Gregg Perloff on Castro Theatre
“I and everyone at Another Planet love the Castro Theatre and the Castro neighborhood. Our commitment to and celebration of the LGBTQ communities is long term and unshakable, especially in a time when these communities are under attack. This project is a labor of love for us, and we will make everyone proud to be part of it. Thank you for giving us this stewardship.”
— Gregg Perloff, President & CEO, Another Planet Entertainment
media contact: DP&A, Inc / David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com
“SuitUp” Empowers 15 Young Women from Bayview’s Ladies in Power Program
Union Square Alliance Collaborates with Macy’s, SFPD, SVIP, SF District Attorney’s Office, and Operation Genesis in Innovative Violence Intervention Program Providing Professional Clothes and Mentoring; Program Culminates with Fashion Show on June 16, 2023
15 June 2023 — San Francisco, CA: The Union Square Alliance (www.visitunionsquaresf.com) has announced the upcoming SuitUp! Runway Event, which will take place on June 16, 2023, at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco. SuitUp!,is a collaborative initiative between community agencies and sponsors including Macy’s Union Square, Street Violence Intervention Program (SVIP), Operation Genesis Inc., the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA), which aims to uplift young African American women from San Francisco’s Ladies in Power program through the transformative power of a brand new business suit and a six-week intensive mentoring program.
“These young women are truly inspirational, and their dedication to their goals inspires us all,” said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of Union Square Alliance. “Having worked for many years in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, I know how important initiatives like ‘SuitUp’ are to breaking the cycle of violence. This program defines a smart and compassionate partnership between business, law enforcement, and the community.”
The inaugural 2022 cohort of Suit Up!, which included young African American men from Bayview’s Alice Griffith Community, participated in a year-long mentorship program focused on empowering and supporting young men during a crucial age. This year, the second cohort of fifteen young African American women, aged 13-20 from SF’s Ladies in Power program, will participate in a six-week intensive program focusing on self-esteem and confidence building, addressing unrealistic beauty standards and social media pressures.
Upon completion of the program, the young women will have the opportunity to meet with a Macy’s stylist and purchase their first work suit and accessories courtesy of Macy’s. They will also participate in the Macy’s Runway Show on June 16, 2023, showcasing their new suits and celebrating their growth and transformation.
“I believe if we can get these young women to love themselves and see how powerful they are, we can help set them up to be strong leaders in our communities,” said Taneshia Miller of SF’s Ladies in Power.
“Macy’s is thrilled to sponsor this important initiative for the second year in a row,” said John Sparks, Senior Director Store Manager at Macy’s Union Square. “As part of our social purpose platform, Mission Every One, Macy’s is dedicated to creating a brighter future with bold representation for all. This critical work promotes community involvement in San Francisco compassionately and creatively, aligning with our mission to empower more voice, choice, and ownership for colleagues, customers, and communities.”
The idea for “SuitUp” came in 2021 through Robert Newt, a Supervisor at the Street Violence Intervention Program. Determined to see the young people he works with succeed, Newt started a mentoring program with a year-long curriculum focused on self-esteem and positive transformations.
“My vision for this mentoring program was to collaborate with community partners and teach young people about the power of self-esteem,” said Newt. “I strongly believe that if we can get these young people to love themselves and see how powerful they are, we can help set them up to be strong leaders in our communities.”
The San Francisco Street Violence Intervention Program is an outreach and crisis response program hosted in the Department of Public Health. Created in 2013 to reduce and intervene in youth-related street violence for the City and County of San Francisco. Already, the “SuitUp” pilot project is gaining enthusiastic support from its community partners, including the SFPD.
“Congratulations to the young women who participated in Suit Up’s second cohort with Ladies in Power,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “They are exceptional young women with bright futures ahead who have demonstrated their commitment to improving themselves and our community.”
“We are so proud to support 15 young women from the San Francisco’s Ladies in Powerin this second year of the program,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott. “The ‘Suit Up’ initiative is about helping young people build confidence to learn to help themselves and their communities.”
