As you already know, a bunch of local businesses were vandalized last night, causing what could be upwards of thousands of dollars in damage. An anonymous community member has stepped up and started a donation page, and the collected funds will go toward helping repair the businesses that were affected in last night’s riots.
These businesses include (but may not be limited to):
- Brick and Mortar
- Taca Airlines
- 299 Valencia
- Tradesmen
- Property Management Systems
- The Voyager Shop
- Four Barrel
- Pica Pica Maize Kitchen
- Art Zone 461 Gallery
- Locanda
- Bar Tartine
- Tartine Bakery
- Therapy
- Weston Wears
- Mission Police Station
- Farina
UPDATE: A lot of you are wondering whether this is a real donation page or a scam. I contacted the creator of the fund, and here’s what he had to say.
So I just moved into the area a little over a week ago and am very big into people taking care of their community. My Facebook account is facebook.com/ben if that helps put my name and reputation behind it. Also if there’s a way to give more authenticity to this please let me know.
As far as distribution and goal amount, I’m trying to crowd source it a bit by getting businesses to contact us with the extent of the damage but if that doesn’t work i’ll go out there and try and get hard numbers myself.
The dollar amount was simply something to shoot for that felt meaningful enough and doable. I’m open to ideas as to how to fairly distribute it, but rather than spend days debating that I’d rather get people mobilized and inspired to show their support.
I will say that I think other shows of support could be fantastic as well. I don’t know if it’s a day where we go and visit each business together, or send them something… I think something in addition to the money would be great.
UPDATE #2: It has been brought to our attention that there is a small transaction fee when you donate. Ben has generously offered to cover this fee.
[Photo via Mission Local]
Is it possible to get insured for this kind of thing, or is that prohibitively expensive?
I don’t know why not. I have a commercial storefront in the mission which was heavily graffiti tagged. State Farm covered it no problem. Just standard biz insurance.
Graffiti = acid etching
I’ve owned 5 retail stores in my life (currently 3) and all five the landlord needed proof of insurance for the lease to be signed.
General business insurance covers all the damage that was done during the riots monday night. There IS a deductible, but it’s quite small compared to what the insurance company is about to cover. (State Farm is the best).
I strongly doubt that it is possible or even legal to run a storefront business in a zoned commercial space in San Francisco and not carry an insurance policy that would cover damage to the space. Certainly there’s no way that a commercial landlord is going to rent to you unless you can show that you have coverage.
Great cause!
@MrEricSir
Polices might not cover broken glass. Deductibles are probably high too, not counting future premium increases for making a claim.
Also, some insurers could successfully argue that rioting is excluded under the “acts of god” clause that’s in most policies, depending on how the clause is worded.
Thanks John. Also it’s as much about the gesture as it is the money. We want to let our local businesses know they don’t stand alone.
Not sure lumping the police dept. in with those other businesses is the best way to garner support…I hardly think the community should be paying for their shattered reputation. I’ll need to be convinced they weren’t the ones who did the vandalizing in the first place…
unless you don’t pay taxes you are already paying for it.
What happened last night makes me sick, but I’m pretty sure these stores can afford to fix themselves.
KyleM,
What better way to send a very strong, adult message back to the folks who vandalized our neighborhood than by helping out those who were victimized. Sometimes it isn’t about if they can afford it, its about belonging to something bigger than just yourself. Its about coming together as a community, to look out for each other.
If you don’t want to /cant afford to donate, why not just stop in at one of the businesses and offer your condolences at least.
What’s better is supporting the cops cracking down on these immature punks. Actually, what would be better than that would be cracking a few of their bones while their in the act.
Exactly. This is more than just can they afford it. This is about being a community and not being ok with having it vandalized.
With all the important issues to donate to, including neighborhood schools, why would I give to a high rent restaurant? It’s an extremely silly proposition.
That’s quite an assumption. Most small businesses are not pulling in huge profits.
