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Poet and City Lights Bookstore founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti once declared the intersection of Broadway and Columbus in San Francisco’s North Beach the “center of the universe.” It’s now a universe of iconic bars and restaurants struggling alongside thousands of other businesses under quarantine orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. Joe Rosato Jr. reports.
Poet and City Lights Bookstore founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti once declared the intersection of Broadway and Columbus in San Francisco’s North Beach the “center of the universe.”
It’s now a universe of iconic bars and restaurants struggling alongside thousands of other businesses under quarantine orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. In North Beach, the economic downturn poses a threat to many of the businesses that celebrate the legacy of the Beat Poets, who once drank and caroused in their establishments generating stories — some real, some imagined — that powers neighborhood tourism today.
“I’m very concerned about the whole neighborhood,” said Elly Simmons, owner of of Specs 12 Alder Museum and Cafe, a funky alleyway bar started by her late father Richard Simmons 52 years ago. “It’s a very important neighborhood in this country and the world for the culture.”
In mid-March as the state imposed mandatory stay-at-home orders, Simmons was forced to temporarily lay off the bar’s staff and is struggling to cover the bills. A GoFundMe she launched has generated about $30,000, which she says isn’t even enough to cover a month’s expenses.
“I’m not going to let this place die but we really need funds to reopen,” Simmons said, standing in the darkened bar filled with five decades of tchotchkes.
Across the street, Vesuvio Cafe, a watering hole for poets like Jack Kerouac, also launched a GoFundMe to help out its bartenders and waitstaff. The campaign had raised more than $12,000.
Across Jack Kerouac Alley from Vesuvio, the neighborhood’s cornerstone City Lights Bookstore raised nearly $470,000 in just five days — a sign of the store’s important place in the cultural firmament.
“If anybody deserves to come through it, it’s the link to the past,” said Jerry Cimino, owner of the nearby Beat Museum on Broadway. “Beat Generation values are San Francisco values — compassion, sympathy for your fellow man.”
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Empty counters are seen at Oakland International Airport’s Terminal 1 in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 6, 2020. The airport was nearly deserted as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
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General view of a closed park is seen amid the coronavirus outbreak on April 11, 2020 in San Mateo, California.
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A sign that encourages social distancing is displayed in an empty boarding area at San Francisco International Airport on April 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco International Airport has a seen a huge decline in daily flights since the coronavirus shelter in place. United Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier with the most daily flights with 290 flights per day before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reduced their daily flights to 50 per day.
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Roads leading to San Francisco International Airport are nearly empty on April 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco International Airport has a seen a huge decline in daily flights since the coronavirus shelter in place. United Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier with the most daily flights with 290 flights per day before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reduced their daily flights to 50 per day.
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People wearing face masks walk near Fisherman’s Wharf amid the coronavirus outbreak on April 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California.
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People wearing face masks line up to enter a Costco store amid the coronavirus outbreak on April 8, 2020 in San Francisco, California.
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A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) passenger rides in an empty train car on April 08, 2020 in San Francisco, California. BART announced that it is slashing daily service as ridership falls dramatically due to the coronavirus shelter in place order. Starting Wednesday, regular Monday through Friday service will be reduced to running trains every half hour between 5 am and 9 pm.
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The marquee is seen at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium music venue, which is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, on April 10, 2020 in San Francisco, California. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 96,000 lives and infecting more than 1.6 million people.
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Customers, some wearing protective masks, wait in a line outside a Whole Foods Market Inc. store in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Emergency ordinances that passed in San Francisco and San Jose on Tuesday would temporarily extend two weeks’ paid sick leave to workers not yet covered under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, that requires employees get paid sick leave for health reasons related to Covid-19.
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The Mayor Edwin M. Lee International Terminal departures hall sits empty at San Francisco International Airport on April 02, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Due to a reduction of flights and people traveling, San Francisco International Airport has consolidated all of its terminals into one concourse in the international terminal.
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The road in front of the international terminal sits empty at San Francisco International Airport on April 02, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Due to a reduction of flights and people traveling, San Francisco International Airport has consolidated all of its terminals into one concourse in the international terminal.
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Light traffic moves across the Bay Bridge heading into San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, March 20, 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered that all of the states 40 million residents go into home isolation starting Thursday evening, marking the most stringent U.S. effort yet to stymie the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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An interstate sits empty in San Francisco, California on April 1, 2020 during the Covid 19 crisis. – All 40 million residents of California were Thursday ordered to stay at home indefinitely in a bid to battle the coronavirus pandemic in the nation’s most populous state.
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A Covenant Aviation Security (CSA) worker waits for travelers in the security area at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, April 2, 2020. U.S. airlines have slashed flying capacity, parked planes, frozen hiring and taken other steps to cut spending as the viruss spread has reduced travel by more than 90%.
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A California Highway Patrol car drives across the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge on April 01, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Officials in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties have extended the shelter in place order until May 1 in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
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A view of a closed Stinson Beach due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 01, 2020 in Stinson Beach, California. Officials in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties have extended the shelter in place order until May 1 in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
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An aerial drone view of an empty Powell Street Cable Car turnaround on March 30, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Officials in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties have announced plans to extend the shelter in place order until May 1 in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
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A pigeon crosses an empty Powell Street during the coronavirus pandemic on March 30, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Officials in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties have announced plans to extend the shelter in place order until May 1.