About the Union Square Alliance:
The Union Square Alliance serves members and creates a high-quality visitor experience by managing and activating public spaces, attracting new investment, and advocating for the District’s future success. Union Square is the vibrant heart of San Francisco and an international destination where visitors enjoy exceptional retail experiences, luxury hotels, world-class cultural institutions, and excellent public spaces found only in the City by the Bay. A lively 27-block community surrounding Union Square Park in the heart of San Francisco makes up the Union Square Alliance. It is bordered to the north by Bush Street, to the east by Kearny Street, to the south by Market Street, and on west Taylor Street. For more information on the Alliance, go to www.visitunionsquaresf.com
For more information on this Violence Intervention Program, please contact Chief Tiffany Sutton, SFDA’s Chief of Collaborative Justice, at tiffany.sutton@sfgov.org
About Macy’s
For more than 160 years, Macy’s—the largest retail brand of Macy’s, Inc.—has served generations at every stage of their lives. Macy’s customers come to us for fashion, value and high-quality products. We are proud of our heritage and the unique role we play in American culture and tradition. We celebrate occasions big and small, and have created decades of memorable experiences through Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®, as well as spectacular fashion shows, culinary events, flower shows and celebrity appearances. With the collective support of our customers and colleagues, Macy’s helps make a difference in every market we serve, supporting local and national charities through funding and volunteer service. With fashion, value and celebration as our guide, Macy’s makes life shine brighter for our customers, colleagues and communities. More information is available at macys.com.
Today IS Decision Day for the Castro Theatre.
Meeting details:
Thursday, June 15th at 11am at City Hall, Room 400, 1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Pl, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Your presence is crucial, so please join us in dressing in BLUE to symbolize our widespread solidarity and be sure to arrive early to secure your seat!
If you cannot attend, you can still make a difference by calling for a brief comment:
(415) 655-0001 / access code 2593 558 2871##
Watch along here: https://sfgovtv.org/sfgovtv-live-events (https://sfgovtv.org/sfgovtv-live-events)
To receive real-time updates from Neighbors for a Restored Castro Theatre (https://www.restorecastrotheatre.com/)
, including the start of public comment, text “Castro” to
+1 (833) 268-2481
Castro Theatre Films 2022 & 2023
To correct the record of recent mis-reporting in the media of “no films” being shown at the Castro Theatre in the last year, please reference the list below:
2022 FILMS
• 3.5 – TURNING RED SFFILM MEMBER PREVIEW
• 3.11 – 3.13 26th BERLIN & BEYOND film festival – 3 DAYS OF FILM
• 3.20 EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE *SF PREMIER*
• 4.21 – 5.1 65TH SFFILM FESTIVAL – 11 DAYS OF FILM
• 5.5 – 5.11 25TH SF SILENT FILM FESTIVAL – 8 DAYS OF FILM
• 5.12 CAAMFEST40: FREE CHOI SOO LEE
• 5.15 SING-A-LONG-A SOUND OF MUSIC
• 5.22 PROJECT OPEN HAND/HARVEY MILK DAY: THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK & THE RUTH BRINKER STORY
• 6.2 GUS VAN SANT’S ‘MILK’
• 6.3 – 6.12 & 6.22 CASTRO THEATRE 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION – 10 DAYS OF FILM FEATURING 46 MOVIE SCREENINGS
• 6.13 TEST presented by CASTRO ORGAN DEVOTEES ASSOCIATION
• 6.16 – 6.26 FRAMELINE46: THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL – 11 DAYS OF FILM
• 7.16 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: A GENUINE TRIBUTE TO GREMLINS & GREMLINS 2
• 7.21 – 7.25 SF JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL – 5 DAYS OF FILM
• 8.20 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
• 9.3 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: VERTIGO
• 9.10 CINEMA ITALIA- PASOLINI 100
• 9.11 BROS *US PREMIER*
• 9.18 ENDING HIV IN AMERICA
• 9.24 3RD I SOUTH ASIAN INDEPENDENT FILM – BOLLYWOOD AND BEYOND
• 9.29 DANI’S TWINS
• 9.30 CLERKS III
• 10.1 SFFILM: ONI THUNDER GOD’S TALE: SFFILM MEMBER PREVIEW
• 10.22 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: PREDATOR & PREDATOR 2
• 11.6 SF FILM: SR SFFILM MEMBER PREVIEW
• 11.11 ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
• 11.12 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: STAND BY ME & CARRIE
