Hayes Street Closure Permit Analysis

What Changed in the New Hayes Street Permit — and Why It Matters (New permit takes effect this Friday) Over the past few days we’ve taken a close look at SFMTA’s newly issued 2025–26 permit for the Hayes Street weekend closure. The rules differ dramatically from last year. Contrary to the perception that “nothing has changed,” the new permit introduces stricter safety requirements, higher operational demands, and new costs — all of which substantially reshape how the block must operate. …

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When Retweets Become ‘Incidents’: What the Permit Holder Reported to City Hall

A particular email has stood out during a recent record retrieval — not for what it proved, but for what it revealed. 1. The Hayes Street closure permit holder has been forwarding social-media posts about our account to the Supervisor as ‘incidents.’ On October 3, the permit holder sent an email chain titled “HVSafe barricade removal.” The message suggested there was some sort of tampering with cones or barricades. What was the evidence?Two public tweets.Tweets our account simply reposted.Tweets written …

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SFMTA Hearing Materials Debrief: What the Public Is Not Being Told

posted at 11 am Our team has reviewed SFMTA’s staff report and slide deck released ahead of next week’s SFMTA Board hearing. What is being shown publicly and what is being left out raises serious concerns about transparency, data integrity, and decision-making during one of the worst financial crises in the agency’s history. SFMTA now faces a $322 million budget deficit, has already cut $120 million in service and operations, and warns that its finances will worsen without major changes. …

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How SFMTA Manipulated Sales Tax Data on Hayes Street

posted at 9am SFMTA’s presentation hides the downturn on the closed 400 block by combining its sales tax data with two other blocks. Our team’s review shows that this approach was not a neutral analytic choice — it materially masked the harm and produced a misleading economic picture for the Board. This analysis explains how the data were combined and why it raises serious concerns about the integrity of SFMTA’s evaluation process for the closure renewal. What SFMTA Presented SFMTA …

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February 2025 HVNA Briefing: Early Plans for Permanent Hayes Street Closure

This internal presentation, dated February 10, 2025, shows early coordination between the Supervisor’s office and HVNA on making the Hayes Street closure permanent. Weeks into office, the Supervisor met with HVNA to discuss making the temporary Hayes Street closure permanent—without any public dialogue or community input.

400 Block of Hayes Street Closure Permit Past Updates Archive

permit renewal update Update November 3rd, 2023 This matter will be heard Tuesday November 7th at 1pm. Please show your support. Demand that the SFMTA board approve the 1 day programming that its own AGENCY studied, review and recommended BASED ON OUTREACH TO MERCHANTS. Update October 29th, 2023 October 17th SFMTA Board Meeting Summary: As you know, the Hayes Street Closure was heard at last week’s SFMTA Board meeting. The hearing was for a resolution to consolidate the closure to …

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