Two San Francisco residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the construction company and contractors involved in a gas line rupture that caused a three-alarm fire on Geary Boulevard earlier this month.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs Carina Kouyoumji and Nora Wixom are suing Mastec Services Company Inc.; Mastec Renewables Construction Company Inc.; Kilford Engineering Inc.; and Advanced Fiber Works Inc. Verizon Communications Inc. was also named as a defendant.

Both plaintiffs live in one of the five buildings that were severely damaged in the fire on February 6th. The fire ignited after workers installing fiber optic lines near Geary Boulevard and Parker Avenue encountered a PG&E gas line.

The lawsuit alleges the explosion was a direct result of defendants' “reckless and willful violation of California law to use an excavator to dig a trench near underground facilities.”

The California government code requires anyone excavating near an underground installation, such as a gas line, to use hand tools such as a shovel.

The defendants are also accused of negligence, harassment and trespassing.

The lawsuit further alleges that the fire destroyed the property of the two plaintiffs, leaving them homeless. In addition, the two suffered from mental anguish and were therefore forced to take time off from work.

“Ultimately, there are contractors who work near high-pressure gas pipelines in a high-density area like San Francisco. One would think that all precautions would be taken in accordance with state law, including not using heavy machinery near gas pipelines,” said Ara Jabagchourian, lawyer for the plaintiffs. “We’re lucky no one was hurt here.”

Immediately after the gas line burst, flames shot into the air for over two hours before emergency crews stopped the flow of gas.

Residents in the neighborhood were evacuated. According to police and fire departments, two buildings were left with significant structural damage and three others with significant water damage.

According to PG&E, before excavation began, contractors had called 811 to check for utility lines beneath the area. PG&E then sent crews to the area to do markings.

Days after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that it had begun an investigation into the cause with assistance from the FBI. The investigation should include interviews with the contractors and subcontractors involved.

Florida-based Mastec and New York-based Verizon were not immediately available for comment. Kilford Engineering could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, Jabagchourian said.

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As NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned, the designer of the problematic repairs to the sinking and tipping Millennium Tower recently informed city officials about a particularly unpleasant potential byproduct of subdivision development – sewage backups.

“Sewer lines must have a slope (at least 1/8 inch per foot) to allow for efficient flow of material,” Ron Hamburger said in an email to city officials in late August. He identified at-risk drains that currently slope south and east — contrary to the current northwest slope — and said those lines “will experience a reduced gradient and potentially become a problem.”

The sewer alarm was part of an assessment of the building’s “functionality” as the building leaned an additional five inches during work on the so-called rehabilitation that began in May. This project is currently on hold pending testing and analysis, which triggered the unexpected, accelerated settlement.

Hamburger told city officials that experts were assessing the stress on vertical pipes due to the tilt, while engineers had found no signs of a “malfunction” in the elevator system.

With the building now tilted 22 inches to the west, experts believe the sewage problem will worsen because the tilt has flattened the angle of some drain lines by up to 25 percent.

The drains in the owner’s third-floor eat-in kitchen have already experienced “some blockages,” Hamburger said in his email summary to city officials, and they now require “maintenance through regular chemical flushing.”

“This and other lines may need to be adjusted to restore the grade,” Hamburger noted in a presentation to city officials.

“There is the problem that the slope is not enough or is too great, in either case there can be problems,” says Mark Savel, an architect and contractor with three decades of experience analyzing building damage, such as the balcony collapse in Berkeley in 2015.

“A blockage or system backup is to be expected – so the existing system should be inspected and monitored,” says Savel.

Meanwhile, residents risk losing entire wooden floors and walls because of the health risks associated with massive traffic jams, Savel says. He adds that the risk is particularly high when people use the system at the same time.

“On those days when the house is full of people, you’re celebrating a holiday, or you have a special occasion,” he says, “you end up calling Roto-Rooter. Because your system will be put to the ultimate test.”

Savel says building managers should first order a video inspection of all plumbing to identify immediate risks and long-term problems.

Any final solution, which would involve adjusting the height of hundreds of pipes to allow proper flow, would have to wait for the sinking and tilting structure to fully stabilize, he says.