• 11.14 SPOILER ALERT! *SF PREMIER*
• 11.17 THE L WORD: FRAMELINE MEMBER PREMIER
• 11.29 SUSPIRIA W/ GOBLIN ORCHESTRA
• 11.30 BEAUTY PRESENTED BY SOHO HOUSE
• 12.3 SILENT FILM FESTIVAL A DAY OF SILENTS
• 12.6 BABYLON *SF PREMIER*
• 12.9 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS & EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
• 12.14 THE LAW OF LOVE *SF PREMIER*
2023 FILMS
• 1.28.23 A MIGHTY WIND presented by SF SKETCHFEST
• 1.28.23 THE LONG GOODBYE presented by SF SKETCHFEST
• 4.18.23 SF FILM– 3 FILMS
• 5.11 – 5.14 CAAM – 4 DAYS OF FILM
• 5.21 HARVEY MILK DAY: THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK & THE RUTH BRINKER STORY
• 5.27 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: 9 TO 5 & BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
• 6.3 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: WHAT’S UP DOC & YENTL
• 6.9 WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
• 6.10 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT
2023 UPCOMING FILMS (ANNOUNCED)
• 6.14 – 6.24 FRAMELINE47: THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL – 11 DAYS OF FILM
• 6.28 COMCAST PRESENTS: TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! LOVE JULIE NEWMAR SCREENING
• 7.7 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: FREAKY FRIDAY & MEAN GIRLS
• 7.12 – 7.16 SF SILENT FILM – 5 DAYS OF FILM
• 7.20 – 7.23, 7.30 SF JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL – 5 DAYS OF FILM
• 7.28 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: TRON IN 70mm
• 8.19 MOVIES FOR MANIACS: THELMA & LOUISE
• 8.26 CASTRO SING A LONG: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday June 13, 2023
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org
*** PRESS RELEASE ***
KEY LEGISLATION TO SUPPORT FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN AND UNION SQUARE APPROVED BY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Legislation introduced by Mayor Breed and Board President Peskin will facilitate a greater variety of businesses and activities, and remove barriers to converting office buildings to housing
San Francisco, CA — Legislation proposed by Mayor London N. Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin to support Downtown’s future as a dynamic mixed-use destination to live, work, and visit was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors.
This legislation is a key part of the Mayor’s Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future that will help fill vacant ground floor spaces and underutilized buildings in the Downtown and Union Square areas through a pair of overarching strategies. First, it amends zoning rules to diversify the mix of businesses and activities that are allowed in Union Square and throughout Downtown. Second, it simplifies the approval process and requirements for converting existing commercial buildings into housing.
“The challenges facing Downtown require us to reimagine what is possible and set the foundation for a stronger, more resilient future,” said Mayor London Breed. “Working together with President Peskin and the Board, we are creating more opportunities to fill empty storefronts and underutilized buildings, whether that’s by creating much needed housing or trying out new ideas for businesses and event spaces that will invite people back Downtown. We need to make the process easier for getting our buildings active and full.”
“This legislation is an example of the executive and legislative branches coming together to create an intentional incentive program that has the potential to reimagine and reinvigorate our Downtown,” said Board President Aaron Peskin. “Quickly crafting and passing this legislation has only been half the battle. We’re also going block by block to building owners to assess their potential to benefit from this incentive package, while connecting them to potential tenants from small businesses to arts organizations.”
Allowing More Flexibility in Union Square
This legislation incudes targeted zoning changes to allow a wider variety of uses and activities in Union Square. Responding to both the pre-pandemic impacts of online shopping and post-pandemic shifts in the retail industry, the legislation allows a wider range of uses to better activate streets and buildings. On upper floors, that includes allowing for additional office, service, design and retail uses; and on ground floors allowing for indoor and outdoor entertainment, flexible retail workspaces, and larger retailers that will make the area more attractive for businesses, employees, and visitors.
