Crackdown on the culture: Vendors barred from 24th St. BART plaza

24th-St.-BART-plaza-vendors-and-fence-by-Joshua-Baltodano-072522-1400x933, Crackdown on the culture: Vendors barred from 24th St. BART plaza, Local News & Views News & Views
On Wednesday, July 20, Mission District Supervisor Hillary Ronen, SFDPW and local organization Calle 24 put up fencing around the 24th St. BART station plaza in a “request to temporarily narrow the plaza’s public footprint for 60 days to allow time … to put into place a new street vendor permitting system as part of the city’s new ordinance regulating street vending,” aka: weeding out “unacceptable” vendors and then forcing people to go through a complicated permit process or be fined to earn their living. – Photo: Joshua Baltodano

by Joshua Baltodano

The July 20 decision by San Francisco District Supervisor Hillary Ronen and the organization Calle 24 to place fences at the 24th St. BART plaza is incredibly disheartening. Walking outside the Mission Bart station, you instantly see high-rise fences locked up and 10+ vendors trying to sell goods maneuvering the little space left on the curb in fear of being fined for not having a vendor’s license. 

Placing fences outside San Francisco’s 24th St. Bart station is an example of bad community planning from Hillary Ronen and the leadership at Calle 24 – formerly the Lower 24th Street Merchant Association from 1999, now recognized as the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District.

No-Somos-Animales-sign-24th-St.-BART-plaza-fence-by-072522, Crackdown on the culture: Vendors barred from 24th St. BART plaza, Local News & Views News & Views
“The Wall” isn’t just something the right has built to further isolate immigrants at the Mexican-American border; it’s a core tenet of many cities’ measures to lock out Black and Brown communities from public space, cloaked in the language of “permits” and “beautification.” – Photo: Joshua Baltodano

The action taken by Ronen and Calle 24 is policing people they deem “unacceptable” to sell goods at the plaza, with false accusations of people selling drugs and stolen goods. The fences alienate and harm our community.

People are still recovering from the pandemic and are in desperate need of money. Requiring everyone to have a permit license takes up to three weeks, and there is no guarantee you’ll be approved. Why force people to go through all that trouble just to earn $20 to afford a meal? 

Unfortunately, the tone Ronen and Calle 24 took reinforces racism and classism we experience in the Mission District.

One vendor who recently lost his job now supports his family with only $75 a day selling sneakers and shampoo at the plaza. Supervisor Ronen claims the fences will make the space safer, but if anything the vendors are going to seek out other places to sell that are less safe.

The fences are not just inhumane but are based on false accusations. The press release from Ronen and Calle 24 attempted to paint the plaza as a grounding place for stolen goods and drugs. The only related incident is Mission District SFPD Police Captain McEachern mentioning to the SF Chronicle that some “community members” said a physical assault took place

However, McEachern also stated there have been NO assaults reported and NO victims claiming these accusations to be true. The captain also stated he has not seen and has not heard of any drug dealings at 24th St. plaza. BART police also made the same claims

Lastly, SFPD Mission station has only filed five reports of people selling “stolen goods” since May – occurring less than once a week at the plaza. Unfortunately, Ronen and Calle 24 based their decision to put up the fences on hearsay and not on facts. 

People don’t have time to wait 60-90 days for Ronen and Calle 24 to finally remove the fences, as stated in their recent press release. If Ronen and Calle 24 care about the “community,” they should take away the fences and assist with traffic control at the plaza. People are going to sell in a public space, whether it’s at the 24th St. plaza or downtown; it’s always been the culture. 

It’s a painful reminder to continuously walk by as a local and see the space stripped away from folks trying to get by. Contrary to what Hillary Ronen and her colleagues at Calle 24 believe, this past year the 24th St. plaza has been one of the most vibrant places to visit in Frisco. 

As we heal from the prolonged isolation of the worst pandemic of our time, you can come to 24th street plaza and be surrounded by conversation, hella gente playing music and vendors selling items from Latin America – from food and toiletries to random cell phone chargers. But given this financial crisis we’re in, not everyone may look “acceptable” to Ronen. Unfortunately, the tone Ronen and Calle 24 took reinforces racism and classism we experience in the Mission District.

Joshua Baltodano is a former Job Corps graduate from Treasure Island in San Francisco. He currently serves as the Partnership Manager for Community Financial Resources and is a local bike rider in Frisco. Reach him by email at joshuabaltodano@icloud.com.