited to be here this mourn because somebody who grew up in san francisco and able to have ocean beach as my neighborhood park. this is a city of innovation. this is a city figuring out next year's, the next decade of issues and challenges. i'm super excited about your leadership. i like spending time in san francisco. and you have the cream of the crop in san francisco. you have innovative leaders who are figuring out ways to figure out

these challenges and mayor lee and mr. weiner are champions of parks and open space. they know that being champions for parks and open space are being champions for climate resolution and champions for all of that. and we have a organization that creates access to communities for access to nature for all. we do that with mayor lee on parks around the city including vodecker park a couple of miles away. and what this bill is starting to figure out is how we solve the issue of population growth, of the scarcaty of land for parks and open space, and the increase of costs for parks and open space. and this bill is solving -- it is beginning to be a piece of the puzzle to solve all of that an as we do work around the

country, we are looking at this as a model in communities across the country and in communities across the state. this is an example of how your leadership in sacramento is responsible for passing impactable policies that are going to make a difference for real neighborhoods. this is something that folks in their communities are going to feel. so we're very excited to have supported this bill, really excited about the passage and the governor's signature for ab-857 and grateful for senator ting, weiner and mayor lee's leadership on this. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, mary. next, i'd like to bring up former supervisor julie christiansen who is the executive director of the dog patch in northwest potrero green, north district. i think her district has really demonstrated how to make this a realty. they've established that in the neighborhood and they were one of the groups to

reach out for this legislation to say hey, how can we help? we're very excited about this and finding ways to work together. these were neighborhoods that were historically filled with warehouses, not people. as we've torn down some of these warehouses and they've been replaced with office space and housing, they've shown the way how we can do that responsibly. thank you. >> is it afternoon yet? good morning. so for those of you who want to follow this story a little further, i really welcome you to come to dogpatch to a place called progress park. it's between indiana and iowa between 23rd and 25th. it's ai lovely space. i have pictures of children swinging in it, people playing bocce an people working out. it was not built with the other budgets and clout with some of the other projects that senator weiner mentioned it was done with spit from the other neighborhoods who

went to a chain-linked fence, a weed-choked lot where neighbors could gather and have open space. so please come down to progress park. this measure tackles two important issues that those of us involved in positive civic planning struggle with. one is how do we mitigate the negative impact of our freeways that slights through our camping areas? the fires, the debris that collects in these spaces, especially as our residents and workplaces inch ever closer to those freeways. secondly, how do we provide open space and green space for the fastest-growing neighborhoods in san francisco, nearly all of which line those same transit cora ders. so senator ting's measure as the mayor said actually tackles two problems and puts this way ahead. we appreciate very much the heavy

lifting that ca ltrain -- caltrain does and we have neighbors when they used to look out on other family residences like theirs and they now face chain linked fence and razor wire and encampments. this is an opportunity to knit our neighborhoods back together. my common line is that these freeways severed our neighborhoods twice, once when the elevated freeways went in with their noise and their pollution and trash, but then a second time when the areas below the freeway were consigned to less optimal uses. potrero hill is cut off from vacant lots and rusted containers. this is an opportunity to get some of that back. we're very grateful for it. so my deep thanks to assembly

member ting. he said he was going to do this his perseverance and determination paid off. we're grateful to all who have helped with this, mr. weiner and assemblyman ting, we're grateful to have them. i'm grateful to the economic workforce and robin abhod is here and all of those who have worked with us and who will continue to work with us. i want to acknowledge jean and allahson from the green benefit district. the gbd is an amazing, amazing construct. neighbors who voted to assess themselves in order to spend extra funds to clean and green their neighborhood. and dogpatch is the first one that we know is the first to exist, dogpatch and potrero hill. so i'm happy to represent them. this is a great day. hopefully, we'll be having some of these in these parks before very long. thank you all for

your interest. >> thank you. thank you, julie, again. it is proud to author 857, ab-857, which now allows the city to transform some of our freeway underpasses into parks. again, i think julie put it very well. there are not always positive things that are happening under these underpasses. again, it's our opportunity for the neighborhoods, the neighborhoods of dogpatch, potrero hill to take over this land. so i want to thank everybody for coming today. i appreciate it. i know people will be available for individual questions on the side if you have any interest, but again, thanks so much for coming out today. i appreciate it. [ applause ] women's network fo

sustainable future . network fo >> san francisco streets and puffs make up 25 percent of cities e city's land area more than all the parks combined they're far two wide and have large flight area the pavement to parks is to test the variants by ininexpensive changing did new open spaces the city made up of streets in you think about the potential of having this space for a purpose it is demands for the best for bikes and families to gather. >> through a collaborative

effort with the department we the public works and the municipal transportation agency pavement to parks is bringing initiative ideas to our streets. >> so the face of the street is the core of our program we have in the public right-of-way meaning streets that can have areas perpetrated for something else. >> i'm here with john francis pavement to parks manager and this parklet on van ness street first of all, what is a parklet and part of pavement to parks program basically an expense of the walk in a public realm for people to hang anti nor a urban acceptable space for people to use. >> parklets sponsors have to apply to be considered for the program but they come to us you know saying we want to do this and

create a new space on our street it is a community driven program. >> the program goes beyond just parklets vacant lots and other spaces are converted we're here at playland on 43 this is place is cool with loots things to do and plenty of space to play so we came up with that idea to revitalizations this underutilized yard by going to the community and what they said want to see here we saw that everybody wants to see everything to we want this to be a space for everyone. >> yeah. >> we partnered with the pavement to parks program and so we had the contract for building 236 blot community garden

it start with a lot of jacuzzi hammers and bulldozer and now the point we're planting trees and flowers we have basketball courts there is so much to do here. >> there's a very full program that they simply joy that and meet the community and friends and about be about the lighter side of city people are more engaged not just the customers. >> with the help of community pavement to parks is reimagining the potential of our student streets if you want more information visit them as the pavement to parks or contact pavement to parks at sfgovtv.org