if you close the part of mason st., they have to circle back around, and that adds more money and more time to the fair and also puts more traffic and necessary in that north beach area, and drivers take powell street, then you have a problem, because that is at the main edge of chinatown, and trying to get through there is a headache. you drive all the way from union square to fisherman's wharf, you try that. tell me if mason street is not the most efficient, safest, and most productive way to get tourists and visitors to the city who are staying at the hotel and who we would pick up in the area, visiting from out of town or coming from the up side area, and get over to the fisherman's wharf area, so it is going to create a problem and create traffic unnecessarily in the area, and i appreciate you also look at that when you want to improve taxi service. well, you yourselves by closing mason street is going to hurt taxi service. >> excuse me, sir, i believe you already had an opportunity to speak. president chiu: sir, you had an opportunity to comment on either the eir or the other. th

and if you were to close mason st. totally, and not build 20 feet into a, he would have the maximum open space for the neighborhood. in presentations to the many bodies in the communities, it is very misleading. the site plans do not show property line. the black area that you see is the 20 feet of construction in contradiction to the general plan. how would you like anyone building across the property line of 1 foot, 2 foot, 10 feet, 20 feet? to block access would be disgraceful. the columbus avenue urban design element as a series of open spaces. washington square have a big battle for an underground garages that would have lifted the part several feet above columbus avenue. the battle is very similar. ribbon of open space is highly prized and has a historical record of being good for the city and good for the overall unification of our neighborhood. the particular site, the triangle is strategic. it is not an arbitrary open space that has regular value. it is a high value, a unique property. from the crowded street

the one block of mason st. becoming additional public open space. the relocated children's playground at the center of the sides, and the tennis courts relocated to the perimeter at greenwich street. as was mentioned, in the summer of 2009, one block of mason street was temporarily closed to three project -- to through traffic. last year, it was also closed for farmers' markets on sundays, which will continue this year. the city did not observe any adverse effects on vehicular traffic and found that the area was well used for the neighborhood for picnics, library programs, and just generally joined it. the 701 lombard street site offers great opportunities. as was mentioned, it is at the crossroads of north beach, and from the new reading room, there will be great views of lombard street and the transamerica pyramid and others. the design take maximum advantage of the views and also of the abundant daylight and the connections to the hispanic park. the plan also takes advantage of the existing slope of the site, which is approximately 8 feet, by cre

it will help bring it together, and very importantly, the closure of this residual piece of mason st. will eliminate eight pedestrian unfriendly and vehicular confusing part of the city and will provide a park which is not what two major streets but is protected by a library on one side and recreation on the other. in summary, in my conclusion, this is an absolute gift to the neighborhood and to the city. i would strongly urge you to have this project go forward. thank you. >> sean madison, north beach, in north beach resident and also a new father. i just wanted to comment publicly on the many friends and families i know in the north beach area that has struggled to stay in the city, and this plan is an extraordinary, extraordinary step fort in making another neighborhood a very family friendly place. thank you. >> supervisors, i have lived for over half of my years in north beach, and i think that the present plan is excellent, and as previous speakers have said, the fact that they want to place the library on the trying " and protect and create a much better playground for young ch

mason reports millions who have found jobs are working for less. >> we will get a look at what's going on. >> for nearly two years in st. shores, michigan, they were both out of work. >> we had zero money. we could hardly afford to buy food. >> reporter: michael who was laid off by ford just got a new job but at half his old pay. melissa is still looking for a job. >> even when we were out there both of us diligently looking for work, the work just isn't there. >> reporter: and now the job market is getting worse. after three straight months of strong growth hiring slowed sharply in may raising new fears the economy is faulterring. >> is this just a soft patch? >> no, it isn't, it is beginning of a new throttling back in the pace of growth for the economy. >> reporter: seeing a global industrial slowdown. manufacturing which had been leading the recovery and had added jobs in each of the past six months suddenly gave up 5000 jobs in may. >> what does this mean for job growth then? >> it means it is easing again. >> we are not going to return to a quarter million jobs a month? >> that's not going to happen anytime soon.

mason begins our coverage. >> this is the rare treat. we get a pizza once in a while. >> reporter: for nearly two years in st. clare shores, michigan, michael and melissa barone were both out of work. >> we absolutely had zero money. we could hardly afford to even buy food. >> reporter: michael, who was laid off by ford, just got a new job, but after half his old pay. melissa is still looking for a job. >> even though we were out there, both of us, diligently looking for work, the work just isn't there. >> reporter: and now the job market is getting worse. after three straight months of strong growth, hiring slowed sharply in may, raising new fears the economy is faltering. is this just a soft patch? >> no, this isn't a soft patch. it's the beginning of a new throttling back in the pace of growth for the economy. >> reporter: economist lakshman achuthan sees a global industrial slowdown. manufacturing, which has been leading the recovery and had added jobs in each of the past six months, suddenly gave up 5,000 jobs in may. what does this mean for job growth, then? >> it means it is easing, again. we're not go

as anthony mason reports, millions who have found jobs are working for less. >> this is a rare -- >> reporter: for nearly two years in st. clair shores, michigan, michael and melissa baron were out of work. >> we had zero money. we could hardly even afford to buy food. >> reporter: michael, who was laid off by ford, just got a new job, but at half his old pay. melissa is still looking for a new job. >> even if we were out there, both of us diligently looking for work, the work just isn't there. >> reporter: and now the job market is getting worse. after three straight months of strong growth, hiring slowed sharply in may, raising new fears the economy is faulterring. >> is this just a soft patch? >> no, this isn't a soft patch. it's the beginning of a new throttling back in the pace of growth for the economy. >> reporter: economists see a global industrial slowdown. manufacturing, which had been leading the recovery and had added jobs in each of the past six months, suddenly gave up 5000 jobs in may. >> what does this mean for job growth, then? >> it means it's easing again. >> we're not going to return to a quarter mil