The owner of a Lower Haight cafe is determined not to be the latest business to leave San Francisco. But first, she says, she needs a break after witnessing too much crime.
Cafe International is closed for the week. In a note posted both on Instagram and at the cafe, owner Zahra Saleh said she needs the time to “rest, think and regroup” after witnessing several shoplifting incidents and break-ins in the area.
“My Lower Haight is sinking in a sea of lawlessness and the ship captains and politicians are bickering among each other, blaming each other … while small businesses suffer,” Saleh wrote.
The business has been open at the intersection of Haight Street and Fillmore Street for more than 30 years, serving coffee, pastries, salads and sandwiches and hosting live music and poetry performances. In 2016, then-Supervisor London Breed nominated Cafe International for the Legacy Business Registry, calling the business a “neighborhood hub” for community organizers, musicians and poets.
The Chronicle was unable to reach Saleh immediately for an interview.
Cafe International has faced potential closure before — in its 2016 application to the registry, it notes that staying in business “has been a constant struggle,” especially after its rent more than doubled, Saleh wrote. Now the challenge is “daily shoplifting, extortions coupled with a propensity to violence, back-to-back break-ins and thousands of dollars in debt for property damages,” she wrote.
San Francisco Police Department data shows officers have been called to the Haight and Fillmore intersection 45 times so far this year, including three instances of commercial burglary. City data classifies Cafe International as right on the border between the Hayes Valley and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods. Hayes Valley has seen 18 reports of commercial burglary or shoplifting, down from 38 at this time last year. But the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood has had 20 instances of commercial burglary or shoplifting this year, up from just 4 at this time last year.
The cafe will reopen again on Saturday, according to the Instagram post. In the comments, dozens of customers left messages of support for Saleh.
“I am tired and need time to find a way NOT to be another Lower Haight business who shuts down and leaves San Francisco,” Saleh wrote. “I will not leave my city.”
Reach Megan Fan Munce: Megan.Munce@sfchronicle.com
"cafe" - Google News
August 30, 2023 at 09:27AM
https://ift.tt/MVqydYu
Property crimes prompt Lower Haight restaurant owner to hit pause - San Francisco Chronicle
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/wfjWZvo
https://ift.tt/AbG86Us
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244079/4.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment