The Semaphore - Telegraph Hill Dwellers

P A R K S & T R E E S R E P O R T
By Joe Butler
equally valid use of public space. A few
As reported in the last issue of The Semaphore, more were amused and bemused, but
The City has purchased the Triangle! The surprisingly, no one objected to the loss
small piece of land now inhabited by parked of the parking spot for the day.
cars at the intersection of Lombard and Columbus, Robert Mattei, a new THD Board member
adjacent to DiMaggio Field, is now owned by the is now spearheading the empty tree basin project.
City and County of San Francisco. Thanks to the Thanks to those who surveyed the neighborhood,
many members of the community, especially Board those others who have asked for trees and are
President Peskin, for its acquisition.
patiently waiting, and still others who want a tree but
Grant Avenue was a bit greener this month as have not yet contacted THD.
Telegraph Hill sprouted a park in honor of the Trust Contact Robert (roxyrobert@comcast.com) for
for Public Land’s Park(ing) day in San Francisco. All information on how to get a tree for your sidewalk.
over the City, automobile parking spots were transformed
into makeshift parks. The event served to help in the block surrounding Washington Square Park.
You may have noticed the new “street furniture”
people understand the choices we make with regard Hopefully by the time this issue hits the street, the rag
to public property. Most onlookers were delighted to tag old newspaper boxes will have been cleared away
find the park—out of context perhaps—but put to an and the new brown news racks, intended to distribute
papers in a more aesthetic way, will be all that is left.
In an agreement with the City, publishers who had
boxes in place before the DPW conducted a survey of
the news racks are allowed a space in the new boxes. In
exchange, no new boxes may be placed on the sidewalk,
and the two on the Park side of the street, at Columbus
and Powell, and Union at Stockton, will be the first to
go if publishers do not keep the boxes stocked.
A six block area of North Beach, from Filbert to
Vallejo, and Powell to Grant will over time all see the
new news racks come in, and the odd assortment of
old boxes will be removed. In negotiations with the
city, it was agreed that block of news racks immediately
adjacent to the park would be free of advertising
while the other five blocks would have news racks
sporting advertisements. The city has interpreted
“adjacent” to mean that only the two news racks on
the park side of the street would be free of ads. That’s
the way it stands now. Let the Semaphore know if
An amused former City Poet Laureate, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his you support a commercial free Park block!
partner in City Lights, Nancy Peters, check out the newest “spot” on (This is Joe Butler’s last report, if you want to
PARK(ING) DAY on Grant.
help the committee, contact THD)
1 6 Issue #181 • Fall 2007