Queenie Wong
Fri, November 10, 2023
Barricades are placed on a street in preparation for the APEC summit in San Francisco. Leaders from the 21 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference will hold their annual get-together with the goal of promoting trade and investment. (Haven Daley / Associated Press)
Crouching at the entrance of San Francisco City Hall, Jason Jacobs brushed gold paint onto the ornate doorway of the Beaux-Arts building.
“Whether I paint the gates or not, they're gonna get their breath taken away,” said Jacobs, a San Francisco native who often marvels at the stunning architecture.
Fresh paint. Street cleanings. Homeless sweeps. Colorful art. Workers like Jacobs beautified the city, days before politicians, executives and journalists from around the world descend on San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. From Saturday to Nov. 17, the international event is expected to bring more than 20,000 people to the city and attract thousands of protesters.
APEC is made up of 21 member economies, including the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and Canada. The members account for nearly 50% of global trade and 40% of the global population, giving the U.S. a big platform to promote policies that advance free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
A highly anticipated meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the summit could also help ease tensions between the two countries.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, right, sits next to Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in San Francisco. Yellen and Lifeng met on Thursday in the San Francisco, the latest in a string of senior level engagements between the nations in recent months aimed at easing tensions. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)More
Though the wide-ranging meeting is not expected to produce any major breakthroughs, White House officials say it will cover a host of economic and security issues underlying U.S.-Chinese tensions, including trade, technology exports, human rights and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and near Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. The president will also raise areas of cooperation — including climate change and countering narcotics trafficking — as well as Beijing’s role in the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The stakes are high for the U.S. but also for San Francisco, which is hosting the APEC summit for the first time. It’s the biggest gathering of world leaders in San Francisco since 1945, when representatives from 50 nations signed a charter that established the United Nations.
The global spotlight will shine on a city filled with stark contrasts — home to billion-dollar tech companies and streets lined with homeless encampments.
“You can go to the deepest, darkest parts of the Tenderloin or you can go to the top of the Hyatt Regency,” said Jacobs, a painter at City Hall.
Blocks away from the Moscone Center, where the summit's main events will be held, Christie Palominos sorted through her belongings. Palominos said she’s trying to figure out what she wants to keep before she moves into permanent housing. Piles of clothing, a shopping cart, bags, coloring books and a variety of objects surround her.
Christie Palominos, 47, sorts through her belongings blocks away from the Moscone Center, where the main events of the APEC summit are scheduled to be held. (Queenie Wong / Los Angeles Times)
Palominos, 47, didn’t know world leaders would be in town, but she said one of her homeless friends has been asked by the same police officer to move multiple times.
“They’re clearing out the homeless people because they don’t want them to see this,” she said.
Grappling with family issues, drug addiction and mental health problems, Palominos said she’s been hopping among San Francisco homeless shelters for more than a year. It’s not easy for homeless people to find a spot in a shelter.
“Usually I stay as long as I can, but it's kind of hard because there are certain people who pick on you. They think they're better than you,” said Palominos, who has a bruise under her eye and a bandage wrapped around a bloody finger.
On the streets, Palominos said she’s seen traumatic acts of violence like a shooting and stabbing. Struggling with addiction to crystal meth, Palominos said she’s been clean for five days.
“Walk a day in my shoes,” she said. “I guarantee that some of these rich people who walk around in these high-rises wouldn’t survive.”
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition for Homelessness, said her organization has been hearing about more homeless encampment sweeps ahead of the international conference. With shelters seeing spaces already filling up or limiting openings, Friedenbach said it’s “really frustrating” because the city is just displacing groups of homeless people when they’re moved around. Instead, advocacy groups were hoping for more temporary housing for the homeless during the conference.
“They want to clean up the city's image and use this conference as a way to draw back tourism,” she said. “These efforts never work because folks don't have disappearing power. People are out there because there's not enough housing. There's not enough shelter.”
In 2022, 7,754 people experienced homelessness in San Francisco. About 43% or 3,357 were staying in shelters, according to city data.
