The drug addicts, dealers and homeless people who had plagued downtown San Francisco miraculously disappeared this week as the city cleaned up for a major international event.
Sources told The Post that the homeless have been pushed to other parts of the city in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which starts tomorrow and runs until Nov 17.
However, residents and business owners say city officials’ attempts to “round up” transients and drug addicts are just a “Band-Aid” to a dire problem as drug overdoses continue to plague the city.
The city focuses on seven intersections in the Tenderloin and South of Market, or SoMa, neighborhoods, which are home to some of the more concentrated encampments where people high on fentanyl and heroin can be seen passed out in the streets every day.
“They started clearing the tents earlier this week and there will definitely be more police presence,” SoMa resident and community activist Ricci Lee Wynne told The Post.
City officials have cleared homeless encampments around the downtown area in preparation for the APEC summit, which is expected to bring more than 20,000 visitors to the city. David G. McIntyre Old homeless encampment on Nov 10. 2023. Earlier this week, the city of San Francisco cleaned up various urban areas ahead of the APEC Conference.David G. McIntyre
“They’ve cleared out the tents near the Moscone Center on Howard Street, which tells me the city had the ability to do this all along — instead they’re doing the bare minimum.
“When APEC is gone, the presence of the police will start burning again, the tents will return. And it will slowly turn back on. What we need is a permanent solution.”
Among the APEC participants is President Joe Biden, who will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, it was announced on Friday. The event is expected to attract over 20,000 visitors to the City by The Bay.
Biden and Xi will hold a much-anticipated meeting Wednesday at APEC, according to two senior Biden administration officials.AP A sign was posted by the city on Nov. 13, 2023 about cleaning up homeless encampments in the Tenderloin District.David G. McIntyre
In preparation, the city has taken other steps to clean up open drug use markets in other areas, including the Nancy Pelosi federal building at the corner of Mission and 7th streets.
Federal employees received a memo last August to work from home because it was too dangerous to venture into the building, while dozens of addicts gathered on concrete steps and seating areas outside the building’s entrance.
BEFORE: Nancy Pelosi’s Federal Building at 7th Street and Mission is surrounded by homeless people and drug users in San Francisco on August 27, 2023. ZUMAPRESS.com Nancy Pelosi’s Federal Building was previously overrun by homeless people and drug users, but on Nov. 10, 2023 no sign of homeless.David G. McIntyre
The area this week has been cordoned off, and drug dealers and addicts have moved to other parts of Downtown San Francisco, paving the way for workers to return safely.
Leaders from the 21 member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will meet in San Francisco for their annual meeting with the goal of promoting trade and investment. AP The Moscone Center, site of the APEC Conference, on Howard Street in San Francisco, California on Friday, November 10, 2023. The city of San Francisco is trying to clean up and protect various areas of the city before the APEC Conference comes to town November 11-17, 2023. David G. McIntyre Barricades are placed on streets in preparation for the APEC Summit on November 9. 2023, in San Francisco.AP
SoMa resident and business owner Adam Mesnick told The Post he’s seen temporary housing pop up in hotels for some homeless people over the past week.
“They just basically control the problem but don’t offer a long-term solution,” Mesnick said. “I’m just outside what they consider to be the ‘containment zone’ for APEC, so the problem escalates to my area, which is already saturated enough with drug activity.
“I don’t know if these tents will be physically seen during APEC, but it’s almost impossible to remove them all.”
City officials, however, were not deterred from trying to hide the problem, according to emails obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Christopher McDaniels, the city’s Road Environmental Services superintendent, wrote in a Sept. 25 email about certain streets that should be cleaned in preparation for the mega conference.
“With APEC coming up, I am concerned about historic encampments near priority areas,” McDaniels wrote.
A security worker works at the Moscone Center ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in San Francisco on November 9, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Deputy Director of Operations DiJaida Durden, McDaniel’s boss, answered and asked about the new campsites that appeared near the conference area.
“Are any of these locations on schedule,” Durden asked. APEC “is coming and we need to stay above the growing camp; do we have a plan?”
By Wednesday, certain areas— including the famous intersections of Van Ness Avenue and California Street, Hyde and Eddy streets, Taylor and Ellis streets— had been cleared of homeless tents, according to The Chronicle.
Mesnick, who owns a deli in the SoMa district called Deli Board and runs the @bettersoma account on X, called on city leaders to take action against the city’s homeless and drug crisis.
Homeless people sleep on the street as part of a tour on the “Celebrate Tenderloin Tour” through the famous neighborhood in San Francisco on August 26, 2023. David G. McIntyre Some discarded syringes lie on the street at 7th Street and Mission across the street from the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco California on August 27, 2023.David G. McIntyre BEFORE: Homeless encampment on the street as participants of the “Celebrate Tenderloin Tour” travel through the Tenderloin District in San Francisco on August 26, 2023.David G. McIntyre An old homeless encampment on a street corner Ellis and Taylor in the Tenderloin District on November 10, 2023. Parts of Downtown San Francisco have been cleared of encampments in preparation for the APEC summit. David G. McIntyre
Mesnick said he has found two bodies in his own neighborhood, one right outside his home.
“They are very good at creating illusions and they are very good at performing arts,” the city leader told The Post. “It is a Band-Aid and shows poor administration. And you know, really at this point, the frustration couldn’t be stronger.
Homeless encampments in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District on August 28, 2023. Many of the encampment “hot spots” have been cleared by city workers in anticipation of the APEC conference. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
“I’ve likened this time period in the Tenderloin to the Gold Rush, but here it’s the Fentanyl Rush. We have the cheapest fentanyl on the planet and it’s pretty easy to get off the ground.”
Fentanyl-related drug overdoses remain a major problem in San Francisco. The city is expected to have a record-breaking year for fatal overdoses and is on track to reach 800 deaths this year, according to data released last month by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
BEFORE: A homeless tent at 7th Street and Mission sits across the street from the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco on August 27, 2023. ZUMAPRESS.com A homeless tent previously occupying the street across from the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco was cleared this week in preparation for the APEC summit.David G. McIntyre
“From January to September the first nine months of 2023 there were a total of 620 overdose deaths,” San Francisco Behavioral Health Services Director Dr. Hillary Kunins, told local news station KRON last month.
That means there are an average of two fatal overdoses per day, the majority of which are caused by fentanyl, Kunis said.
Meanwhile, the city is adding 300 more beds to its shelters, but it’s unclear how many will be available in time for APEC.
“Daily allocations will vary throughout the conference,” said homeless department spokeswoman Emily Cohen. “But we are making every effort to maximize the protection capacity across our portfolio to be accessible to the public during APEC and continuing.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
