The drug addicts, dealers and homeless people who have plagued downtown San Francisco have miraculously disappeared this week as the city cleans up for a major international event.
Sources told The Post that homeless people have been pushed to other parts of the city in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which begins tomorrow and runs until November 17.
However, residents and business owners said city officials’ attempts to “round up” pedestrians and drug addicts are just a “Band-Aid” for a serious problem in which drug overdoses continue to plague the city. .
The city focused on seven intersections in the Tenderloin and South of Market, or SoMa, neighborhoods, which are home to some of the most concentrated encampments where people addicted to drugs and high on fentanyl and heroin can be seen passed out on the streets every day. .
“They started cleaning out the stores earlier this week and there is definitely a lot more police presence,” Ricci Lee Wynne, a SoMa resident and community activist, told The Post.
City officials have cleared homeless encampments around the city center in preparation for the APEC summit, which is expected to draw more than 20,000 visitors to the city. David G. McIntyre Former homeless encampment area on November 10, 2023. Earlier this week, the city of San Francisco cleaned up several areas of the city ahead of the APEC Conference.David G. McIntyre
“They have cleared out the tents that were near the Moscone Center on Howard Street, which tells me that the city had the capacity to do this from the beginning; instead, they only do the bare minimum.
“Once APEC is gone, the police presence will start to decrease again and the tents will return. And little by little it will explode again. What we need is a permanent solution.”
Among those attending APEC will be President Joe Biden, who will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as announced on Friday. The event is expected to attract more than 20,000 visitors to City by The Bay.
Biden and Xi will hold a long-awaited meeting Wednesday at APEC, according to two senior Biden administration officials.AP The city posted a sign 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 the open market of drug use in other areas, including the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building at the corner of Mission and 7th streets.
Federal employees received a memo in August to work from home because it was too dangerous to venture into the building, while dozens of addicts congregated on concrete steps and seating areas just outside the building’s entrances.
EARLIER: The Nancy Pelosi Federal Building at 7th Street and Mission is surrounded by homeless people and drug users in San Francisco on August 27, 2023. ZUMAPRESS.com The Nancy Pelosi Federal Building was previously overrun by homeless people and drug users drugs, but on November 27, 2023. On January 10, 2023 there were no signs of homeless people.David G. McIntyre
This week the area has been fenced off and drug dealers and addicts have moved to other parts of downtown San Francisco, paving the way for employees to return safely.
Leaders of the 21 member states of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will meet in San Francisco for their annual meeting to promote trade and investment. AP The Moscone Center, home of the APEC Conference, on Howard Street in San Francisco, California, on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. The city of San Francisco is trying to clean and protect several areas of the city before the APEC Conference arrive in the city from November 11 to 17, 2023.David G. McIntyre Barricades are placed on a street in preparation for the APEC Summit on November 9, 2023 in San Francisco.AP
Adam Mesnick, a SoMa resident and business owner, told The Post that he has seen temporary housing pop up in hotels for some homeless people over the past week.
“They’re basically just mulling over the problem, but not offering long-term solutions,” Mesnick said. “I’m just outside what they consider the APEC ‘containment zone’, so the problem is reaching my area, which is already quite saturated with drug activity.
“I don’t know if these stores will be physically visible during APEC, but it will be virtually impossible to remove them all.”
However, city officials have not been deterred from trying to cover up the blight, according to emails obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Christopher McDaniels, superintendent of the city’s Street Environmental Services, wrote in a Sept. 25 email which particular streets should be plowed in preparation for the mega conference.
“With the arrival of APEC, I am concerned about historic camps that are close to priority areas,” McDaniels wrote.
A security employee works at the Moscone Center before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in San Francisco on November 9, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Deputy Director of Operations DiJaida Durden, McDaniel’s boss, responded and asked about the new encampments that have sprung up near the conference area.
“Are any of these locations on schedule?” Durden asked. APEC “is coming and we need to be aware of the growing camps; We have a plan?
On Wednesday, according to The Chronicle, certain areas, including the famous intersections of Van Ness Avenue and California Street, Hyde and Eddy streets, Taylor and Ellis streets, were cleared of homeless tents.
Mesnick, who owns a deli in the SoMa district called Deli Board and runs the @bettersoma account on
Homeless people sleep on the street as participants of the “Celebrate Tenderloin Tour” through the famous San Francisco neighborhood on August 26, 2023. David G. McIntyre A discarded part of a syringe lies in the street at 7th Street and Mission across the street. street of the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco, California, on August 27, 2023.David G. McIntyre BEFORE: A homeless encampment on the street as participants of the “Celebrate Tenderloin Tour” walk through the Tenderloin district in San Francisco in August November 26, 2023.David G. McIntyre Area of a former homeless encampment at the corner of Ellis and Taylor streets in the Tenderloin district on November 10, 2023. The encampments have been cleared of parts from downtown San Francisco in preparation for the APEC summit. David G. McIntyre
Mesnick said he discovered two bodies in his own neighborhood, one right outside his home.
“They are very good at creating an illusion and they are very good at performance art,” he told The Post of the city leaders. “It’s a Band-Aid and it’s indicative of poor management. And you know, really at this point, the frustration couldn’t be stronger.
Homeless encampment in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district on August 28, 2023. Many of the encampment’s “hot spots” have been torn down by city workers in anticipation of the APEC conference. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
“I’ve compared this period of time in the Tenderloin to the gold rush, but here it’s the fentanyl rush. “We have the cheapest fentanyl on the planet and it is quite easy to have a lot of success from the bottom up.”
Fentanyl-related drug overdoses remain a big problem in San Francisco. The city is expected to have a record year for fatal overdoses and is on track to hit 800 deaths this year, according to data released last month by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
EARLIER: Homeless tents at 7th Street and Mission are located in front of the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco on August 27, 2023. ZUMAPRESS.com Homeless tents previously occupied the street in front of the federal building Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco was cleared this week in preparation for the APEC summit.David G. McIntyre
“From January to September of the first nine months of 2023 there have been a total of 620 overdose deaths,” San Francisco Behavioral Health Services Director Dr. Hillary Kunins told the news station last month. local KRON.
That means there is an average of two fatal overdoses per day, most of which are caused by fentanyl, Kunis said.
Meanwhile, the city added 300 more beds to its shelters, but it is unclear how many will be available in time for APEC.
“The daily allowance will vary throughout the conference,” said homeless department spokesperson Emily Cohen. “But we are doing everything we can to maximize hosting capacity across our portfolio for the community to access during APEC and ongoing.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn