Vol. XLIV, No. 2
February 2020
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THE NOE VALLEY VOICE J-Church Plan Switches Gears
Signs of a Peace Movement
Stop Removal May Change From 30th to 29th Street
55 Years Ago, Neighbors Came Together to Protest War
By Matthew S. Bajko
By Matthew S. Bajko
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n response to neighborhood complaints about plans to eliminate the inbound 30th Street J-Church stop, city transit staffers have dropped the proposal and are now looking at removing the inbound stop at 29th Street. The idea is part of a package of changes intended to speed up service on the line, which runs both underground and on surface streets through Noe Valley. Yet axing the 29th Street stop has also elicited complaints, as has a plan to remove 14 parking spots along the Church Street corridor in order to improve pedestrian safety. The spaces marked for removal, referred to as “daylighting” by transit planners, would be at or near intersections to make it easier for vehicle drivers to see pedestrians. Nearly 30 businesses on outer Church Street have signed a petition calling for both the J-Church stop and the parking to remain. They fear their removal would drive their customers away. “People complain all the time that the parking is difficult there. Losing those spaces is going to really hurt,” said petition signer Gary Craddock, who with his wife co-owns Mobu Dance Studio and KitchenSync. Upper Noe Neighbors President Olga Milan-Howells agrees that the removal of the parking spaces would be a “terrible situation” for the small business owners in the area. “We really do want to help our small CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
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The Heart of the Matter. Green Twig Salon at 1299 Church St. often uses its sandwich board sign for witty and insightful messages. This offering from 2019 used a basic visual to commemorate the season. Photo by Jack Tipple
hree days into 2020, the fear of America going to war in the Middle East flared anew when President Trump ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani as the military leader was visiting Iraq. The assassination led to street protests in San Francisco and across the country, as people called for an end to U.S. bellicosity. Nearly six decades ago, similar scenes played out as Americans protested the country’s going to war in Vietnam. In Noe Valley, a group of neighbors came together in 1964 to organize against thenPresident Lyndon B. Johnson. They demanded Johnson pull U.S. troops out of the Southeast Asian country. Calling themselves Noe Valley Citizens Against the War, they created a pamphlet out of a single sheet of paper folded in half, and on its cover printed the words Concerned Citizens Ask: Why the War in Vietnam? Inside, rather than deliver a precise answer, the flier listed 10 questions about U.S. military intervention in the country, which was then split between the communist north and the American-allied south. The first asked if people felt truly informed about why American forces were fighting there in the first place. The sixth posed the question, “Why aren’t we winning the War?” The penultimate queried, “Do you suppose this war in South Vietnam could develop into a nuclear war?” Lastly, the pamphlet questioned, “Is CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Gianaras and McCaffery Take Over Famed Corner
New Venture to Coincide With Birth of Their First Child By Matthew S. Bajko
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Friendly Takeover. Kristen Gianaras McCaffery and husband Mike McCaffery huddle near the entrance to their new business venture: they are transforming the former Noe’s Cantina at 24th and Church streets into a new and as yet unamed restaurant and bar. Photo by Beverly Tharp
wnership of the building at the corner of Church and 24th streets has changed hands between two families that each have a storied history of restaurant ownership in the neighborhood. In early January, Kristen Gianaras McCaffery and her husband, Mike McCaffery, closed escrow on the property at 1199 Church St., and are now in the process of opening a new restaurant at the prominent site. It will be the couple’s first restaurant, while the second for Gianaras McCaffery, who co-owns NOVY with her sister, Kathryn Gianaras. The siblings opened their Greek-inspired restaurant at 4000 24th St. in March 2015. The site was where their parents, John and CONTINUED ON PAGE 9