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The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department has a new price for a controversial $1.7 million public restroom at a park in the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood.

A generous donation helped bring the restroom’s price down to $300,000.

The planned restroom was supposed to be built in a corner of Noe Valley Town Square Park, which would be a much-welcomed addition for some people who spend their lunch or bring their kids to the area.

“It would be definitely nice to have a bathroom available, not relying on local businesses,” San Francisco resident Amanda Specht said.

But the original cost was a shock and triggered backlash.

“It is outrageous and I’m not surprised by the outrage,” Specht said. “But, it’s San Francisco.”

The controversy over the seemingly bloated price tag became so intense Gov. Gavin Newsom paused the distribution of state funds that had been earmarked for the public restroom. The much lower price the city will have to shell out for the restroom comes after a pair of companies teamed up to donate a prefabricated restroom to San Francisco and offered to pay the delivery and most of the installation costs.

A San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson said they will be reaching out to the governor’s office and ask for a portion of the money it paused for project back to help fund a similar project at Precita Park.

The recreation and parks department plans to spend $300,000 to hire a landscape design firm to draw up the plans for the site, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing work. In addition, the work would include handling permitting, environmental review and other administrative costs.

The hope is to have the new restroom installed by late summer.

The post New Worth for $1.7M San Francisco Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco residents, property owners and businesses that were badly impacted from January’s series of winter storms may be eligible for financial relief, Mayor London Breed announced on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year, San Francisco has been hit by a series of storms that prompted flooding, mudslides and power outages.

“The severe weather we just experienced has impacted many of our small businesses and residents in heavily affected areas and these initial efforts will help as part of our City’s recovery,” said Breed. “While these flood relief programs will provide support in the storms’ aftermath, we are hard at work making improvements to our infrastructure as part of a $632 million investment to help reduce the risk of flooding in the future.”

Small Business Grants

Via the city’s Flood Disaster Relief Grant program, small businesses in the city’s “flood zone” — the regions most likely to experience severe flooding in a 100-year storm — are eligible for up to $5,000 in awards, and small businesses outside of the zone can receive up to $2,000.

The San Francisco Office of Small Business will lead the effort, prioritizing businesses in the flood zone that face the most severe damage.

Grants are available for registered San Francisco businesses with a physical location that have experienced physical damage from winter storms, retroactive up to Dec. 27, 2022. Damages due to wind or power outages are not eligible.

Permitted and licensed home-based businesses, like daycares, are also eligible.

Businesses must have 100 or fewer employees and less than $5 million in gross revenue.

“We know that the recent storms have added additional difficulties to small businesses that have already been trying to recover from pandemic impacts,” said Katy Tang, executive director of the Office of Small Business. “While we recognize that this grant program will not solve all challenges, the City is offering support along with other resources and services currently available to businesses.”

A detailed map of areas determined the most at risk of flooding can be found at https://sfplanninggis.org/floodmap/.

Applications are open on Friday and close on Feb. 10. More information on the application process can be found at https://sf.gov/get-help-if-your-business-was-damaged-flooding.

The San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts also plans to create a collaborative storm relief fund for San Francisco artists and art organizations. More details will be shared on the agency’s website once details are finalized.

Property Damage Relief

For those facing property damage, the city recommends residents and businesses to contact their insurance company to assess damages and purchase flood insurance.

Businesses and homeowners can also apply for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Floodwater Management Grant Assistance Program, which can provide over $100,000 in flood mitigation improvements on properties.

Tax Relief Opportunities

San Francisco property owners may also be eligible for property tax relief if they suffered over $10,000 in flood damage. A disaster relief form must be submitted to the Assessor-Recorder by one year of the date of loss.

“We know that these recent storms are unlike anything our city has seen in decades and have caused significant hardship for many property owners. Given the impacts of this severe weather, the Office of the Assessor-Recorder wants all San Franciscans to be aware they may qualify for property tax relief and that our staff is available to help walk them through the process from start to end,” said Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres.

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Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the single toilet is costing the city $1.7 million. It will be located near 24th Street in Noe Valley’s main commercial corridor.

Supervisors said they got the funding from the state budget to build the restroom per requests of families in the area.