A homeless encampment is seen along Leavenworth Street in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
Homelessness has been a contentious issue in San Francisco. In December, a federal judge temporarily blocked the city from clearing certain homeless encampments without offering shelter. The court order stemmed from a 2022 lawsuit the Coalition on Homelessness filed against San Francisco, alleging that city workers are trying to drive homeless people out of town and are seizing and destroying their property "with the express purpose of removing visible signs of homelessness from San Francisco’s street." The city is still allowed to clear streets for emergencies, health and safety reasons and to temporarily clean.
Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said in an email the city isn’t expanding shelter capacity just for the summit but did set aside funding to add roughly 300 shelter beds as winter approaches.
The Interfaith Winter Shelter, which has a site at Natoma and 8th streets, is scheduled to be open during the summit and the city is expanding shelter capacity at three adult congregate shelters, she said.
“When our community hosts events, like APEC, we want to put our best foot forward,” she said.
That hasn't stopped Republicans from holding up San Francisco as an example for what happens when Democratic politicians are in charge. In June, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, shot a campaign ad that portrayed San Francisco as city that has "collapsed because of leftist policies."
“We came in here, and we saw people defecating on the street,” said DeSantis, standing next to a graffiti-sprayed buildings. “We saw people using heroin. We saw people smoking crack cocaine, and you look around, the city is not vibrant anymore. It’s really collapsed because of leftist policies.”
The city has been struggling to recover from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, when San Francisco grappled with office and business closures partly due to government-mandated shutdowns that affected a vibrant downtown filled with retailers, restaurants and bars.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a press conference Thursday that the tattered urban images people see on social media about San Francisco capture a snapshot in time in certain neighborhoods, ignoring the rest of the picturesque city.
“I see a lot of beauty all over San Francisco…,” she said. “My hope is that people will have the opportunity to experience San Francisco for themselves and tell the whole story.”
The skyline of downtown San Francisco with the Golden Gate bridge. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Later in the day, Breed and Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new plant nursery and education center in the Soma neighborhood.
Newsom, who met China's president last month, said before a big event like the APEC summit everything’s got to “get dialed up” just like when people clean up their house before they have visitors.
“This place is beloved and its best days are in front of it, not behind it,” he said. “And all those doomsdayers. All those negative folks. You know what? They haven’t offered anything.”
Still, business closings have also heightened fears about the future of downtown San Francisco. Major retailers including Nordstrom, T-Mobile, Whole Foods and Anthropologie have left amid concerns about less foot traffic, sluggish sales and safety. The pandemic also fueled more online shopping, which meant people didn't feel the need to visit stores as often. Still, businesses such as Ikea, are also opening new stores in San Francisco and artificial-intelligence startups have been flocking to the city.
Read more: Is there a retail exodus in San Francisco? Some say Union Square is 'beating strong'
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rodney Fong said cities are re-imagining what their urban centers feel like as technology changes the way people work. With APEC expected to generate $53 million for the local economy, according to the San Francisco Travel Assn., businesses throughout the city also have an opportunity to rope in more sales.
"This is a really important moment for San Francisco and we're really looking forward to showcasing all the innovations," Fong said.
Ahead of the conference, the Webster Street pedestrian bridge, which was once light gray, is now freshly painted red in Japantown. Two new decorative crosswalks were being installed in Chinatown and North Beach. The green grime that once covered the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, located near the conference, is gone.
On a sunny day before the summit, workers washed the streets and placed new grass at the Yerba Buena Gardens because of heavy use over the summer. A green fence, scheduled to be removed Tuesday, wrapped around the park with a sign that read “Improvements in Progress.”
At the Moscone Center, some of the city's most picturesque spots are on signs about the event. The Palace of Fine Arts. City Hall. The Golden Gate Bridge, next to blue water and a sandy beach. “APEC is going to be EPIC,” one sign reads.
Longtime San Francisco natives like Jacobs can’t envision living anywhere else.
Times staff writer Courtney Subramanian contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
San Francisco bidding to reverse image of a city in decline as host of APEC trade summit
JANIE HAR
Thu, November 9, 2023
Lanterns illuminate Chinatown along Grant Avenue in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. San Francisco's Chinatown was hit hard by the pandemic as tourism dried up. Leaders in the community hope to use next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit to declare that Chinatown is back and ready for business. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — World leaders, CEOs, protesters and thousands of others will soon descend on San Francisco for a global trade summit that could give the battered city a chance to reverse its image of an economic powerhouse now in decline.
