Mission Mission

Forever broken, forever undergoing maintenance, and don’t even think of taking your bike on it!

Perhaps the BART escalators wouldn’t be in need of repair so often if they weren’t so exposed to the elements?

The esteemed Eric Fischer brings us scans of BART plans from 1962. This shot looks south down (and under) Mission from 23rd towards 24th:

The Look of Rapid Transit: 24th Street Mission station

The interesting part (outside of the fact that the BART station was to be so brilliantly lit that men wearing hats would cast stark shadows) is the street photo up top — it was taken from the NW corner of 23rd and Mission, looking south towards Bernal. (Click the image for a big-ass high resolution version.)

Particularly striking is the utter lack of trees (even on the slopes of Bernal).

Lots of donuts though:

Matching shot from today.  The trees make it hard to compare, but changes a plenty. (Click to enlargify.)

Zooming in towards 24th (above the epic car) we see the epic “Smile Awhile” bar:

A more clear view is available from the south.  It should quickly become clear what that sign represents today:

Much more on the history of 24th and Mission, both imagined and realized, over at Burrito Justice from a few months back.

Don’t worry dude!  No way am I going to mess with a guy wearing fingerless Misfits gloves in the morning.  That sure is a lot of presents though.  Can’t you spare just one?

Fine.  Whatever, Grinch.

What about the rest of you?  Do you still give give gifts to your peeps during the holidays?

Every time I ride BART, I’ve always noticed the sign at the bottom of the escalator that forcefully commands, “No Bikes on Escalator,” and have wondered why that is the case.  A periodic loudspeaker announcement clarifies that it’s for our own safety and that of our fellow BART riders, but this has always seemed like a cop-out to me.

I really can’t tell what’s so dangerous about holding a bike on an escalator while it’s moving upwards.  Surely, you don’t need to monopolize the whole escalator like the person above is doing; there is plenty of space to fit both you and your bicycle while also keeping an avenue open on the left side for others who want to pass.  Moreover, doesn’t it seem even more dangerous for a smallish individual to attempt to lug his or her bicycle up that daunting BART staircase?

Some quick research reveals that while some people are completely against the idea, certain situations sometimes make it a necessity.  So, how do YOU feel about bikes on escalators?  Can anyone provide a cogent reason for why this is a forbidden practice?

[Photo by tinka516]

In less than one hour the San Francisco Giants will attempt to clinch the World Series of Baseball while deep in the heart of Texas.  Whether or not Lincecum and the gang will able to do it tonight, it’s undeniable how much of demonstrative force they have been in unifying the vastly diverse residents of our dynamic city.  Everyone has at least one thing in common.

For instance, during rush hour on a crowded BART train earlier, a testy exchange broke out between a passenger with a bicycle and another who felt it was necessary to point out that he was breaking the rules.  Another passenger who overheard the conversation shouted from the other side of the train, “Don’t fuck with bikes!”  The murmuring of everyone around grew louder and the tension escalated as they said a few more things to each other.

Thinking fast, I yelled, “Go Giants!”  Immediately, everyone in the car burst into laughter and smiles that sustained until we got to the next stop, where the passenger with the bicycle departed after offering an earnest apology to no one in particular.  Crisis averted.

So yeah, Go Giants!  And let’s try to be rad to each other all the time!

[Cranial Liminal Scan Photo]

Mission stalwart/artist/yoyo-ist/game designer Doctor Popular celebrates the birthday of his girlfriend’s 30th birthday with an EPIC ANIMATED GIF of her playing at the BART entrance. (16th or 24th?)

(Do check out Unwoman’s brand new album The City, released just last week.)

p.s.  Also take a look at Doc Pop’s epic Pac-Man watercolor series, Ghosts in the Machines:

Building upon the deluge of nostalgic Dolores Park photos that surfaced earlier this week, MM reader friscolex clued us in to the gold mine that is the San Francisco Public Library History Center Blog.  And what a gold mine it is!  Here we have a photo of Mission High School students eating lunch in Dolores Park in 1958.  Myriad interesting things here. 

First of all, these “high school” students look a lot older than most high school students I see around these days.  In fact, they look older than most undergrads!  Perhaps they’re not really high school students at all but are merely playing the part a la James Van Der Beek.

Furthermore, I’m not quite sure, but all of these students look pretty white.  Although this may just mean that they weren’t on the city champion soccer team, I’ve got a feeling that most of their fellow classmates were white as well.  50 years later, it seems that things are a little different.

But that’s not all from the SFPL HC!  Check out these amazing early (1965) designs for BART trains!  Supposedly, BART promised “trains automatically timed to arrive at stations every 90 seconds during rush hours, [and] BART is guaranteeing everyone of its passengers a seat[!!!]“  I wonder how that worked out.

Nevertheless, the SFPL History Center is a gold mine.  Be sure to check it out and support it however you can!

Previously:

Dolores Park 20 Years Ago

More Photos of Dolores Park 20 Years Ago

Mission Soccer: A San Francisco Dynasty

Write your own caption contest! GO! (No prizes, don’t be mean, Sexpigeon auto-disqualified)

Snapped at 16th St. BART. God we’re creepy.

Okay, so this is clearly no BART boner, but I DID happen to see the most intense wedgie I’ve ever witnessed, today on BART.  I tried to get a good angle on it, but the above photo is the best I could do without giving myself away.

You could see every butt dimple on the babe!  She was standing in the exact line of sight for at least 6 passengers, who could do nothing to avert their gaze but stare at their hands like they’d just miscarried.  Me, I wanted so desperately to help a sister out and pick her butt for her, but social convention wouldn’t allow it.

I hope her buttcheeks are at home, breathing easy, as we speak.

A couple of days ago I posted a collection of BART maintenance badges. I was convinced I was missing one more and it had to be something on or near the end of the peninsula line. So this weekend I was coming back from the east bay and saw THIS:

This is definitely the definitive SF maintenance station badge. It features Golden Gate bridge (which is incidentally nowhere near Daly City or BART), and an airplane heading to or from SFO. For the record, the car smelled better than any car I’ve ever been in. Some kind of sweet flowery cleaning fluid was just used. It also had a spotless, non-carpeted floor. Go DC! Show ‘em how it’s done.

Next conquest: MUNI bus maintenance badges. Psych! Nobody maintains those.