i go over to north street -- north beach a couple times a week. i work as a gardener and i worked in central park and the shakespeare garden. my question, or my concern with some of the renovations to the park, is the conversion of asphalt to concrete. especially in south park, which sort of change the park from a park land to an urban plaza. it is successful, but it has changed the look quite dramatically. also, the upper level, which had an asphalt, sort of, trail circling, now is a rather hard concrete circle. it's kind of overkill. otherwise, the renovation of the park seems to be very sensitive. in this case, i was concerned with the conversion of concrete asphalt paths to concrete. asphalt, again, is more trail like. it has a very soft edge. it is dark. it blends in with the soil. concrete reflects the light, even when it is tinted. you are shooting it, you would use a different exposure. i think that is as any change to existing type of paving materials should be addressed in the procedures for review of alterations. and the second thing is

many people refer to cafe trees as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are localnd living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the united states been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since the day we opened. >> it is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing that starbuck's exists and it created a really welcoming pot. it is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the jefferson starship hung out the cafe are the famous poet lawrence william getty and jack herb man go hung out. >> they work worked at a play with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i we

i always point to north beach. there's some allies in north beach that have zero street trees and they're some of the most amazing, quaint allies that you see. the sidewalk is three feet wide. we just need more room for our street trees and we're trying to be better advocates to make sure what we're sitting in will survive long-term. >> are there no species with a tall enough trunk to alleviate the issue of parked cars offering even when there is a no-parking situation cars that would come by and swap the tree on their way by. >> it is a little challenging. it's counter intuitive. but for a narrow sidewalk, we need a very up right species. a lot of our small stature species that are small in maturity tend to be oval and round-forming like a japanese maple or something like that with a lot of low branching. there are a lot of up right species that are large stature, where they're like we'll be very narrow up and right but it's also going to be getting much bigger. the trunk, the root base, reall- >> like a palm. >>

a car ran over a man in a north beach parking garage. people who know him tell abc 7 news he was homeless, and may have been sleeping in the garage. abc 7 news reporter melanie woodrow is live from greenwich street. >> reporter: a tragic collision that happened out here around 7:00 this morning. i want to step out of the way and show you this garage where it happened. there are a few businesses that operate out of this building. and people have told us as they're coming and going today that the garage is pretty dark around the entrance, just past the gate you're looking at. this afternoon, while we were out here putting together this report, two women who work with homeless people locally approached us and when we shared the victim's name sadly told us they knew him well. jonathan jones turned 48 just a few days ago. >> to say the least, it's tragic. >> reporter: christy fairchild is the director of north beach citizens. fairchild stopped by 725 greenwich street after hearing someone hit a man who may have been sleeping inside this garag

a car ran over a man in a north beach parking garage. people who knew the victim say he was homeless. >> this is an extreme example of the crisis point that homelessness has reached in the city, and now san francisco's new mayor is promising to do something about it. we have live team coverage tonight on both the big picture and this morning's incident. >> let's begin with abc 7 news reporter melanie woodrow live from greenwich street. melanie? >> we spoke with two women who stopped by today as we were putting this report together. they tell us that they work with homeless people locally, and that they knew this victim well. people who knew the victim, run over in this north beach garage say the tragic collision highlights a serious issue. >> it's just kind of a testament to the need for this -- for all of us to assist with people getting them off the streets and into shelt they're they need. >> christy fairchild is the executive director of north beach citizens, a local group that addresses homelessness. fairchild stopped by 725 greenwi

a fire in north beach. on the corner of grant and green streets.ur camera >>> a fire was burning in north beach, and it is now reduced to white, puffy smoke. it is a camera on top of our sales force tower. that fire got going and in the last 15 minutes, we are seeing the smoke start to dissipate a bit. this is a corner that is usually pretty busy, of course. it really is a busy neighborhood. we do have a crew on the scene, and we will have more on our website and coming up on your news at six. >>> the oceans temperature is rising. scientists says that means the risk for hurricane in southern california is going up. we will break down the risk coming up on the cbs evening news. >>> we look forward to that. thanks for watching us at 5. >> will be back at 6:00. we will see you then. >> enjoy your dinner. -- we will be back at 6:00. we will see you then. >> enjoy your dinner. e >> glor: on the "cbs evening news" this friday: the president provokes more fire from ex- intelligence officials as he looks to revoke more security clearances. could a state us