In a joint statement issued to the newspaper, the Park and Rec Department of Public Works said there are several reasons for the costs, including the cost to build in the city and the rising construction costs for materials.

“It’s crazy. It’s just sort of an artifact of everything going crazy in the city,” said former San Francisco resident, Michael Papanek. “How could it possibly be 1.7 million dollars?”

There was supposed to be an announcement by state and local public officials Wednesday, proclaiming their success in securing the funding from the state.

But they abruptly canceled it once word of the price tag got out.

Questions are being raised over the price tag of a public toilet in San Francisco.

“It sounds so fishy,” said Dalia Martinez, former San Francisco resident. “And given that they were gonna announce it today and they just bailed, it’s just, so suspicious.”

The only elected official who has responded to any of our questions about the project, and the price tag, is assembly member Matt Haney. He was able to get the $.17 million from Sacramento.

“I’ll defer questions about the cost for the bathroom to Rec and Park,” he said in a statement. “The cost also seemed shockingly high to me. They told me they couldn’t build it for less, so if I wanted a public bathroom there, that’s how much I had to deliver.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to Park and Rec for a breakdown of costs but have not heard back.

The restroom would be completed until 2025.

NBC Bay Area’s Sergio Quintana gives us a closer look at San Francisco’s plan to construct a $1.7 million bathroom.

The city already operates a whole bunch of free public restrooms, some of them even available 24 hours a day and fit within the 150-square-foot footprint at Noe Valley.

The cost to the city is nothing.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, it has a deal with the company JC Decaux to provide the self-cleaning public potties for free in exchange for advertising revenue made from the units.

By the end of this year, brand new ones will be getting installed throughout San Francisco to replace the aging ones — all for free.

The post San Francisco is Spending $1.7M on a Public Rest room – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was violently assaulted inside his home Friday morning in San Francisco, according to a Pelosi spokesman and local police.

An assailant broke into the home and asked “Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?” according to an NBC News source.

Officers arrived at the home to perform a welfare check and found the suspect and Pelosi both having one hand on a single hammer. Police then saw the suspect attack Pelosi, 82, with the hammer, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said during a news conference Friday. Scott added Pelosi was struck at least once in the attack.

The officers disarmed the suspect, Scott said.

“This was not a random attack. This was intentional. And it’s wrong,” Scott said. “Our elected officials are here to do the business of their cities, their counties, and their states, and this nation. Their families don’t sign up for this — to be harmed. And it’s wrong.”

Pelosi was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where he is recovering from surgery on his head, a source at the hospital with firsthand knowledge says. Previous reports citing a hospital source said he was undergoing brain surgery.

“Mr. Pelosi was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” Drew Hammill, spokesman for Speaker Pelosi, said in a statement. “His doctors expect a full recovery.”

NBC Bay Area

Aerial footage shows a broken window or glass door at Nancy Pelosi’s Sab Francisco home. (October 28, 2022)

Secret Service agents and Capitol Police were staged at the hospital.

The suspect was identified as 42-year-old David Depape, and is being charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and several other felonies, Scott said. Depape was taken to the hospital in police custody.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not at the San Francisco home at the time of the invasion and assault. She was in Washington, DC under her protective detail, according to her office. The speaker arrived in San Francisco just before 3:30 pm

According to a family member traveling with Nancy Pelosi, Depape was trying to tie up Paul Pelosi “until Nancy got home,” and when officers arrived at the scene, he said “we are waiting for Nancy.”

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott provides an update on the Paul Pelosi attack investigation.

When Depape wasn’t looking, Pelosi managed to dial 911, the family member said. The family is hoping there is a recording of the conversation to provide more information.

“Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi. The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation,” read a statement from Pelosi’s office.

“Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery. The speaker was not in San Francisco at the time,” the statement read.

“The Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time.”

San Francisco police said it responded to the scene in the 2600 block of Broadway for a home break-in. The Capitol Police, the FBI and San Francisco police are conducting a joint investigation into the home invasion assault.

Pelosi’s home was vandalized last January, just a few days before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as was the home of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Pelosi’s garage door was defaced with phrases including “$2K,” “Cancel rent!” and “We want everything!” This came several days after Congress failed to approve a measure to increase coronavirus stimulus checks to $2,000.

