we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hanhang out at. we have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting. >> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful muellermixer ura alsomurals.

>> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will. we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local mean that wor people willr money as well. i hope people shop locally. [ ♪ ] >> good morning everyone. let's get started. i am tom mcguire, i am excited to be here today to christen this brand-new increasingly car-free space in hayes valley. remember the freeway over our heads. we took that down. we didn't stop there. we have been working with the neighbors and residents from the

city to make patricia's green and octavia boulevard to have more space to walk and enjoy the valley. we have several speakers sharing about the opening or closing to traffic and opening for people of this section of octavia. i want to thank the mayor, whose leadership has been very strong. i will introduce the district five supervisor valley. >> this is amazing, isn't it. it was interesting because i was standing in the street, and i thought i am in the street, i have got to move. my aid says it is blocked off you don't have to worry. we are conditioned in streets to watch out. the city is dangerous that way.

to actually now be able to stand on this part of octavia boulevard is a dream come true. i remember i was one of the activists when i first started being an activist when we talked about taking down the freeway. i remember so many said you can't do that because the west side of the city needs the freeway. maybe not. i also want to remember patricia walk up. she was the one that really inspired us all to think different and say, no, just because it was that way doesn't mean it is right and it doesn't mean it has to stay that way. when i think about this, i think about the hayes valley neighborhood association and a lot of them are here. they are a neighborhood that says let's do something different.

we don't have to do things the way the city has always done them. take the parcels here. i was a legislative aid when we were discussing these parcels. one of the things people said, and people in the city. i won't say who. they said i think we should keep them fenced off until we put housing. the neighborhood and people said let's try something new. then someone said i will take ahead of that. i will take that forward. now you have all of this space that everybody loves, and you know down to the beer garden. remember the actual neighborhood garden that we had. all of those spaces that were activating this neighborhood. now with the situation how can we make octavia and the neighborhood safer for

pedestrians, bicycles, and this a lot of you know page street is going to have a protected bike lane now, which is something we have been talking about for years, also. it will be one way going up. it is not be a freeway feeder any more, which will make a huge difference for the people living here. one thing we don't want is everyone from all over the city rushing to octavia boulevard to get on the freeway. one of the first things i did when i got into office is asked for a major traffic study for the area. it had been over 10 years since they had one. to go all the way up to see how can we divert traffic from this area? people on the west side if they need the freeway, they can get there. they don't all have to get into hayes valley to go to the freeway.

this portion of octavia came up. how can this be safer. as we know, and we have seen so many people walk from the coffee shop with coffee and phone in hand, not looking and walking across to the park. not a safe way to do it, but it just happens all of the time. how can we make this safer? we looked at closing it off, and making it a bike lane. this has always been a bike lane. if you have ridden your bike on page street or down from page street it is not safe. people are looking for parking and everything else so when i look at this now and look at what is happening and how fast you actually did this s.f.m.t.a. because so many things take so 0 years. this moved fast. this is something that i think people need to be thanked for

advocacy and what they have done. i want to thank the whole team at s.f.m.t.a. they made this a reality. i want to say thank you. i know you get beat up a lot when you come to neighborhoods for new ideas. we thank you because we see the difference. walk sf and the bike coalition, thank you for being there to doing better for people who want alternative transportation. phil ginsburg and steve at rec and park said let's try new things. to look at the park extending over is something they really encouraged, also, and supported. as i said, the hayes valley neighborhood association. thank you very much for everything that you do. you have made this an amazing neighborhood because people a

lot of times think it is the city. it is the community and the community activists that make the neighborhood amazing. i want to say thank you very much. the merchants association. right now i want to bring up someone, lloyd silversteen from the hayes valley merchants association to say a few words how he feels about this space. where is lloyd? thank you very much everyone. [applause] >> thanks everybody for coming this morning on an overcast day. i want to say a few thank u.s. i am the new kid in the block. i moved from union square where i had a four generation business and i am thrilled to be here. i want to thank the mayor and supervisor brown and s.f.m.t.a. and gail baugh for dragging me

in, kidnapping ne, a labor of love and it makes these things move forward. i wanted to speak from personal experience. when is this happened i thought it would have a negative affect on the business. the city was smart enough to do trial runs to see how it was going to work. whoever they hired to do the traffic studies nailed this. most of the traffic that comes this direction off octavia is going east or west. if they are going north, not this way. in point of fact, when the streets were closed off for the trials we on linden so no impact. this was our first and hopefully not the last living alley. part of the beautification of this street was to encourage pedestrians and merchants.