this happened during construction of a playground at washington square park in north beach. the anger from some who say this didn't have to happen. >> reporter: a familiar sound as bells from saints peter and paul church ring throughout washington square park, the heart of north beach. while not much has changed in this park for more than 60 years the park's playground is getting a major renovation. unfortunately it's coming at a huge cost and we're not talking just about the money. >> emotional for us because matr of days nin islannes an oe olive tree that have stood on this corner since the late 1950s are coming down because they have become a safety hazard. >> it's unfortunate but it's not an accident. it's negligence. >> he blames the department of public works for the lack of oversight on the project. in an attempt to install benches they used an excavator and hit a single root. the workers switched to hand digging to prevent further damage, but that didn't stop the problem. dpw is calling all of this an unfortunate mistake. >> i'm not looking to really point fingers. b

there are pending applications on the other side of broadway and north beach.re pending applications on the other side of kearny in the downtown. pending applications to the south of bush street. so, geography has been served. there is no question about that. if the conversation around access should really be a conversation around the price point, which is none of this cannabis, whether recreational or medical in nature, is affordable to actually people who want to get it. that's where this conversation should be going. but relative to physical geographical access, i can stand here in good conscience as somebody who has supported and voted for and made clear that i would come back for the needs and wants of chinatown, which is not only a physical place, which it indeed is, it is also the spiritual, psychological, headquarters of the chinese american community, not only in san francisco, but beyond. this has had chinatown support from the community tenants association, from the chinese chamber of commerce, chinese consolidated association, development center acr

i am the guy that suggested we get out and hand the flyers out at the northbeat -- north beach fare. i realized when i was with a member of the friends, their shut down the park and people would go crazy. it is a great deal. i have spoken to many groups and i have seen levi who has done a tremendous job in addressing these issues with the community organizations. i have seen the correspondence every time something comes up. we are trying to address it. i have talked to people in the community. i have talked to individuals. nobody will come down here and say we are delighted about having the park shut down for six months. it is a huge, huge deal for that community. it really is. but when you understand the significance of it, what these improvements will do in the long term, they will support it. they will not come down here and speak, but the great majority support it. it is a case of courage and sacrifice and whatever you hear against it, i promise you, people will support it. we will get a lot of flack when it is closed, but let's have the courage to move forward. >> president buel

i live in north beach. i walk and bike the embarcadero at least once a day. right now, embarcadero's kind of the worst of both worlds. it's very, very crowded. when i walk, i'm always scared that bikers are, like, flying around me. as a biker, if i take the bike lane, i'm just terrified that a car will just pull right in front of me. and from those pictures, they show cars, like, jumping in front of you. but even -- even when they're standing still, you don't know if somebody's going to open a door right into you, and i've had many, man ae close calls where i'm just riding my bike straight along the bike way, and i have to react, and if i would have just reacted a little bit slower, i would have just been on the floor. this is -- i understand it starts oh, like oh, let's do a shared lane here. it's incremental, but based on the traffic we have on the embarcadero, it's time. it's time to give bikes a dedicated lane, give pedestrians their own space. it just makes so much sense. and the near term improvements, we need those posts, we need protection. like, we k

architect working in san francisco since 1970, a neighbor of this building, 14-year board member of north beach citizens, a homeless group of this area, founder of nick's village. all this experience gives me firsthand knowledge of how difficult the housing situation is, certainly, for the general public in these affordable housing, specifically seniors and the homeless. so i speak, obviously, in support of the projects on points one and three in your resolution. i won't go on much longer because you've had a very good presentation here, but the sponsors and the architects are nationally recognized. they've responded to public input with a staggering number of hearings. the project conforms 100% to the planning code, does not require variances. could have been three stories higher than it was, but the developers chose not to take that latest change to the planning code. this is exactly the kind of project that the public supports on port lands. it relates to the neighborhood architecturally, and from an urban design point of view, it follows the city's transit first view. what more could be ask