Meanwhile, politicians from both sides of the aisle took to social media to condemn the attack.

Political Analyst Larry Gerston says there’s definitely a question whether the assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband at the couple’s San Francisco home is politically motivated.

*BREAKING* NBC News source: Paul Pelosi attacker was looking for the Speaker of the House. “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” The speaker was not at his SF home during early morning attack. pic.twitter.com/BgC1G5WAc2

— Bob Redell (@BobNBC) October 28, 2022

.@POTUS is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family. This morning he called Speaker Pelosi to express his support after this horrible attack. He is also very glad that a full recovery is expected.

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) October 28, 2022

Thank God @SpeakerPelosi’s husband Paul is safe after being attacked in their home by an assailant. While the motive is still unknown we know where this kind of violence is sanctioned and modeled. https://t.co/TaPWBVr5jM

— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) October 28, 2022

The post Paul Pelosi, Husband of Nancy Pelosi, Attacked in San Francisco Dwelling Invasion – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

In San Francisco, two competing ballot measures, Propositions D and E, are promising to cut through red tape and get affordable housing built more quickly. They sound similar on the surface, but they have some key differences.

Proposition D

Proposition D comes from Mayor London Breed, and most of its funding comes from tech executives. The mayor says it could cut the time to build housing developments from six years to six months, for projects in which a significant portion of the units are marked as affordable, and the workers building them are all making a living wage. Prop D also raises the income threshold for some of those units, so more people can qualify to live in affordable housing.

Opponents of Prop D say they worry it’s not picky enough: that it could end up fast-tracking a lot of small studios for middle income, young, single people, in buildings that also have luxury condos.

Proposition E

Proposition E was written by the Board of Supervisors, and it would fast-track some housing developments, but only the ones that meet very stringent requirements.

Compared to Prop D, a higher percentage of units would have to be affordable to qualify for fast-tracking under Prop E, and a certain number of those units would need to be 2- and 3-bedroom floor plans suitable for larger families. The workers who build the housing would have to be in a union. Prop E would keep a low income threshold, so not as many middle income renters would qualify.

Prop E’s opponents say they worry the rules are too strict — and because projects under Prop E can still be held up for environmental review, they worry it leaves too much red tape, so the housing the city needs wouldn’t actually get built.

Who’s backing them?

So far, Prop D has raised more than $2 million, with endorsements including the Chronicle, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese American Democratic Club and State Senator Scott Wiener.

Prop E has raised more than $700,000, with endorsements from the San Francisco Democratic Party, a number of labor unions, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, and Assemblymember Phil Ting.

Why are they competing?

San Francisco has a state mandate to build tens of thousands of new affordable housing units within the next decade. With that deadline looming, the supporters of these two measures have been locked in a fierce battle for months. Because they’re so similar, a court has ruled that only one of these propositions can win. If both get more than 50% of the vote, whichever one gets the most votes will become law.

The post San Francisco Propositions D and E on Reasonably priced Housing – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A home on one of San Francisco’s most recognizable blocks is back on the real estate market.

The Victorian-style home, one of the city’s “Painted Ladies” near Alamo Square Park, is listed for sale for $3,550,000.

The 2,500-square-foot 19th century home made headlines in early 2020 when a San Francisco software engineer bought the property with hopes of remodeling.

The home was built in the 1890s and has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms and a two-car garage.

The current owner of the “Painted Pink Lady,” Leah Culver, documented her time in the home and the remodel via social media over the last two years.

The homeowner announced her intent to sell the property on Instagram on Friday.

“I’ve come to realize that I do not have enough time or resources to dedicate to truly restoring this home with the care and attention to detail that it deserves,” the Instagram post said.

The home is located in San Francisco’s Alamo Square neighborhood and is one of seven “Painted Ladies.”

The home was previously listed in January 2020 for $2.75 million and sold for $3.5 million, according to Zillow at the time.

The Victorian home was last remodeled into a duplex in the 1960s.

San Francisco’s Painted Ladies are one of the city’s most famous (and photographed) landmarks.

The homes face Alamo Square Park, along the 700 block of Steiner Street.