i think we were able to accomplish both by blocking this off without a big impact. this is a bunch of thank u.s. from me and the merchants. i encourage the city to keep the open space here. housing is something we all need, but protecting the open space is a good thing. the day this opened there was a bunch of skateboarders and it was cool to watch. that is all i had to say. i am going to introduce bryan from the bike coalition. he can say a few words. thank you everybody for making this happen. [applause] >> thank you so much, lloyd. i am the executive director of the san francisco bicycle coalition. it is my distinct pleasure to be here on a beautiful san francisco day to celebrate this space improved and remade for people right here in hayes

valley. i will thank you, super visor brown. your leadership on this project and improvements throughout district 5 during your time in offers and during your time on staff for supervisor breed has been inspirational and key to getting the kinds of safety improvements we need in this neighborhood and across the rest of san francisco to improve biking for all residents. deep appreciation from everybody who rides a bike in this city. thank you, supervisor. i want to extend that thanks to mayor breed. her leadership provided support for this project. i am excited to see that continued leadership spread to more projects in the city. i want to thank walk san francisco. this doesn't just benefit people who bike in the city but all of us who walk, that is about

everybody here today. our community partners at the heys valley neighborhood association and merchants association. you have been a pleasure do work with. our memberships overlap. our office is here and we are members of the hayes valley neighborhood association. thank you for your support. this project, it has been said, really goes back to reimagining what the streetscapes look like with the teardown of the central freeway two decades ago now. that certainly thinking about that started over two decades ago. that dream of streets and neighborhood spaces that put people first is continuing today right here on octavia boulevard at patricia's green. we celebrate the beautiful space now open for peak walking and biking but the bike lane behind us is going to allow people biking to have a safe connection

northbound on to octavia to continue their journey. this is really, i hope, what is the start of a trend that we are going to see across san francisco that we can think creatively about the streets as active transportation thoroughfares and places for people first. we have a small space here we are starting with. the two blocks on either side on octavia. i want to see and the members want to see this kind of space expand across our city. to take what hayes valley knows works and prove that it can work in other commercial corridors and other neighborhood streets across the city. i couldn't get up here today and speak without mentioning the great changes we are going to see coming on page street and to thank as well the hayes valley

neighbors and merchants and supervisor brown for your leadership with a key connector for those who bike and transforming it to a safer place and not a freeway off and onramp. i can't wait to ride my bike on this street and with that i want to introduce or neighbors here and the great space that we are standing in front of. douglas burn hum from the proxy. >> hello everyone. i am the founder of envelope, texture andy sign. we are the crea turs and curators and stewards of proxy. today i am here as a witness. a wit to an exemplary public process by the s.f.m.t.a. on this street closure. kc and mark and the whole

s.f.m.t.a. team have been incredible leaders in this project. i want to sort of give my take on it. their process here. they had a rigorous pace of public meetings and information sessions that looking at my e-mails went back almost five years of just when this discussion about this closure began. they implemented live prototyping of this street closure, very low cost way to kind of test whether the closure would be possible and what the impacts would be. they have been in constant communication with the neighbors, with the businesses, and with the neighborhood on this developing idea of the closure.