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An aerial view from a drone shows an empty Interstate 280 on March 26, 2020 leading into San Francisco, California. With millions of San Francisco Bay Area residents under order to shelter in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, few cars are on the roads.
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An aerial view from a drone shows streets virtually deserted at the Pier 39 tourist destination on March 26, 2020 in San Francisco, California. With millions of San Francisco Bay Area residents under order to shelter in place due to COVID-19, few people are venturing out into public areas and tourism has all but halted.
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Light traffic moves along the Golden Gate Bridge during rush hour in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, March 20, 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered that all of the states 40 million residents go into home isolation starting Thursday evening, marking the most stringent U.S. effort yet to stymie the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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Fisherman’s Wharf, a popular tourist destination in San Francisco is seen empty of tourists in San Francisco, United States on March 18, 2020. The famous sidewalk seafood eateries were all closed up on the first day of the 3-week shelter in place affecting the six counties of the Bay Area.
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Pedestrians cross Powell Street, usually full with cars and cable cars, in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Six of the biggest counties in the San Francisco Bay Area ordered people to stay home except for essential needs, marking one of the nation’s strongest local efforts yet to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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A pedestrian walks past a boarded up Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Governors from coast to coast Friday told Americans not to leave home except for dire circumstances and ordered nonessential business to shut their doors.
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Light traffic is seen in this aerial view of the maze in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Seven Bay Area counties are locked down in an unprecedented shelter-in-place order from Gov. Gavin Newsom because of the coronavirus spread.
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A local mom and her two boys stop at the closed Helen Diller Playground in Dolores Park following Mayor London Breed’s decision to have city playgrounds closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 23, 2020.
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An aerial view of the empty schoolyard at Ulloa Elementary School on March 18, 2020 in San Francisco, California. As millions of Americans shelter in place in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, schools across the country are being closed. Nearly 99 percent of the schools in California are currently closed and it is unclear if they will be able to reopen before the start of summer break.
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Empty seats stand in a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train car in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Six of the biggest counties in the San Francisco Bay Area ordered people to stay home except for essential needs, marking one of the nation’s strongest local efforts yet to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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A view of a deserted Jack London Square Square is seen in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Seven Bay Area counties are locked down in an unprecedented shelter-in-place order from Gov. Gavin Newsom because of the coronavirus spread.
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Famous Pier 39, part tourist destination and part shopping mall, is seen fenced off and closed to the public Tuesday as the CIty of San Francisco began its 3-week shelter in place order, on March 18, 2020.
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The iconic twisty curves of Lombard Street are seen totally empty from above in San Francisco, California on March 17, 2020. San Francisco, along with 7 other counties in the Bay Area, have been ordered to shelter in place as the city attempts to contain the coronavirus.
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A man walks through a deserted Frank Ogawa Plaza near City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Seven Bay Area counties are locked down in an unprecedented shelter-in-place order from Gov. Gavin Newsom because of the coronavirus spread.
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Streets and sidewalks around San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf tourist destination are free of cars and pedestrians on March 17, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Six San Francisco Bay Area counties have ordered residents to shelter in place in an effort to reduce social interaction and slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Travelers arrive to a quiet Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport as stay-at-home orders are implemented during the world-wide coronavirus outbreak in San Jose, California Friday March 20, 2020.
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A member of the San Francisco Park Rangers adjusts a closure sign at a fitness area at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Governor Newsom on March 19 ordered that all of the state’s 40 million residents go into home isolation while saying outdoor activity is permissible with proper social distancing. Several parks reported a surge in visitors over the weekend from people wanting to get out of the house.
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Empty cable cars stand on California Street in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, March. 16, 2020. Six of the biggest counties in the San Francisco Bay Area ordered people to stay home except for essential needs, marking one of the nation’s strongest local efforts yet to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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An entertainer performs for one person on Pier 39 in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, March 16, 2020. Six of the biggest counties in the San Francisco Bay Area ordered people to stay home except for essential needs, marking one of the nation’s strongest local efforts yet to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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Patricia Buzzotta hands a bag of produce to a customer at the Star Route Farms stand in the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, March 21, 2020 as the shelter in place order remains in effect to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Star Route Farms created a social distance zone in front of their stand.
Cimino’s business was also hoping to weather the storm with the doors closed and business trickling in through online book sales. In contrast to City Lights campaign, the Beat Museum’s GoFundMe raised a little less than $2,000 in just under a month. But Cimino said he and the neighborhood are thrilled at the success of City Lights’ crowdfunding.
“The way I look at it, rising tides lift all ships," Cimino said.
Over the last half-century, Specs has served as a watering hole where people would gather for celebrations or to seek the camaraderie of others riding out hard times on a barstool.
Inside the darkened bar, Simmons herself now sat on a barstool, alone contemplating what might lie ahead, hoping the bar will survive and once again provide a place where people in a post-COVID-19 world can unite.