Ha! What happens to flaming soccerballs…. that’s way more adult
Live on the Valencia corridor. Where the restaurant scene thrives, every surface is covered with art, and the coffee houses, delis and bike shops are world famous but still locally owned. Grab a bite from a food truck, get an artisan haircut, and peruse racks of raw denim or brunch in a parklet. Enjoy the sunny days and the bustling nightlife.
36 new 1- or 2-bedroom condominiums opening Spring 2012. @ 14th and Valencia starting from the $400,000s.
this is either cleverly sarcastic or disgusting.
I believe that is a direct quote from the 299 Valencia website.
LOL!
Hijacking a donation thread by spamming us with canned content to help sell your luxury condos is in rather poor taste, IMHO, even if you were one of the affected businesses. It does not support your cause very well. It’s almost so tacky that it could be a troll. I have my suspicions.
They have a right to comment any way they want. and by the way, the condos are NOT the ones who caused damage.
The fucking, cowards with face masks are. Occupy is so gone, so nothing.
I think I am going to go get me one of those artisan haircuts and hang out in a parklet
Truth is, you can’t afford an artisan haircut, and I can.
can I hang out in the parket, massa?
My dog took a shitlet in the parklet.
I must personally speak for Four Barrel. The owner told me that they are broke and will have to raise prices to a bargain of $5 a cup which will go back to supporting local communities. They’ve been helping those with foreclosures, their employees have been providing free tutoring services to low-income kids and I see those guys busting their ass cleaning local streets. Support the local businesses!
Is this a joke? Employees from many businesses serve the community so what makes 4 Barrel special in this regard?
Assuming that this is not a joke (and I really believe that it is), if they raise their price for a cup [presumably regular] coffee to $5/cup they may find most of their customers going elsewhere. Mission Beach Cafe serves a fine cup for ~$2.50*.
*This post is not from MBC, just using them as an example of a nearby competitor.
Thumbs up for MBC!
>they are broke
Riiiight, where “broke” means “the owner is opening a second business.” (Did you not see American Hipster #5? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2GC9leR97A )
I wish I was broke like that.
So… I’d certainly like to show my support for these businesses, but the cynical bastard in me has to ask.. is there even the slightest shred of evidence this isn’t an opportunistic scammer who’s trying to make a quick 10k off the situation? Anonymity in charity is respectable, but I barely even trust most Kickstarter projects with a name attached.
Hey,
I hear you and i’m one of the people who helped kickstart this thing. If you have a way you think we can improve the authenticity of this please let me know. Maybe link to my fb account? Facebook.com/ben ? How do you think we can make people feel comfortable with this?
Having a public persona and discussing the fund is totally enough for me. Plus, we have a couple of people in common on / at FB, so I can send them after you if you split with the cash.
Thanks for putting this together.
I used to work with Ben down there and I can vouch for him.
Not that you know me. But he’s a good guy and isn’t into scamming folks.
Audrey
Im about 99% sure riots are covered under a standard property insurance contract. Usually under “civil commotion”.
They’ll still have to pay up to the deductible though,
Yeah and if we can help a little with the deductible and show our support I think that would be a great show of community.
Ben, I am so glad you moved to SF. We need more tech types in the Mission it helps drive out the minorities. Eat 15 burgers and drink 8 buck coffee. Helps change the area into a uptight rich white a*hole paradise.
I can’t wait to eat 15 burgers. I’m starved.
And I can’t wait for Mr. Smelly to leave the city because he can’t afford it. I can. And I love those burgers and coffees on Valencia.
One complaint: hard to find a parking spot for my Beemer. And I’m serious. I do own one.
@wizzer – you sir are a c*ck, you should be driving american cars…
Don’t we have rent control? How are uptight rich white a*holes taking over? Rent can only be raised about 2% per year. So the rent is being jacked up for the new comers, not the old schoolers you presumably think are getting pushed out.
As for other costs of living…last I remember, Locanda was Ramblas, and Bar Tartine was an uberexpensive japanese suitcase shop, Wo Heng was empty shell for 6 years. Seems like we’ve swapped like-for-like the last 7 years I’ve lived here.
