Mayor London Breed’s apparent toleration of an unsanctioned homeless encampment “sweep” by a corporate event company this month has led her critics to ask whether the policy of City Hall is to turn a blind eye to privatized harassment of people living on the streets. The sweep, which occurred just past midnight on the morning of Sept. 10 outside the old Honda dealership on 12th Street, resulted in the disposal of eight people’s belongings. Neither the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing nor the mayor’s office clearly rebuked the actions of the event company, Non Plus Ultra.
Author Archives: Nuala Bishari
Nuala Bishari is an award-winning journalist and editor based in San Francisco. She spent three years as news editor and reporter for SF Weekly, was a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, and helped found a local neighborhood blog called Hoodline.
Posted inEconomy & Business, Government & Politics, Homelessness, News, Technology
TechCrunch Breaks With Event Company Over Homeless Sweep
An unsanctioned sweep of a homeless encampment in central San Francisco has cost the event company Non Plus Ultra a big customer. The company rousted eight people in the middle of the night on Sept. 10, and – while city officials have largely remained silent – the action didn’t sit well with TechCrunch, which is renting Non Plus Ultra’s SVN West event space at Market Street and South Van Ness Avenue.
Posted inHomelessness, News, Technology
Luxury Event Company Conducts Homeless Sweep Ahead of Tech Conference
Non Plus Ultra, a company providing event space for TechCrunch’s Disrupt, an influential trade show for technology startups that began yesterday and typically draws thousands of attendees, conducted an independent sweep of a homeless tent encampment outside one of its San Francisco locations early this month.
Posted inCoronavirus, Health, Homelessness, Social Services
COVID-19 Opens New Frontiers in Addiction Medicine
When Mayor London Breed announced a strict shelter-in-place order on March 16 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, health facilities scrambled to identify ways to safely see patients. For addiction medicine doctors, this presented a particularly difficult challenge: Patients engaged in medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction must be seen frequently, often every few days. Regular […]
Posted inCoronavirus, Immigration, Law & Justice, Social Justice
S.F. Immigration Lawyers Cut ICE Detention Centers Population by Two-Thirds
In late March, a cell phone video made by detainees was leaked to the public from Mesa Verde Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Bakersfield, Calif. Dozens of men in orange jumpsuits walked past the camera while Charles Joseph read a petition. “Many of us have underlying medical issues,” he said. “This turns our […]