Elena Kadvany
Sep. 27, 2023
Updated: Sep. 28, 2023 8:21 a.m.
Camille Messerly wipes down a parklet table next to a window covered with graffiti at Shuggie’s in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The owners of Shuggie's have spent at least $3,000 to clean up frequent tagging of their parklet.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Shuggie’s co-owner Kayla Abe holds a lock broken by thieves.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Graffiti is seen on the parklet windows at Shuggie’s. Parklets were not eligible for the city’s vandalism grants, but the Golden Gate Restaurant Association was pressing to change that.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
At San Francisco restaurant Shuggie’s, the parklet is tagged with graffiti so frequently that diners have stopped wanting to sit in it. Once, the owners confronted the taggers, offering them free pizza to stop.
They accepted the pizza. The graffiti continued.
A new survey by the city trade group Golden Gate Restaurant Association reveals just how constant vandalism has become at San Francisco’s restaurants. Only 3% of 74 respondents had not experienced graffiti or property crime in the last month.
While far from a new problem, graffiti and property crime contribute to the sense that running a small business in San Francisco feels like “death by a thousand cuts,” said Hanson Li, who is a partner in San Francisco’s Lazy Susan, Humphry Slocombe and Horsefeather. Owners are painting over graffiti on their days off. They’re crowdsourcing the best cleaning solutions on social media. They’re spending thousands of dollars to clean graffiti and fix smashed windows while their margins are tighter than ever.
Graffiti covers one of Shuggie's outdoor parklets in the Mission District.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
In the last six months, San Francisco’s 311 call center received 10,000 reports of graffiti on commercial buildings and sidewalks. Overall, graffiti cleanup is one of the city’s most common service requests, yet its response rate has been slow. Public Works’ stated goal is to respond to graffiti requests on public property within 48 hours and on private property in 72 hours. But since 2021, the department’s “on-time” response rate has been below 55%, even hitting a low of 14% in 2022.
Since 2021, the city of San Francisco has spent $1 million on grants for vandalism relief and allocated an additional $500,000 this summer to meet demand. Nearly 800 businesses have received either $1,000 or $2,000 grants for graffiti, broken windows or other vandalism, according to data provided to the Chronicle. The city also launched a $4 million, two-year pilot program last year to offer free graffiti abatement to businesses in certain commercial corridors.
Restaurant owners who received vandalism grants said they were helpful but ultimately an insufficient solution to a pervasive problem.
This includes Shuggie’s, which got a $1,000 grant for graffiti last year. After spending $3,000 to clean the almost daily vandalism, co-owner Kayla Abe said they gave up. Parklets aren’t eligible for the city’s relief grants. Public Works told her that Shuggie’s wasn’t eligible for the city’s new graffiti abatement program, according to an email provided to the Chronicle, because the restaurant is a few streets off the program’s designated corridors. However, after publication of this article, the department said the restaurant is in fact eligible.
“It’s disheartening,” Abe said. “It just feels like there’s such a huge disconnect between what the city thinks is good for us and how much we’re actually struggling on the ground.”
Shuggie’s is among the small businesses that received a city grant for vandalism relief.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Nichole Accettola, owner of Mid-Market’s Kantine, secured $1,000 from the city after one of the Scandinavian bakery’s large front windows was broken last year. It didn’t cover the entire cost of the repair, but “it’s something that helps, to know that there’s some support there,” she said.
She feared it would happen again, and later that night, it did.
Graffiti has become a top priority for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. Executive director Laurie Thomas has been meeting with anyone at City Hall who can influence the issue, from the head of Public Works to the Police Department. She’s lobbying for “low-hanging fruit,” including making parklets eligible for relief funds and pausing the $500 city fine for private property owners who don’t clean up graffiti in 30 days.
The industry group is also working to bridge the gap between frustrated restaurateurs and city resources. Its survey found that 40% of owners reported the crimes to the police, while only 19% applied for relief funds from the city. (When asked why they didn’t seek grants, some said “complicated,” “time consuming” and “why bother.”) The group plans to spread awareness about city grants and how to file a police report online to save time.
Shuggie’s co-owner David Murphy sets up chairs for dinner. The restaurant has struggled with frequent graffiti.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Thomas is heartened by the Police Department’s recent decision to reassign an officer to investigate graffiti full-time. Officer Martin Ferreira, who’s worked with the Police Department for over two decades, said his position was prompted by “the large amount of graffiti that was being reported” and increasing community concern.
“It has intensified as businesses are leaving, as businesses come under more hardship,” Ferreira said.
The Police Department’s best defense against graffiti, he said, is security camera footage or eyewitnesses. Without that, it’s hard to identify suspects, let alone make an arrest, he said. Ferreira encouraged businesses to send to the Police Department video footage of tagging if they have it, and to install “ample lighting” as a deterrent.
Graffiti, while one of many pressing crime issues San Francisco is facing, continues to be both a financial and morale cost for restaurants.
“Anything that can help enhance customers coming in and (businesses’) survival,” Thomas said, “I think is important.”
This story was updated to reflect additional information about Shuggie’s bid for city funds.
