My buddy Jim is visiting the Mission from NYC this week to record some drums on an album our pal is producing, and it only took one night for him to get personally acquainted with our unique denizens. What follows is a paraphrased account of what went down early Wednesday morning:
After leaving your place we [meaning Jim and our other friend Morgan] were walking back to where we were staying on 15th and Mission, keeping an eye out for a liquor store that might still be open. As we were approaching the 16th and Mission intersection, some guy just kind of appears and starts yelling really loudly at the top of his lungs, just saying basic crazy shit. We tried to give him a wide berth, but he sort of approached us as we were passing.
In the blink of an eye, the guy reached out and seemed to sucker punch me on the shoulder as he yelled, “Get the fuck out of my way!” It felt kind of weird and as I looked at my shoulder, I realized my shirt was torn and there was some blood. That’s when I noticed that the guy was holding a huge switch-blade. He then started swinging wildly at us, but we were able to dodge the blade and get some distance. The crazy guy, still yelling at the top of his lungs, then went to some of the other people chilling by the BART stop and started swinging his knife at them.
These guys didn’t seem to appreciate that, and one of them started swinging his cane at the knife-wielder. Another guy threw a trashcan at him, and pretty soon they had him on the ground and were kicking him. We were afraid they might kill the lunatic, so Morgan called the police who arrived swiftly and approached with weapons drawn. Luckily they were able to take control of the situation without shooting anyone, although one of the officer’s hands was slashed by the guy with the knife and was bleeding profusely.
Me? I consider myself highly lucky to have gotten away with just a scratch, and will probably be extra cautious about keeping my distance from crazy yelling dudes in the future. If that guy had been just a few inches taller, his initial hit would have been at my jugular instead of my shoulder. But seriously, motherfuckers in SF are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay crazier than folks in NYC!
Wow, we’re glad you’re okay, Jim! For future reference, that 16th and Mission corner is probably the last place you want to be at 2am. Be careful out there everyone!
Andrew’s final paragraph, for the win. Newcomers to The Mission really don’t seem to get the difference between “edgy” and “life-threatening”.
Stabbed? Let’s not make this a bigger deal than it appears to be. You got scratched. Put some ointment on it and shut up.
How’s that for NY attitude. You baby.
Yet another example of how San Francisco’s lax attitudes, rampant political correctness and lazy, unmotivated police make our city an embarrassing danger to residents and visitors. What should be the Jewel of the West Coast is instead a haven of worm ridden filth, psychotic homeless, and excessive tolerance of degenerates.
I really like living in SF and think it is a great place. This kind of thing happens in most cities around the world and I would argue happens less frequently in SF when compared to other places.
False.
AttF: Concur.
Until you look at the crime rate of SF which is actually WORSE than Los Angeles.
Looking forward to you posting your source for this information so you can appear to be less full of shit.
SF has a low crime rate compared to most urban areas. The majority of the crime that does occur happens in two neighborhoods and neither of those are the Mission (and one is the neighborhood in SF you’ve likely never been to).
San Francisco’s crime rate is actually higher than average city in the US. You want proof? Look it up on the FBI website, or the Bureau of Justice Website.
Don’t worry all the internet kids are moving in. You’ll get your rich white kid paradise soon enough.
That sounds more like a bloodbath — which, judging by the tone of your comment, I expect you would enjoy.
“Don’t worry all the internet kids are moving in.”
To the ironymobile!
my favorite thing about degenerates is they help me pay attention to dog walking teva strapping line queuing phone gazing mobile professionals that sound like you.
I’m confused. Is SF “a haven of worm ridden filth, psychotic homeless, and excessive tolerance of degenerates,” or is it a rapidly gentrifying slice of obnoxious white yuppie foodie luxury condo assholes?
^THIS
ah, now you get it, this neighborhood is all housing projects and condos. you have to be either very rich or on the dole to find housing here.
Yes! I’m starting to believe it is some secret government experiment on extremes.
Says the transplant.
Oh shutup.
umm yeah.. let’s find a liquor store at 2AM near 16th and mission. great idea. You do look kind of soft.. and if you had that same shitty smirk on your face, i can see why you got that little scratch on your arm..which seems to have healed overnight. tighten up your show.
you’re an asshole
Amen.
HAHA I like that, Tim…oh sorry I mean “+1 & concur” or whatever these kids are attaching to their little snipes. These fools need to step up their game…BTW there was beer in 3/4 block in 3 directions from there.
Go keyboard warrior, go!
Sorry to hear this happened to your friend, what a scary experience! Hope the rest of his visit is peaceful.
I’m curious to hear If this adds an extra “something” in his playing…
out of curiosity, was it a stocky older gentleman with a lot of facial hair dragging a rolling suitcase? if so, the same dude tried to pick a fight with me at 16th and guerrero yesterday . . .
Jim’s sort of lucky the guy wasn’t carrying a gun. It’s been known to happen.