To learn more about the property and to view the home listing, click here.

One of San Francisco’s iconic Painted Ladies has sold for $3.5 million, $1 million more than the asking price, according to Zillow. The three-story home on Steiner Street was built in the 1890s and is in need of major renovations.

The post Certainly one of San Francisco’s Famed ‘Painted Women’ Listed For Sale – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

When Nicole Meldahl and her group Western Neighborhoods Project raised money to buy up and save historic artifacts from the recently-closed Cliff House restaurant in March 2021, she had no idea at the time what venue she’d be able to display them in.

It certainly never dawned on her that the group might one day get the chance to display them in the same venue they’d come from.

“Never imagining one day the National Park Service would give us the keys to the Cliff House,” Meldahl said.

As the NPS searches for a new restaurant operator to take over San Francisco’s venerable Cliff House, it has indeed allowed Western Neighborhoods Project to turn the empty restaurant into a temporary museum, with its sweeping views and historic artifacts as the centerpiece.

In the Cliff House in an exhibit called Naiad Cove — the name of the adjacent cove where the ruins of Sutro Baths rest — the group paid tribute to the neighborhood known as Lands End and its once-iconic roadside destinations like the old Sutro Baths and Playland at the Beach.

Inside the restaurant, there’s a tribute to the old Sutro Baths, which includes vintage bathing suits and a locker believed to have been saved from the old building. There are original posters and photos of the famous baths, flanked by the actual Sutro Baths ruins just outside the window.

“I think this is what makes this exhibition so wonderful and so powerful, is that you’re really experiencing this history in the place that created it,” Meldahl said.

The former restaurant booths inside the Cliff House pay tribute to the restaurant that served generations before closing during the pandemic.

One room holds signs from the long-gone Playland at the Beach, with the sounds of an old amusement park lending an air of authenticity. A tall wooden cowboy that once stood in the nearby amusement park looms over the room.

The darkened, empty kitchens now display historic projections by artist Ben Wood, who has been projecting period photos and videos from Cliff House history out of the gift shop windows for months. The rooms are washed with a sound installation by Andrew Roth.

The restaurant even holds a tribute to the restaurant itself with a series of place settings from different eras of the Cliff House along with the menus displaying period prices.

“We’ve staged six vignettes at the bar to represent six different experiences patrons would’ve had coming here,” Meldahl explained.

When the Cliff House restaurant permanently closed under the weight of the pandemic, Western Neighborhoods Project rallied to save its collection of historic memorabilia from the auction block. The group raised $180,000 in an effort to prevent the collection from getting spread to the wind.

A crew hoists one of a pair of porcelain muses for an exhibit inside the Cliff House.

Among the objects it saved were a pair of porcelain “muses” figures that had lived in the old Cliff House for ages. On a recent day, Meldahl watched as an arts preservation team helped stage the two large figures.

Alexandra Mitchell, whose company ACT Art Conservation LLC is caring for the artifacts said it was important for the public to view the Cliff House objects back in their original home.

“People can visualize it themselves while they’re here looking at the pieces that were here,” Mitchell said. “You’re seeing the same view, you’re seeing the same ocean waves that have crashed on the shore the whole time.”

Aside from the artifacts, the exhibit is a rare opportunity for the public to visit one of San Francisco’s iconic destinations and view it outside its normal state as a bustling restaurant.

There are windows where generations of visitors have sipped cocktails while watching the day’s last rays glancing across seal rock. There is the long counter where visitors bellied up for the restaurant’s signature poppers, or Bloody Mary’s.

“There’s all these people,” said Great Highway Gallery owner John Lindsey, who is curating the exhibit. “Not only do they have a lot of memories of what’s around us, they have a lot of memories of what’s inside this building.”

As far as the Cliff House’s future goes, the National Park Service put out bids for a new restauranteur to take over the space and is now reviewing those bids. In the meantime, the special exhibit is scheduled to run until Aug. 21, although Meldahl hopes it might be extended. The exhibit is free, but visitors must register in advance.

“People who said they never came here because it was too expensive now find themselves able to take in this incredible view, doing the same thing San Franciscans and visitors have been doing since 1863,” Meldahl said.

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