“Downtown’s economic recovery has to include our vibrant arts and culture scene, local residents and neighborhood-serving businesses, and creative retail, dining and entertainment experiences, in addition to office workers and tourists,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, Executive Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “This legislation advances a key part of the Mayor’s vision for a thriving, mixed-use Downtown that I look forward to continue building on.”
“Recent retail closures, in the heart of the city, are very disheartening and highlight the importance of legislation like this that meets the critical needs of our community in this moment,” said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of the Union Square Alliance. “We are so thankful to Mayor Breed and Board President Peskin for spearheading this package of critical zoning changes in Union Square and the greater downtown that are forward looking, realistic and obtainable if we all work together in earnest. Collectively we can meet this moment and turn our city on an immediate path towards a healthy and sustainable rebound.”
Reducing Barriers and Supporting Pop-Up Activations
The legislation also builds on Mayor Breed’s priority to reduce bureaucratic processes with changes to many of the procedures and special approvals required for Downtown development. Specifically, the legislation allows for a greater variety of ground floor and other uses, provides for the re-use of longstanding business signage, and allows City staff to review minor changes to historic buildings administratively without a public hearing.
“Downtown’s future is San Francisco’s future,” said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “This proposal to make housing conversions easier and downtown zoning more flexible is an important step in charting San Francisco’s path to a reimagined downtown where resident, visitors, and workers all want to spend time.”
The legislation would also broaden the types of temporary pop-up activations that can take place in vacant ground floor spaces throughout Downtown, supporting a key goal of the Mayor’s Roadmap to support entrepreneurs, artists, and other ventures in bringing new energy to vacant storefronts that will serve to enliven the overall Downtown experience.
Paving the Way for Housing
A primary component of the legislation is to encourage housing production Downtown through commercial-to-residential conversions, while ensuring enough office space remains to serve San Francisco’s concentration of job-supporting businesses. Although Downtown zoning already allows for housing, the legislation advances a range of code adjustments to slash barriers that may hamper the conversion of underutilized downtown office buildings to housing – and that could unlock thousands of new housing units over time.
The legislation provides much needed flexibility for the re-use of older office buildings by relaxing Planning Code requirements like rear yards, that don’t make sense for conversions of existing buildings in our dense, downtown core. The legislation also directs the Building and Fire Departments to develop a manual that will lay out specific guidelines for adaptive reuse projects that would otherwise struggle to meet requirements designed for new ground-up construction projects.
“San Francisco has a history of adapting and evolving to meet our most pressing challenges,” said Patrick O’Riordan, Director of the Department of Building Inspection. “Reconfiguring downtown buildings to the needs of today will require all of us to be creative, thoughtful and resourceful, and I’m absolutely confident we’re up to the task.”
While these changes are critical to facilitating adaptive reuse projects, the City recognizes that code and process changes alone are only one part of making such conversions a reality on a broad scale. As a next step building on this legislation, the Planning Department and Office of Economic and Workforce Development will be releasing a request for interest (RFI) in the coming weeks in order to hear directly from property owners and potential developers who are exploring the reuse of underutilized Downtown buildings. Through the RFI, the City will invite ideas on what further steps are needed to help accelerate these potentially transformative adaptive reuse projects.
“This is the first significant change to Downtown’s zoning controls since the 1980s,” said Planning Director Rich Hillis. “Retooling our code to encourage new downtown housing is a critical next step, and these changes to our zoning and permitting process pave the way forward.”
Following extensive work by City staff and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, the legislation approved by the Board of Supervisors today previously received unanimous recommendations by the Planning Commission and Building Inspection Commission, and will return to the Board for a final procedural vote on June 27 before coming into effect in mid-August.
City staff across departments continue to work on further process and zoning improvements to make it easier for businesses to start and expand, housing developments to get off the ground, and to welcome new industries and uses in existing underutilized office spaces.
The legislation is part of Mayor Breed’s Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future, a comprehensive plan to reinvigorate Downtown and reposition San Francisco as the Bay Area’s economic hub and a global anchor for commerce. The Roadmap includes nine strategies to respond to emerging economic trends and capitalize on the City’s strengths to keep Downtown vibrant, focusing on key priorities such as offering a clean and safe environment, fostering a resilient workforce, strengthening transportation, and attracting new industries.
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