Oh my lord. What a shocker. The most notorious location for shit-shows in SF (during the day) is a dangerous place to look for a liquor store at 2 AM. Go back to NY hayseed.
On behalf of all of San Francisco, I apologize for the asswipe comments such as that one.
What happened to you was random, I’ve lived here for 17 years (after moving from NYC), been at 16th & Mission at 2am lots of times, and hell I live on 6th Street (that’s the other 16th & Mission in SF) and I’ve never had anything like this happen. Its just random, could happen anywhere, and luckily you weren’t hurt.
We do, however, have a rampant problem with self-important snark here in SF.
this place continues to blow me away with its tolerance to crazy people.
man do i miss nyc.
at some point, someone/somewhere has to deal with the mentally ill. They don’t just disappear when you decide to not tolerate them and ship them off. If I was on the street and had nowhere to go, I’d definitely pick a place that had moderate weather and cops that wouldn’t beat me in my sleep.
NO ONE is just “decid[ing] to not tolerate them and ship them off” — that’s precisely the problem. Otherwise, your analysis is correct.
actually, that is exactly what New York has done in the past. Make the homeless someone else’s problem. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/nyregion/29oneway.html
SF is like an open-air lunatic asylum. I wish we could shoo them away too; make them someone else’s problem for a change. It’s kind of interesting that the de-institutionalization started by Reagan is now embraced by the left as a personal freedom issue. Everyone is a homeless advocate as long as they stay in the mission, tenderloin, or soma. But I do agree that SOMEONE has to deal with America’s dirty laundry and the problems that we try to sweep under the rug because, after all, we can’t tax the rich and God will surely take care of the rest.
Giuliani gave thousands one-way bus tix to SF.
go back there
In NY, we just call them people.
bullshit no you don’t
The accompanying pic doesn’t seem to go with the epic attack, I’ve seen stretch-marks bigger than that.
First rule of living in a city: Be aware of where, when and why you’re in a particular location. Yeah, crazies can be anywhere, but they’re more apt to be skulking around 16th & Mission than Specific Whites; are you listening, friends of Jim? You’re not back in Unpleasanton.
Jim may be from New York, but he doesn’t impress me as a Nu Yawker.
That said, I’m happy he’s OK – get that shit checked and think about whether your tetanus shot is current.
When he’s in Brooklyn does he stroll through by the Marcy Projects keeping an eye out for a liquor store, and then get surprised when shit goes down? (And then post on Greenpoint Greenpoint that damn New York be buggin’!?)
Whack.
You can’t compare 16th and Mission to the Marcy Projects. I lived on Rondel Place (right next to 16th and Mission) for 4 years from 2006 to 2010, and I can’t even begin to count how many times I was on that corner at 2am over the years. It’s sketchy, but it’s not that dangerous. This was an unfortunate encounter with a crazy dude. Unpredictable, but the dude wasn’t to blame here.
you lived there during the more palatable recent era
it used to be baaaaaaad when i was a kid.
HAHAHAHA noice one.
Jim, I’m sorry that you and your friend were attacked, and I am glad that you weren’t seriously injured.
Having a hard time believing that that old, healed-up scar is the result of a recent stabbing. Just sayin’…
Also – aren’t most stabbings “sucker” stabbings? How many stabbers actually warn the stabbee?
you obviously don’t watch enough movies. if you did, you’d know that a typcial stabbing involves the waving of a knife accompanied by a threat, which gives the victim ample time to counter with a high kick.
sounds like this started as a sucker stab. and yeah, most people don’t know there was a knife involved until after they’ve been stabbed.
I’m sorry that happened. 15th & Guerrero to Mission &17 is definitely the sketchy zone.
Did you get a tetanus shot?
Ignore these assholes.
Oof, sounds like a mess. I’d been debating as to whether that area was as sketchy as I felt like it was, glad to hear your friend is alright, but I doubt I’ll be making too many visits that direction at that hour.
And man, I love these cheerful jersey salespeople.
Sack up, dude. Scary, but you were scratched not stabbed.
stab (stb)
v. stabbed, stab·bing, stabs
v.tr.
1. To pierce or wound with or as if with a pointed weapon.
2. To plunge (a pointed weapon or instrument) into something.
3. To make a thrusting or poking motion at or into
Does the phrase “too close for comfort” mean anything to you? And $100 says you’d be crying like a puss if that happened to you. “Sack up” my ass.
New York sucks, 16th and Mission sucks… I was waiting for the part of the story where the ‘sucker’ of the story got gang-beaten by 4 other dudes…That headline sounds a little sensational. If you can write a snarky article about something ‘tough’ that happened, probably wasn’t that ‘tough’. Also, I love when people through out areas that sound tough(er)… “Marcy Projects”… whud up Brooklynnnnnnnnnnnn?!?!?!?!! Great, you’ve listened to Jay-Z once… why not try to compare it to Vietnam while you are at it? oops sorry Brook-nam.. Chigga Bay-bey. I’m bored.