The rest of the corridor seems like a similar story to me. And mission street is still mission street. And there are still produce markets all over the place.
I will admit my street has less hypo needles and human waste than when i moved in, but I chalk that up to a flop house on 16th that was shut down rather than rich white a*holes.
This is why you can’t have nice things.
Why do you hate white people?
Bigot.
this was definitely the black bloc and not occupy, check out OCCUPY SF’s facebook page and look at the type of action that they have done.
BLACK BLOC ruins everything.
PEACEFUL PROTESTS IN SF. OCCUPY SF>>>>
OCCUPY CAPSLOCK!!!!!!
i would donate… if none of my money went to the pigs.
@Ben. Since it seems like people have already started to donate a bunch – Please do not give anyone’s hard earned money to 299 Valencia or the police station. As mentioned the police station is already funded by everyone who lives here and 299 Valencia is not a small business who needs support. If you are trying to foster community, please be a little smarter about it and make sure the money goes where it needs to and not back into luxury condos.
Yeah we will focus on the small local businesses and thank you for the feedback!
I think it was Mitt Romney who said “luxury condos are people too, my friend” . Makes me tear up a little.
Yea, perhaps, but those so called luxury condos will sell out. That’s reality.
And really, are they even “luxury” condos? I think I’d be hard-pressed to call anything in the $400k-range in SF a “luxury” condo. I’ve seen studios in the TL go for around that.
Ok, they may not be “luxury” whatever that means, but mark my word. They WILL sell out.
And that’s a good thing.
Oh, I absolutely agree on both counts.
No, not a drop of irony here – that a Google employee is raising funds for the victims of a protest of Google employees ruining the neighborhood. Ben claims to have eaten his first SF meal like last week. Glad you were able to move into the Mission. Jack up rents, bring corporate busses, you have ruined what made the Mission special and have priced out our artists and people of color. Now in an act of utter cluelessness you raise funds for a Luxury Condo that remains very controversial. Why is it controversial? Rich people move in and interesting people move out.
I bet Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim are pretty interesting.
You’re not as interesting as you think
I know, right? Like go away will you. My BF wants to move to the Mission as soon as it gets more cleaned up! FUN!
Yawn. Try humor next time.
“the victims of a protest of Google employees ruining the neighborhood.” Yep, that’s exactly the well-thought-out and finely-honed message these people were attempting to send. Not a drop of irony here.
No one wins apparently. Not happy when people are disrespecting our neighborhood, equally displeased when people are sincerely trying to support it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
Irony would be the Occupy folks raising money for the neighborhood.
This is just obvious kindness. If you like the businesses on Valencia, it makes sense that you support them with your dollars.
More affluent people moving into the Mission has NO affect on the existing rents of those who are legally renting in the neighborhood already. SF has one of the best rent-controlled environments for tenants.
I can’t speak to the illegally rented units or those living outside the limits of their lease. I would recommend those tenants talk to the SF Rent Board or SF Tenants Union to secure their status.
And to address your main point, those residents who are angry and upset about the changes in the Mission have seen this coming for years. You would have to be a 10+ year renter / home owner to claim that the mission is changing in a direction you don’t like. At the minimum, this puts you in your mid 30′s. The perfect age to start enjoying cleaner streets, reduced crime and quieter evenings.
Mission tenants in this 10+/year bracket have paid less than they could have been charged (and hopefully saved the extra), Home owners have seen their real estate appreciate. Everyone wins.
New residents (less than 10y) really shouldn’t have any reason to complain about the changes.
Though I doubt this was caused by Occupy. Thank you for pointing out the correct use of irony, which has been brutally misused in this thread. I did not read the rest of you comment.
“I didn’t bother to read the comment to which I’m responding, but will make a stupid claim that has already been made dozens of times in these threads, without adding any insight or additional perspective.”
Exactly!