kc, mark and the s.f.m.t.a. along with mayor breed, the hayes valley neighborhood association, vallie brown and sf park and rec. they have a vision for the city for a safer public realm. we have been questioning the outside role that the automobile has had on the city over the last century. they have been responsive to the negative impacts the constant stream of vehicles on this public space has had. they have been responsive to these emerging public spaces. there is an implicit understanding that the city, though it appears to be incredibly fixed and rigid, is a

flexible thing that can be responsive to the citizens and to community input. i would like to end as a temporary steward of this place to thank everyone for their tire less vision and for this closure and for making possible this safety improvement for the enjoyment of the citizens and visitors of san francisco. thanks. i will hand it back to tom. >> thank you all for the kind words. i think it is time to get the scissors out and cut the ribbon. three, two, one. (applause).

valencia has been a constantly evolving roadway. the first bike lanes were striped in 1999, and today is the major north and south bike route from the mission neighborhood extending from market to mission street. >> it is difficult to navigate lindsay on a daily basis, and more specifically, during the morning and evening commute hours. >> from 2012 to 2016, there were

260 collisions on valencia and 46 of those were between vehicles and bikes. the mayor shows great leadership and she knew of the long history of collisions and the real necessity for safety improvements on the streets, so she actually directed m.t.a. to put a pilot of protected bike lanes from market to 15th on valencia street within four months time. [♪] >> valencia is one of the most used north south bike routes in san francisco. it has over 2100 cyclists on an average weekday. we promote bicycles for everyday transportation of the coalition. valencia is our mission -- fits our mission perfectly. our members fall 20 years ago to get the first bike lane stripes. whether you are going there for

restaurants, nightlife, you know , people are commuting up and down every single day. >> i have been biking down the valencia street corridor for about a decade. during that time, i have seen the emergence of ridesharing companies. >> we have people on bikes, we have people on bike share, scooters, we have people delivering food and we have uber taking folks to concerts at night. one of the main goals of the project was to improve the overall safety of the corridor, will also looking for opportunities to upgrade the bikeway. >> the most common collision that happens on valencia is actually due to double parking in the bike lane, specifically during, which is where a driver opens the door unexpectedly. >> we kept all the passengers -- the passenger levels out, which is the white crib that we see, we double the amount of commercial curbs that you see out here.

>> most people aren't actually perking on valencia, they just need to get dropped off or pick something up. >> half of the commercial loading zones are actually after 6:00 p.m., so could be used for five-minute loading later into the evening to provide more opportunities or passenger and commercial loading. >> the five minute loading zone may help in this situation, but they are not along the corridor where we need them to be. >> one of the most unique aspects of the valencia pilot is on the block between 14th street. >> we worked with a pretty big mix of people on valencia. >> on this lot, there are a few schools. all these different groups had concerns about the safety of students crossing the protected bikeway whether they are being dropped off or picked up in the morning or afternoon. to address those concerns, we installed concrete loading islands with railings -- railings that channel -- channeled a designated crossing plane. >> we had a lot of conversations

around how do you load and unload kids in the mornings and the afternoons? >> i do like the visibility of some of the design, the safety aspects of the boarding pilot for the school. >> we have painted continental crosswalks, as well as a yield piece which indicates a cyclist to give the right-of-way so they can cross the roadway. this is probably one of the most unique features. >> during the planning phase, the m.t.a. came out with three alternatives for the long term project. one is parking protected, which we see with the pilot, they also imagined a valencia street where we have two bike lanes next to one another against one side of the street. a two-way bikeway. the third option is a center running two-way bikeway, c. would have the two bike lanes running down the center with protection on either side.

>> earlier, there weren't any enter lane designs in san francisco, but i think it will be a great opportunity for san francisco to take the lead on that do so the innovative and different, something that doesn't exist already. >> with all three concepts for valencia's long-term improvement , there's a number of trade-offs ranging from parking, or what needs to be done at the intersection for signal infrastructure. when he think about extending this pilot or this still -- this design, there's a lot of different design challenges, as well as challenges when it comes to doing outreach and making sure that you are reaching out to everyone in the community. >> the pilot is great. it is a no-brainer. it is also a teaser for us. once a pilot ends, we have thrown back into the chaos of valencia street. >> what we're trying to do is incremental improvement along the corridor door. the pilot project is one of our first major improvements. we will do an initial valuation in the spring just to get a glimpse of what is happening out here on the roadway, and to make

any adjustments to the pilot as needed. this fall, we will do a more robust evaluation. by spring of 2020, we will have recommendations about long-term improvements. >> i appreciate the pilot and how quickly it went in and was built, especially with the community workshops associated with it, i really appreciated that opportunity to give input. >> we want to see valencia become a really welcoming and comfortable neighborhood street for everyone, all ages and abilities. there's a lot of benefits to protected bike lanes on valencia , it is not just for cyclists. we will see way more people biking, more people walking, we are just going to create a really friendly neighborhood street. [♪]

>> her administration has been so welcoming, so open can so accessible and on the ball and i am proud to call you my mayor. everybody, london breed. [applause]. >> thank you. first of all, thank you also much for being here. let's give brian and the q. foundation another hand. [applause] rhys isabel brought brian and other service providers who serve people living with h.i.v. in san francisco and wanted to make sure that i knew what people needed because i didn't want to spend another dollar without clearly understanding where the deficiencies were, and it all went back to housing. it all went back to the need for

subsidies, the need to help keep people housed, and this is the first time in 12 years that we have allocated a million dollars to provide subsidies which will help -- [applause] -- which will help at least 120 individuals and i'm so grateful and excited for the providers who are here, the people who will work with us on this. the work that we are going to continue to do because we want to make sure that we are helping some of our most vulnerable populations. when you think about it, sadly people who are homeless, living with h.i.v., they are less likely to get services and treatment and stay healthy as much as they possibly need. they need stable housing. housing and health go hand in hand and it is why -- [applause] -- it is why i am fighting so hard to build more housing in

san francisco. yesterday we opened a 200 bed navigation center and the embarcadero. the days are running in together we just announced yesterday a new navigation center for transitional age youth. [applause] so the investment that we are making our good investments and part of the challenge is we need more housing. we need more housing. i grew up in san francisco, as many of you know and i have seen so many of my friends and family members, who i grew up with in public housing, a leave san francisco because in some instances, they couldn't get a unit even in public housing. they couldn't qualify for affordable housing, and we don't have enough units.

so part of my focus is to address homelessness and to address the challenges that exist, but to also think about roads that lead out of the shelters, roads that lead to affordable places that are safe for people to live, and that means that we have a lot of work to do. i know this is going off course, but i also want to thank you all for supporting proposition a this last ballot measure for $600 million for affordable housing. [applause] because we know we have a lot of work to do. there is nothing better than having a roof over your head and the support that you need and i can't -- i will say, if it weren't for my grandmother raising me and two of my brothers, i don't know what i would done. it could easily have been a situation that could have been

the difference between me being here as you mayor today or anything else. that is what i think about when making these decisions. when i look at the data, another major investment we made that i am really proud of is trans home s.f. we know that folks, brothers and sisters from our trans community are 17 more times more likely to experience homelessness than anyone else when you look at the data. which is why those investments are so important. so here in the city we know there is a lot of work to do, but i'm so grateful to this community and the work that you are all doing to be advocates to really push the city and what we spend our resources on in the right direction so they actually have an impact on people's lives i have said this to department heads and to folks who work for the city time and time again. don't waste a dollar on a paperclip because that's the difference between being able to

house someone or help someone and we don't have money to waste because people are counting on us to make the right investments that is exactly what i plan to do. i want to thank brian and the q. foundation. and thank you all for being here i am so looking forward to seeing this program have an impact so we can continue to make the right investments. thank you, again, and thank you for all the support and the work that so many of you have done for so many years. and finally, now i thank you have a great partner in the mayor's office who will continue to work to really put our money where our mouth is. let me just add one more thing, i talk a lot, i'm sorry. i have to say this one where thing because this is something i am also really proud of because so many people set the path to make this happen before i was even thought of and the

fact that this year's data on new h.i.v. infections in san francisco has dropped below 200 for the first time in our city's history. [applause] i am so, so excited about that and how we, as a community will truly get 20. i also want to say that those numbers are still relatively high for african-americans and latinos and that means its important it is important that we make deliberate investments, which we have, and those political -- particular communities to do a better job around outreach, around support, but ultimately, i keep going back to housing. we will continue to work with you on these things and we are grateful to have an amazing partner in the q. foundation and all of you. thank you for so much for having me here today. [applause]

