Residents and businesses in San Francisco’s Mission District say they are fed up. They want the city to step in to stop the violence, open air drug use and homelessness in the area.
Ayman Farahat talked to NBC Bay Area Friday and shared some of his stories in the neighborhood.
“My son goes to the school in Mission, and he was punched in the face, right in front of the school,” he said. “We’ve seen cases of needles all over the parks. The situation has really degraded.”
Farahat and about 20 others signed a letter to city leaders earlier this month about the neighborhood’s downward spiral, pointing out what’s happening around Jose Coronado Playground.
The head of the Millennium School wrote a letter to the city and NBC Bay Area obtained it back in November.
The letter said in part, “we have witnessed aggressive attacks against parents, students, and staff members. The situation has become worrisome, to say the least.”
In another part of the Mission, Francesca Pastine sent NBC Bay Area and city leaders photos of encampments in her neighborhood.
“I am fed up from being ignored,” she said in an email.
Pastine and Farahat said their demand enforce the laws already on the books.
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“Whoever you talk, like the police will say the District’s Attorney. The DA will say it’s the supervisor. The supervisor will say it’s Park and Rec. We want to bring them all together. We want them to jointly own the problem and try to enforce city laws,” Farahat said.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s office said it is working with the DA to hold people accountable.
They released the following statement:
“There is a lot of work to do, but there is a significant amount of work being done. In the meantime, our street outreach team who addresses encampment issues has been made aware of the concerns raised and will include the Jose Coronado Playground and surrounding area in daily outreach efforts.”