I honestly can’t tell whether you (Captain Obvious) are being sarcastic or genuinely didn’t realize I was making fun of you
Good comments. If the protesters are angry and upset, I suggest they get off their asses, get a job if they don’t have one, work hard, live simple, save your money, be kind to people and animals..
Cause it’s not gonna get cheaper in SF in the future.
And if you wanna enjoy and live in SF you will need MONEY.
just curious…where do you expect service sector staff to live in your future utopia?
I expect them to be replaced by robots. I already have a sweet one that vacuums my floor.
The hate is strong in you,
but not interesting.
Yeah, who’s this asshole trying to raise money for a bunch of businesses that got all smashed up for no good reason? I say leave the glass on the ground, makes the place a lot more “interesting”.
Just want to point out that the site he chose for the donations takes a 3.5% transaction fee for each donation. I chose to support the local businesses by spending cash there. (also, no way should a developer, property manager office or the police station get a penny of the money).
Supporting them by spending money there is also great. As far as the fee, all online processors take some fee as the credit card companies charge a fee. It’s the price of collecting money online. Also like I said before we’ll focus on the smaller local businesses that really need the help.
the blog post is incorrect & misleading, and I think it’s important that people understand that 100% of their money isn’t going directly to these businesses. it states clearly that, “100% of the funds collected will go toward helping repair the businesses that were affected in last night’s riots.”
That’s a fair point. Tell you what, i’ll cover the wepay processing fee. Fair?
Sorry, I pretty much took that verbatim from the donation page’s description. I was not aware of a transaction fee, and I took Ben’s word for what he wrote. It is true that 100% of the proceeds he collects (that is, minus any transaction fees) will go toward repairing damaged businesses. I’ve edited the blog post, I hope that clears things up.
I’m writing songs about the ‘riot’ which occurred the other night down in the mish for an upcoming LP. Anyone want to donate to my kickstarter to get this released!?
I love this comment.
I’m Kickstarting a fund to get the swing back up.
With all the concern about the vandalized store fronts, people are forgetting about the swing.
If you forget about the swing, the anarchists win.
Was anyone writing a Yelp restaurant review when the terrorist attacked? Well I was! I heard all kind of commotion outside and was like OMG the terrorists are attacking The Mission. Totally freaked me out, we have to leave early. Thanks terrorist asswipes for ruining my burger!
Why not just patronize these businesses? Why do they need a “donation” ?
Well, possibly because some douchebags who claim to represent you, the 99%, inflicted unexpected damage that was not in the business plan of these businesses. Maybe your daily coffee isn’t going to cover the deductible.
An alternate plan would be for those of you who know the people who caused all this damage — and I’m certain that there are many of you — to inflict some form of punishment on the perpetrators. This could range from mere ostracism, to snitching, to ass-kicking.
jesus. some dude tries to do something good and community-building in a place he doesn’t even “owe anything” to, and all you guys can do is talk shit? fucking ingrates.
then again, i suppose it does take a lot more effort to actually do something than to talk shit on yuppies/hipsters/trustafarians/[insert scapegoat here] on the interwebz.
I feel pretty strongly that nobody should give any money to this kickstarter thing until it’s more clear where the money is going and how it’s going to be used.
The current thinking is to give it to the local businesses that need it most. Also open to hearing how you’d want it to be used…
Every surface is covered by ART!
Please donate money so Ben can eat for free at Farina!
You guys are dicks. This is my neighborhood. I live here. I work here. I work with families here. Not all the businesses that were damaged are hipster/douche/overpriced, and many actually contribute to the community. I might be naive in thinking that the money will go towards those businesses that really need it (and not just to the most popular or Ben’s pocket), but I donated to make a statement against the rioting nonsense.
I just can’t imagine “donating” money to these incredibly expensive businesses. Your relationship to your community should go beyond monetary transactions and consumerism.
It would be great if people could actually volunteer to help with the repairs. Maybe all the folks who hang around DP all day. But for those of us who don’t have the time to do that (I personally already have a job serving the Mission community and families), donating money is what we can give.
Your back thanks you for the self-pat, but I wasn’t implying people volunteer time for stores. These things are part of the price of doing business and our neighborhood is more than just stores. One thing I wish this blog would consider: Why would anyone want to express violence at businesses on that list? Farina, e.g., charges a 4% “cover charge.” Are our business and their prices any less outrageous or out-of-touch than those in the Marina?
I know that’s not what you were implying. I was trying to put a positive spin on things. And I know you won’t believe me, but my comment was not intended as a self-pat, it was pre-emptive strike against people saying that I’m a hypocrite for not doing my part for the community while saying people ought to.
Funny, I’ve never eaten at Farina. I “express violence” about their too-high prices by, um, not patronizing the business — because I thought that was the way normal people behaved. I didn’t realize that breaking windows is a more reasonable way to “express violence” about cover charges. Silly me.
“Funny, I’ve never eaten at Farina.”
Do yourself a favor and don’t. The quality is questionable, at best. Whoever came up with their prices was obviously on something.
Serious question: is there an organized effort to volunteer with the repairs and cleanup? I’ll join and I bet a lot of other people would too.
I’m not criticizing you for asking or trying to be a jerk at all, but I imagine most of the repairs (replacing window glass, for example) is the sort of thing for which skilled labor is required — not really suitable for volunteer efforts.
I happen to be skilled labor.
there are cheaper ways to pad a resume . . .
this is so boring, can we go back to bitching about something else ??
Maybe OWS should come and clean up the Mission, they’re not really doing anything with their time.
I think it’s really nice that someone started a page to help with donations, but it also kind of struck me odd that that person didn’t reach out to the merchant’s association first. I know that you just moved here, Ben, but 10 minutes on the Googles would have directed you to a group of business owners with an established pipeline for community engagement. Seems like taking it on oneself without reaching out first drifts a bit to close to charity.
But, then again, what did I do? Nothing except think a lot of conflicted thoughts on my way to work with the rest of the herds.
I want to call out Ben for doing something. Your heart is in a good place man. I think you are responsible for WFB coming up with 25K for small stores that need the cash. People bitch and moan on here because we hate to see our beloved hood change so much. However, you have done more to help some small business owners than others who have lived here for years.
If you’re like me and was on the fence about donating, just read all the irrational resistance this guy is getting for trying to do something positive. He’s even agreed to pay the transaction fee because people nowhere near donating bitched about it.
Just because you can conceive some flaw in the process, doesn’t mean that’s how it plays out.
Sounds like he’s making an honest effort make it as fair as possible.
After reading all those comments, I’m happy to donate.
No doubt… and it makes me wonder: who are all these people? Are they my neighbors?
Maybe internet anonymity makes people seem worse than they really are.
+1
+2
Same here, Jon.
Of all the causes out there to spend your time raising money to support, infectious disease in 3rd world countries, homelessness/mental health services, LGBT rights, local food banks etc. this is what you choose?!?! To help businesses that have insurance cover their deductibles?!? Holy Shit my mind is blown.
Ok, I’m officially with Black Bloc now. Please burn the mission down and let’s start again. The milk has officially turned sour
This.
I know right?! Noone could possibly help out more than one cause in their life, that would just be so… so… so not San Francisco of them!
Sorry that the bottom dropped out on you. Please move far away now.
go fall on a railroad spike. you and all of Black Bloc.
+1
I hope TK doesn’t mind how much mileage I’m getting out of posting this in response to these sort of bullshit comments, but he just stated it so eloquently: http://40goingon28.blogspot.com/2011/08/creeping-problem-of-iswnochfs.html
Sometimes, I feel like TK is the only SF blogger that makes any sort of sense and this is a prime example of that.
Mission homeowners you dislike are more than likely fully insured against the loss. In its place will rise rows of modern condos and businesses just like exist today.
san francisco is getting really weird. i mean, it was always weird, but at least it was endearingly weird. this is weird like, people reading 7×7 magazine as an instruction manual.
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