>> thank you again. her administration has really turned the tide when it comes to housing in san francisco and we deeply, deeply appreciate all the support. next is -- is regina here? where is miss regina? come on up. next i am so proud to welcome regina allen. before i obtained the subsidy from the q. sub -- q. foundation , now i have a house. i live on folsom street. i have stabilized housing. there were times prior to me having stabilized housing that i couch served, looked for any temporary housing opportunities and with the hope that and -- i was worried about being homeless as a senior and as a mother.

let's see. it hasn't been easy living in san francisco with h.i.v. i was diagnosed in 2005, so i have been living with h.i.v. for 15 years and this is the first time i'm actually speaking publicly about my diagnosis. [applause] i did speak with my children and my family about it first and they said, do what you've got to do, mom. it is good. anyway, is so when i was homeless and i didn't have a place, i didn't think about my medication, i didn't think about -- life stresses were going on for me with children and everything else.

i have my notes. >> you are good. >> i was a nervous wreck. anyway... before i got my stabilized housing, you know, it was so stressful because i didn't want to share with my family members that i am, you know, if i don't get housed, i might die out here because they didn't understand what it means to be homeless and with h.i.v. i have always had a place. when i became homeless, it was very difficult. but now that i do have a place with these new luxury apartments , yes, i have a luxury apartment. i am on the sixth floor, baby, it's fine. it's beautiful it is beautiful. it is beautiful. it's so peaceful. i think i earned that working in the city forever and raising children. i'm so thankful for brian and

the q. foundation. it's so easy with your services. once you are online with the services it is automated. i don't have to worry about getting my rent paid on time. i have money to even have cable. [laughter] i had to lie to even get into a project recently. i had to lie and say that i made x amount of money. anyway, in the last couple of years, that is when i met brian. i never utilized services. i was a case manager. i realized i couldn't -- i could live here. i met brian and i fell in love with him and the whole staff. they are very beautiful. i want to thank london breed. i love london breed. [applause]

i know some of your family members. i am thankful for what you are doing for san francisco. since you have been mayor, just to see in these areas where they don't want people housed, and to see that you fight for us. thank you for that. [applause] i think the q. foundation, i think brian. brian is just awesome. this man is a bail buster. thank you, everyone. that is it. [applause] i can't believe it. i have never told people that. i have a client here of mind that you never knew and i didn't utilize services because i'm very private. i didn't want them to get a misunderstanding or judge me. anyways, thank you everyone. happy holidays. miss breed, thank you so much.

[applause] >> regina, we are going to miss you. she was my ambassador at monterrey when i would go down there. i would turn around and suddenly there is an entourage of people walking around with us. always making me feel welcome and at home. we know that you are out here in this luxury high-rise, at least you are a little bit closer to the office now. [laughter] >> thank you, regina. next, joe from the san francisco aids foundation has done remarkable things in transforming that organization. earlier i talked about mayor breed's administration and how open and accessible and effective they are, in the same thing under joe's leadership with the aids foundation. we're continuing to build closer and closer relationships and working together on solving all of our joint issues and it's

absolutely the d.n.a. that joe is creating in the organization. i welcome you to come up and speak. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. i want to echo everything that was said in terms of thinking the mayor for her continuous support around addressing the homelessness crisis and the housing and affordability crisis in our city, and i want to thank and congratulate brian in the q. foundation for this exciting announcement today. is the mayor suggested and said, we are at a pivotal moment in our fight to end the h.i.v. epidemic. last year we had fewer than 200 new cases of h.i.v. and over the last five years, we have seen a decrease by 50 1% in the number of new cases. what we also know as a number of new cases amongst people experiencing homelessness is on the rise. in 2,000 and for -- in 2015, there were 29. in 2018, there were 40. so what we know is that in order for our safety to get 20, which

is the ambitious goal we are all railing -- rallying behind, we must address the issue of housing and we much -- must address the issue of homelessness. and of the people who are on the streets each and every night were living with h.i.v., we know that just 33% of them are virally suppressed and that the best way to get them access to care and get them into consistent treatment is to make sure they have a safe place to rest their head each and every night. that is not a shelter, it is a home. so today -- [applause] so today's announcement is quite exciting and it will get us even further to this goal. would also want to acknowledge is it is not just people who are living on the streets that need the support. we are an amazing community and made amazing by the long-term survivors and the people who responded to the aids crisis in the early 80s.

right now there are over 16,000 individuals living with h.i.v. in san francisco, and 65% of them were over the age of 50. what we know is that these individuals are not saying that they are -- they're h.i.v. care needs are going unmet. they are experiencing housing insecurity and experiencing isolation. so again, housing is the solution. housing is the answer. by making sure that these survivors, survivors of the worst epidemic in modern time can survive this crisis of housing and stay in our city, the city that they made great, is something not only the aids foundation and q. foundation is committed to, but i mayor breed as well as supervisor mandelman are all committed to. i couldn't be prouder to be part of today's announcement and can't wait for their collaboration with the q. foundation and more of our partners in the room in ensuring everyone has access to affordable housing.

[applause] >> i can't even remember when i first met rafael nadal him in. it was before my hair was grey. [laughter] and he has always been such an incredibly grounded, honest, and natural communicator. of the many things i like about raphael is he has the ability to so easily put into words his values and how his policy positions connect with them and do it in a way that leads everybody else to that place. is like, this is why we believe in what we believe, and that is such an incredible skill that i always hope to aspire to, and so i'm so proud to welcome supervisor mandelman here today and thank him for his leadership

and getting out this $1 million with the mayor. [applause] >> that's ridiculous, i'm not nearly as eloquent as brian said i'm not eloquent at all. we all know san francisco has a homelessness crisis and we also all know that the best solution to homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place. so that is why this program is so critical and valuable and why i am so grateful to brian and the q. foundation for your relentless, tireless advocacy, but also for the h.i.v. aids provider network and others who make the rounds every year in city hall, along with the aids foundation and joe, to ensure that the hiv-aids communities not forgotten in our annual budget. i think that we have gotten some

significant wins in the last year. we are nowhere near where we need to be, but this is a really significant win. so thank you to all who made it happen. my aid and i are ready to go into another budget cycle and we look forward to working with you to make sure that no communities left behind, but particularly not to the hiv-aids community. thank you. [applause] >> there's a lot of credit to share. i'm so happy that we were able to invite some of the people who deserve our thanks, but there's also many others in the space of time and we don't always get a chance to thank everybody. one of the things i want to acknowledge is our partnership with the mayor's office of housing and community development. we got our first funding with them 15 years ago and they have been an incredible partner.

they are open, they listen to the community, they incorporate our feedback and it really is this incredible collaboration. they are also really good about getting contracts done, paying bills on time, so from leadership to envisioning, all the way down to administrative finesse, i am so thankful and proud to be a partner with the mayor's office of housing and community development. helen hale will be our new connection point with the h.i.v. subsidies program. everybody, please give them a round of applause for all of their years of service. [applause] i believe all of our speakers are done. awesome. everybody who has spoken has to go to another event. you are allowed to go now.

this is where we will just move into the part where we talk about some of the eligibility... >> please call roll call. [roll call] this is the recreation and parks commission meeting of december 19th, 2019. welcome to everyone here today. remind you to turn off electronic devices during the