Goons Vandalize Sunset Dunes Again

Vandals damaged two pieces of artwork within the past few days in Sunset Dunes park.

As reported by advocates:

In the morning of Saturday, June 14, the Rivera community piano at Sunset Dunes was found destroyed, likely beyond repair. Vandals broke all but 10 keys and 2 of 3 hinges for the cover.

This comes just two days after the beloved Ocean Calling exhibit–a quiet and reflective phone booth where visitors can “call” loved ones who have passed away, and which has become a gathering space for grieving community members – was found severely damaged, with its phone ripped from the installation and surrounding wood structures taken apart and defaced.

Happily, according to Jamae Tasker, the artist for Ocean Calling, her installation was repaired with the help of volunteers over the weekend, as posted on Instagram:

Last March, vandals spray-painted the new mural on the wall at the Judah restroom. Artist Emily Fromm reported being harassed by opponents of the park when she was originally painting it.

The mural has since been repaired, as seen in the above photo.

Sunset Dunes, the park that replaced two miles of the Upper Great Highway, is now the third most visited park in San Francisco after Golden Gate Park and the Marina Green. It gets around 4,000 visitors per day, which is comparable to the number of drivers who once used it. 

And the park conversion has only just begun.

Meanwhile, the claim that the closure of the Upper Great Highway to cars would cause traffic jams is now proven false. An extensive report compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle shows that, at worst, some car trips take an extra four minutes. At the same time, "speeds may have even picked up on some roads." This is consistent with Streetsblog's own observations both on the streets and using Google Maps traffic data: traffic choke points on the west side of San Francisco persist during rush hour, but little has changed since the opening of Sunset Dunes.