Lunar New Year event draws Police Chief to Leland

VVBOOM was honored to host the 13th Annual Lunar New Year Crime Prevention and Public Safety Awareness Campaign Press Conference in downtown Visitacion Valley on Tuesday, February 9th. Previously a safety awareness campaign aimed at educating merchants and curbing the high rates of extortion of Asian owned small businesses in Chinatown and San Francisco, a strong outreach campaign put on by San Francisco Safety Awareness for Everyone (SF SAFE) and the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has almost entirely eradicated extortion cases city-wide. This year based on a renewed focus on Muni safety and the growth of the Leland Avenue Merchant Watch group, the Lunar New Year press conference took place in downtown Visitacion Valley. A number of merchants and residents gathered at the intersection of Leland Ave and Desmond St. to take in the event on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. They were joined by members of SF SAFE, dozens of uniformed officers, Bayview Captain Greg Suhr, Ingleside Captain David Lazar and the San Francisco Chief of Police George Gascon who spoke about the importance of reporting crime to law enforcement and how to avoid being a victim of crime. The Chief’s message echoed the overarching principles of the Leland Avenue Merchant Watch group, which stresses relationship building among business owners, communication with law enforcement and a shared focus on crime prevention. When it came time for SF SAFE and SFPD to walk the commercial corridor distributing crime prevention information packages to merchants it was no surprise many of the merchants already knew them by name through their involvement with the Leland Avenue Merchant Watch Group. If you’re interested in seeing video taken from the press conference, search “Partners on Crime: Police and Merchants Team Up on Safety” on youtube.com. We look forward to building on the strong partnerships already in place with SF SAFE and Ingleside Police and growing our Leland Avenue Merchant Watch Group in the coming year.

Distinguished Art

Downtown Visitacion Valley will soon have its signature art piece on the highly visible corner of Leland Ave. and Bayshore Blvd. This summer as the Leland Avenue Streetscape project nears completion Street Life, a playful sculpture made from recycled parking meter heads attached to an 18 foot steel pole arching will be erected in front of the Shun Lee Market. The public art project designed by the artist team REBAR was selected by the community during a public viewing at the Visitacion Valley branch library from September 11th through September 21, 2009; getting approved by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) on November 2nd. On Monday, February 8th the SFAC and REBAR held a meeting at Joe Leland Coffee Shop to give the community a sneak peak at what the new art instillation will look like and solicited input on its design. According to SFAC, “The cluster of parking meters was designed to appear as if it had grown to a whimsically tall height and is intended to remind the viewer of swaying grain or other organic forms.”

Local merchant honors late butcher

The following piece was written by Joaquin Escobar, owner of La Loma Produce Market – 65 Leland Avenue. It is intended to honor the loss of a skilled local butcher as well as a loyal and reliable man who is sadly missed – Mr. Don Jose. Furthermore, it is intended to acknowledge the strong support La Loma has received from the community through this difficult time. Continue to support neighborhood businesses in Visitacion Valley.


“On February 3rd, 2010, La Loma Produce and Visitation Valley lost one of the best butchers of our times. It did not matter what nationality you were; when you walked to his counter, you were always greeted with a smile and treated with good customer service. He cared about people. Very often you would hear about him attending customer’s parties, funerals or even visit customers that were ill. He wasn’t just a butcher; he was a friend.

Born in El Salvador, he left his beloved wife and kids 8 years ago to better not just his life, but his family’s life as well; his family who needed him the most. Visitation Valley became his new home. He enjoyed working in the Valley so much that he postponed his return to El Salvador. Little did he know that when he said his farewells one night, he would not be able to see the next day. We the people at La Loma Produce would like to thank all the customers who helped in raising money for his funeral and his trip back home. We thank you with all our hearts.”