hvsafe

Taxpayers Footing Over $100,000 a Year for Hayes Street Closure Noncompliance

While SFMTA faces a $307- 322 million budget deficit, the agency continues to subsidize a street closure that delivers minimal public benefit and clear fiscal harm. Direct Costs to SFMTA and Taxpayers Combined direct cost: Well over $100,000 per year borne by SFMTA and San Francisco taxpayers — for a program riddled with noncompliance. These figures also do not include the Hayes Street Public Life Study, which public documents suggest will cost nearly half a million dollars and includes evaluating …

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Hayes Valley Community Center Update

For over 15 years, the Hayes Valley Clubhouse has been held out as a “community center.” In reality, it has never functioned as one. After being rebuilt with public funding and support, the space was handed over under a “temporary” nonprofit arrangement that has now stretched well over a decade. During that time, neighbors have had no reliable place to gather, meet, or participate in civic life without navigating fees, restrictions, or limited access. Now, with the current lease ending, …

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When the Rules Stop Mattering

For almost two years now, we’ve been telling City agencies about the same problem on the closed block of Hayes Street: vendors setting up shop without following the rules. It started back in June 2024. What began as one clothing vendor with a tent has turned into a regular scene: a big branded truck, sidewalk displays, and more vendors showing up. This isn’t a one-off anymore. It’s become part of the closure. The permit that closes the street says the …

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Representation, Not Ribbon Cuttings

Streets Are for People. Which People? Today, Senator Scott Wiener and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood joined HVNA for a ribbon cutting celebrating the new Hayes Street Farmers Market — held directly on the closed 400 block of Hayes. The symbolism was difficult to ignore.Just as the event was underway, Andrew Seigner and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood took to social media to celebrate the market, emphasizing that “Streets are for people.” This is the same group (HVNA/Seigner) that filed a civil harassment restraining …

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PPP Expansion Approved in Hayes Valley. The Pattern Continues.

The SFMTA Board approved the expansion of Pay or Permit Parking (PPP) in Hayes Valley today. The outcome was not surprising. Staff recommended approval, grant funding was already in place, and Board members repeatedly described the program as an innovative success. What stood out was not the vote itself. It was the contrast between how the program was discussed at the hearing and how it has been experienced in Hayes Valley. Several residents noted that many people were unaware the …

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SF Planning’s Lead Planner for the Hayes Public Life Study Was Just Looped In on Ways to Make the Hayes Street Closure More Permanent

This email was produced today in SFMTA’s response to our latest records request. On February 26, 2026, David Long, Senior Transportation Planner at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), emailed Jeremy Shaw — the lead/principal planner for the Hayes Public Life study* — with the following: “I’m reaching out from the SFCTA with an fyi that may or may not be relevant to your Hayes Public Life study… Lloyd Silverstein, president of the Hayes Valley Merchant Association, shared during …

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The Politics of Exclusion in Hayes Valley

For the past several years, many of us have spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to participate in the future of Hayes Valley in good faith. We attended hearings. We submitted records requests. We documented conditions. We spoke with neighbors, merchants, agencies, and elected officials. We tried to ask difficult but reasonable questions about a one-block street closure that has steadily evolved into something much larger: a long-term political project reshaping an active commercial corridor. Somewhere along the way, …

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