i have resided in north beach, chinatown, and colonel heights. all my family lives and still lives in the city. san francisco is the only city i have ever known. at first, i was very hesitant. there was so much to do and i am not sure which place to start. at the time, the housing market was under decline and this is a great opportunity for us to buy a house and start a family. we can only be able to afford one or the other. two things helps me to decide, supporting my wife and my desire to be able to own a home and continue to live in the city. we took on the task of doing something with the property. this process has been an emotional roller coaster. now we stand before you pleading our case. there are some anything's to say. we are not the previous owner of the property. there are restrictions on what you can do. i want to share something with you that is not documented. my wife and i are a very active couple and think we have a lot to offer the neighborhood. besides helping our neighbors get rid of the eyesore, the best thing my wife and i ca

north beach chinatown residents only have about half an acre pr thousand residents as compared to the rest of the city, which has about nine acres of open space per thousand residents, a significant gap. when you add that to the fact there are no other backyards in north beach and chinatown, you can understand why this neighborhood has been clearly designated in the recreation and open element of the plan as a high-needs area for acquisition of new open space and the addition of open space. i'm really here tonight i think to make that particular point around the policy context for environmental review as we think about its consistency with ourover all general plan and the roads process that i've been very personally involved with working city planning staff over the past year. if there's one clear --

again, you know, the north beach chinatown neighborhood lacks open space. that's one of the really important things about this plan. and i just wanted to mention one of the things that people are referring to. there was a two-month, six weeks or two months, i don't know which, closure of mason street. but it was a really interesting project. a lot of community came and worked to build that together. and that was, i think, one of the best ways to really study the impacts and i think it allows us to really do that in a thorough way and the environmental impact report. i also did just want to quickly just show you a couple of images because they mean a lot to me. here, as you can see, is the current layout of the park. and one of the things that we have challenges with as a department, which this e.i.r. addresses and discusses, is that the park is currently on two different levels. right now the tennis courts are at this level with the pool and clubhouse, the playground is on a separate level and then the hard area is separate and everything is divided by sens

neighborhood corridors like a shuttle bus that will take people from the cruise ship terminal to north beach, to chinatown, trying to continue to promote local businesses that way. and i have been talking with the owners, the recipient of another ada lawsuit. i know she is very motivated. >> where street is the business on? >> i think it is sixteenth. >> by the restaurant. commissioner dooley: she is motivated to get the neighborhood together. we have to keep that on our priority list. it is not going away. that concludes my report. >> thank you for working on that. president riley: next item, please. >> commissioners, item number 22 is general public comment. president riley: seeing none. >> item number 23, new business? >> i wanted to bring up the fact that the giants are tied for first place and there is only three weeks left. let's go. >> i would like to second that. [laughter] >> may i make a request? i was derelict in something and i want to reopen by vice president's report if that is okay. >> we will go ahead and close new business. >> i wanted to say that the response from the small business comm

. >>> we've all heard of the castro, north beach and chinatown, and some of the best known neighborhoods in san francisco, right? now a new neighborhood wants to become an official destination. the community is an area south of market between 2nd and harrison streets. the leaders unveiled a new campaign to brand the neighborhood with a fair. the goal is to get the city to define the area, which they say would support business there. >> we formed the community benefits in 2008 and part of our charge was actually creating economic vie tailty and a place for residents. >> community leaders add that research shows when residents can take ownership of a neighborhood, it ultimately can improve the quality of life there. >>> federal prosecutors have unveiled details of the perjury case against barry bonds. he's due to go on trial in march on charges he lied to a grand jury saying he never knowingly took steroids. the case was supposed to take in march of last year, on friday, prosecutors filed a planned witness list, nearly identical to the one they submitted for the 2009 trial. the list includ

. >> this work which is sitting on the intersection of two major neighborhoods -- chinatown and north beach -- really wasn't into it is -- inspirational source for you, was it? >> what i were to come up with -- when i work with an idea -- when i work to come up with an idiot, i look to a site inspired by a tradition known as land art, where we look to the environment where we are going to create a piece and find elements in that environment to create something that grows from that, so it feels routed to the site and get may bring out new beautiful flourishes. >> the language is in essence 22 books that are suspended in air in the middle of this intersection. you actually drew upon about 90 different operas, right? >> -- 90 different authors, right? >> we look through the history of this area, which is a primary cultural icon. after we had a chance to meet with a lot of people in the neighborhood, we were able to get suggestions, and we came up with 90. we took stands from all of these books. >> we will see the words embedded in concrete. >> in addition to some recent additions by some local

design skills for countless organizations, which include building web sites for the chinatown neighborhood center, north beacheighborhood associations, american or in performing arts, and the asian american pageant. he was also a project coordinator ad a community youth center where he spearheaded community clubhouses after school programs. i even visited a program that he created, and he has taught asian youth graphics and web design, so we are honored to announce his leadership in the community. >> i would like the coordinator this year to join us. [applause] >> congratulations to thomas. do you want to say a few words? >> thank you for this amazing award. i want to thank my parents, my brother, friends and family, but one person that stood out to me is my role model, rose chung, also known as my godmom. she taught me that in the world, that with a little perseverance and dedication, that you should. you should give it a try even though you can make it. throughout the years, she taught me that obstacles are nothing but steppingstones to prepare you for life's challenges to be a better leader, to be a better

as the legislation was written last week, this will be a big issue, in chinatown, parts of north beach where you have virtuallyon the ground near the alleyways. i would like clarification on that amendment. >> my name is andrew long. i am a small property owner. i think this piece of legislation needs to be tabled and reworked. you are making landlords the sole responsible party for bedbugs for a $1,000 a day fine, which is draconian. the reality is, 99.9% of the time, bedbugs are brought into the location by the tenant. there is not much we can do about that. people take free furniture from the city and bring it into their apartment, and all of a sudden you have bedbugs. you have a lot of duplication of enforcement. we have the department of public health doing what dbi does. to we really need two agencies doing the same job? as it is, we are plighpaying foo agencies that are duplicating a lot of work. i think this whole thing needs to be rethought. we need to have a task force with all responsible parties and come up with a better system. that would be a much better path to go down t

it took place at fisherman's wharf, chinatown and north beach. >> bart is holding a ground-breaking event for the controversial oakland airport kingor. it would replace the airport buses that currently linking the airport to the coliseum bart station. the ground-breaking ceremony starts at 10:30 at the oakland parking lot. the $484 million project is overpriced and pointless. supporters say it will bring much-needed jobs and provide a better ride to thousands of airport travelers. >> equipment problems are keeping crews from hoisting the second tower. the work was supposed to begin this morning. instead it's pushed back to next week. a computer rendering that we hope to show you shows how the four sections of the tower will be lifted 30 stories into the air and then lowered and bolted into place. the pieces are 107 feet tall, each weighs just over a million pounds. caltran is warning drivers not to be distracted by the work. >> late this afternoon at at&t park, the giants will try to take a commanding three games to one lead against the phillies. seven shut-out innings and ross had anothe

rather than trying to select my favorite chinese restaurant from chinatown or my favorite italian restaurant from north beach or my favorite high and restaurant recognized by is agates -- zagats, i tried to recognize a lesser known cuisine. helmand's palicace serves amazig cuisine related to afghanistan with an array of some of the most well-known and well loved dishes including pumpkin khadu. it is named after the longest river in afghanistan. it is adorned with many photos that depict traditional life in that country. in december of 2007, there was a famous landslide that occurred on telegraph hill that closed helmand's restaurant on broadway. fortunately, the 16 year-old restaurant relocated to russian hill, where it has been serving residents and visitors from around the world with amazing cuisine. i am sorry they are not here but encourage everyone to go visit. with that, i would like to recognize cavan wesley from the golden gate restaurant association and thank you for helping to both organize today's event and representing the restaurant industry. i would like to give you a moment to say a few words.

the assaults took place in the financial district, fisherman's wharf, chinatown and north beach. >> closings involuntary manslaughter conviction in july. he shot and killed grant while he was face down at the bart station on new year's day. mehserle said he thought he was using his taser. >> nearly 20 years after anita hill accused supreme court justice clarence thomas of sexual harassment, his wife is now asking her for an apology. the hill accusation rocked the hearings in 1991. hill tells abc 7 news she got an unexpected voice mail from virginia thomas. good morning anita hill, it's jenny thomas. i want to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. i would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. so give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. okay. have a good day. hill is now a professor at brandeis university in massachusetts and she tells abc 7 she has no reason to apologize. >> san francisco state senator leland yee says he's b