Source (Archive)
Sep. 27, 2023
Updated: Sep. 28, 2023 8:21 a.m.
Camille Messerly wipes down a parklet table next to a window covered with graffiti at Shuggie’s in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The owners of Shuggie's have spent at least $3,000 to clean up frequent tagging of their parklet.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Shuggie’s co-owner Kayla Abe holds a lock broken by thieves.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Graffiti is seen on the parklet windows at Shuggie’s. Parklets were not eligible for the city’s vandalism grants, but the Golden Gate Restaurant Association was pressing to change that.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
At San Francisco restaurant Shuggie’s, the parklet is tagged with graffiti so frequently that diners have stopped wanting to sit in it. Once, the owners confronted the taggers, offering them free pizza to stop.
They accepted the pizza. The graffiti continued.
A new survey by the city trade group Golden Gate Restaurant Association reveals just how constant vandalism has become at San Francisco’s restaurants. Only 3% of 74 respondents had not experienced graffiti or property crime in the last month.
While far from a new problem, graffiti and property crime contribute to the sense that running a small business in San Francisco feels like “death by a thousand cuts,” said Hanson Li, who is a partner in San Francisco’s Lazy Susan, Humphry Slocombe and Horsefeather. Owners are painting over graffiti on their days off. They’re crowdsourcing the best cleaning solutions on social media. They’re spending thousands of dollars to clean graffiti and fix smashed windows while their margins are tighter than ever.
Graffiti covers one of Shuggie's outdoor parklets in the Mission District.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
In the last six months, San Francisco’s 311 call center received 10,000 reports of graffiti on commercial buildings and sidewalks. Overall, graffiti cleanup is one of the city’s most common service requests, yet its response rate has been slow. Public Works’ stated goal is to respond to graffiti requests on public property within 48 hours and on private property in 72 hours. But since 2021, the department’s “on-time” response rate has been below 55%, even hitting a low of 14% in 2022.
Since 2021, the city of San Francisco has spent $1 million on grants for vandalism relief and allocated an additional $500,000 this summer to meet demand. Nearly 800 businesses have received either $1,000 or $2,000 grants for graffiti, broken windows or other vandalism, according to data provided to the Chronicle. The city also launched a $4 million, two-year pilot program last year to offer free graffiti abatement to businesses in certain commercial corridors.
Restaurant owners who received vandalism grants said they were helpful but ultimately an insufficient solution to a pervasive problem.
This includes Shuggie’s, which got a $1,000 grant for graffiti last year. After spending $3,000 to clean the almost daily vandalism, co-owner Kayla Abe said they gave up. Parklets aren’t eligible for the city’s relief grants. Public Works told her that Shuggie’s wasn’t eligible for the city’s new graffiti abatement program, according to an email provided to the Chronicle, because the restaurant is a few streets off the program’s designated corridors. However, after publication of this article, the department said the restaurant is in fact eligible.
“It’s disheartening,” Abe said. “It just feels like there’s such a huge disconnect between what the city thinks is good for us and how much we’re actually struggling on the ground.”
Shuggie’s is among the small businesses that received a city grant for vandalism relief.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Nichole Accettola, owner of Mid-Market’s Kantine, secured $1,000 from the city after one of the Scandinavian bakery’s large front windows was broken last year. It didn’t cover the entire cost of the repair, but “it’s something that helps, to know that there’s some support there,” she said.
She feared it would happen again, and later that night, it did.
Graffiti has become a top priority for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. Executive director Laurie Thomas has been meeting with anyone at City Hall who can influence the issue, from the head of Public Works to the Police Department. She’s lobbying for “low-hanging fruit,” including making parklets eligible for relief funds and pausing the $500 city fine for private property owners who don’t clean up graffiti in 30 days.
The industry group is also working to bridge the gap between frustrated restaurateurs and city resources. Its survey found that 40% of owners reported the crimes to the police, while only 19% applied for relief funds from the city. (When asked why they didn’t seek grants, some said “complicated,” “time consuming” and “why bother.”) The group plans to spread awareness about city grants and how to file a police report online to save time.
Shuggie’s co-owner David Murphy sets up chairs for dinner. The restaurant has struggled with frequent graffiti.
Shao-Feng Hsu/Special to The Chronicle
Thomas is heartened by the Police Department’s recent decision to reassign an officer to investigate graffiti full-time. Officer Martin Ferreira, who’s worked with the Police Department for over two decades, said his position was prompted by “the large amount of graffiti that was being reported” and increasing community concern.
“It has intensified as businesses are leaving, as businesses come under more hardship,” Ferreira said.
The Police Department’s best defense against graffiti, he said, is security camera footage or eyewitnesses. Without that, it’s hard to identify suspects, let alone make an arrest, he said. Ferreira encouraged businesses to send to the Police Department video footage of tagging if they have it, and to install “ample lighting” as a deterrent.
Graffiti, while one of many pressing crime issues San Francisco is facing, continues to be both a financial and morale cost for restaurants.
“Anything that can help enhance customers coming in and (businesses’) survival,” Thomas said, “I think is important.”
This story was updated to reflect additional information about Shuggie’s bid for city funds.
Source (Archive)