. >> north beach is i know one of the last little italian community. >> one of the last neighborhood that hadn't changed a whole lot and san francisco community so strong and the sense of partnership with businesses as well and i just love north beach community old school italian comfort and love that is what italians are all about we need people to come here and shop here so we can keep this going not only us but, of course, everything else in the community i think local businesses the small ones and coffee shops are unique in their own way that is the characteristic of the neighborhood i peace officer prefer it is local character you have to support them. >> really notice the port this community we really need to kind of really shop locally and support the communityly live in it is more economic for people to survive here. >> i came down to treasure island to look for a we've got a long ways to go. ring i just got married and didn't want something on line i've met artists and local business owners they need money to go out and shop this is important to short them i think you get be

in north beach, while there is neighborhood services and they are incredible, we don't have a bulk of services to serve homeless families, and that's why i hope we can incorporate in the m.o.u. a commitment from the department of housing that we can run that well. that's a request that i have of staff and the director. >> there's a two-fold response to that question. the way we currently craft the m.o.u. intentionally in coordination with the mayor's office of housing, we're expecting them to abide by what the state legislation required for this project to be affordable. but as you know, we're not putting any money into the project. that would be mohcd's call, so i'm going to let mara speak to that issue. >> so commissioner gilman, thank you for that question. absolutely, we can report to you more frequently on the progress of the project. we are so excited to do that in whatever format makes the most sense, and we'll defer to you on that. with respect to making sure that the right services are provided for the right people at the project, that is mohcd's responsibility, and we're wor

was growing up in the 60s and 50's a good portion of chicano-american chinese-american lived in north beach a nob hill community. >> as part the immigrant family is some of the recreation centers are making people have the ability to get together and meet 0 other people if communities in the 60s a 70s and 80s and 90s saw a move to the richmond the sunset district and more recently out to the excelsior the avenue community as well as the ensuring u bayview so chinese family living all over the city and when he grape it was in this area. >> we're united. >> and growing up in the area that was a big part of the my leave you know playing basketball and mycy took band lessons and grew up. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> allergies welcome to the community fair it kicks off three weeks of celebrations for the year and let's keep everybody safe and celebrate the biggest parade outside of china on february 11th go best wishes and congratulations and 3, 2, 1 happy enough is enough. >> i grew up volley ball education and in media professional contrary as an educator he work with all skids whether o

. >>> a homeless man was killed after he was hit by a car in north beach. it happened when the man was sleeping on an entrance ramp to an underground parking garage. the driver did stay at the scene. >>> a braisen car break in caught on camera at a bay area mall. police in richmond say it's been happening for months. >> reporter: police are noticing a trend. a lot of victims are tourists who leave bags in their car in plain sight. this is the newly released surveillance video of some of these break ins at the pacific east mall. in this video, a man gets out of his car and looks inside another vehicle, quickly punches in the window and steals something. these break-ins happen fast. >> for example, you have laptop computers, gym bags, and you also have a lot of the suitcases. and that's when suspects break into the cars. it only takes a couple of seconds. and they grab the stuff and escape reported report investigators caught --. . >> reporter: investigators caught a few suspects. in one case, they stole $150,00 worth of jewelry. they're looking for these two

we also -- on the walking tours, we went along the north beach and south beach areas. i should have mentioned that primarily because those are the districts that have the embarcadero historic district facilities. and we did talk about the request for interest to try and invite ideas about public oriented use opportunities for those piers. and in the court of going through the south beach area, we also spent time looking at pier 3032. pier 3032 is one of the few piers that is not within the embarcadero historic district. as this slide shows, it lost all of its historic shed, and so the rules and conditions under which can can be improved really do not follow the same set of conventions that are set forth in the working group's recommendations for the embarcadero historic district piers. and so we walked through, in quite a bit of detail, what are some of the opportunities and the challenges for pier 3032. i think people recognize, as the port staff has expressed to them, that there are important uses as represented by the mass and ship in this image about its deep water

it's gateway to north beach and chinatown. the -- [inaudible] >> -- with a fourth six month extension with an eyesight, the developer and northwest are expecting that we will get this projector get entitlement done within a year, but however, we anticipated that often times in the land use process, and counsel going back to the community, getting consent on the design takes a little bit of a time and that is the reason for providing for those opportunity for extensions. the purpose of the e.n.a. is to provide a exclusive right for the developer so in the internal the project's not going to be impacted from outside parties, so they have that right to provide for a number of predevelopment tasks that need to be completed within a set time frame. and of course, there's a fee required for them to tie up the property or have that opportunity. and of course, being -- as part of the update, we are providing for you to this case as being in full compliance with the e.n.a. they pay all the fees that have been required. they demonstrate