The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit will be San Francisco's largest international gathering since dignitaries gathered in 1945 to sign the charter creating the United Nations.
The summit opens Saturday and runs through Friday, drawing an expected 20,000 people. Of particular note this year is a planned tete-a-tete between President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit — their first direct engagement in a tension-filled year between the world’s two biggest economic powers.
As host, San Francisco and the city's partners are polishing sidewalks, scrubbing away graffiti and moving homeless people to accommodations indoors. Separately, Mayor London Breed has been promoting pop-up shops, new destinations and restaurants in a downtown struggling to regain foot traffic post-pandemic.
Breed has repeatedly said she wants summit visitors to return home with memories of a San Francisco that is safe, vibrant and open for business — not the image of grime, crime and homelessness so often reflected in media coverage.
“Not to suggest that we don’t have challenges like any other major city, but we think that because we’re expecting thousands of press from around the world, that will give them a chance to experience San Francisco,” she told The Associated Press.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined Breed on Thursday in touting the state’s work to build a tree nursery near a homeless shelter and along Interstate 80. Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, said the project shows the city’s resilience.
“I’m so excited about showing this off to 21 fancy foreign leaders from around the world -– tens of thousands of people that are going to come in and wonder what the hell Fox News has been talking about all these years,” he said.
As the summit looms, Chinese state media has focused on talks like Thursday’s meeting here between U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
But searches for San Francisco on Douyin — Tiktok’s original Chinese version — showed dozens of videos of homeless people sleeping in the city's streets.
Besides world leaders, APEC finance ministers and foreign press, the summit is also expected to draw an array of people protesting human rights abuses, authoritarian regimes, the Israel-Hamas war and the fossil fuel industry.
Some critics complain events like APEC prioritize corporate profits over everyday people. APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 and has 21 member countries.
“I think it’s very cynical to be using it like an Instagram moment, basically to sell real estate in the city,” said Karl Kramer, campaign co-director for the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition.
The pandemic decimated the city's main economic drivers of tourism and tech. Major retailers closed downtown outlets last summer, leaving more empty storefronts in a district that once bustled with tourists and office workers. Businesses complained of vandalism, shoplifting, break-ins and unresponsive police.
San Francisco boosters, however, say the “doom-loop” narrative is not only unfair but false.
San Francisco tech public relations firm LaunchSquad was hired with private summit funds to pitch journalists on stories setting the record straight. And a civic business group co-headed by the president of the San Francisco Giants launched a $4 million marketing campaign touting the city as a place for creative dreamers.
Kenya-based public relations CEO Gilbert Manirakiza was among interviews obtained through LaunchSquad to share his experience in the city during a conference last month. He said a person processing his visa warned him to be careful. But he loved his visit, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, walking to Chinatown for late-night food, and taking a robo-taxi back to his hotel.
“The general theme there," he said, "was a sense of ‘I can dream anything and make it happen somehow.’"
San Francisco promoters point to furniture giant IKEA, which opened on a troubled downtown block in August, and to the city's emerging AI industry. They also herald the arrival of Chotto Matte, a high-end global restaurant chain, now serving Japanese Peruvian food from a stunning rooftop perch above a former Macy's store.
Chotto Matte Founder Kurt Zdesar said 3,000 reservation requests poured in within the first half hour of opening last month. “It shows that San Francisco isn’t dead,” he said, adding he believes “there's an appetite for things to change” despite negative media narratives.
But Azalina Eusope says no amount of positive press will fill her 32-seat Malaysian restaurant blocks away in the Tenderloin District, an area filled with children and immigrants like herself as well as drugs and homelessness. She said diners often cancel reservations once they find out the location.
Eusope, an entrepreneur also suggested by public relations firm LaunchSquad, opened Azalina's last year with hopes of helping change the neighborhood. Besides serving high-end, four-course dinners, she offers deeply subsidized meals to neighborhood children and weekend cooking classes.
But already she sees more unfamiliar homeless residents camped out near her restaurant when she arrives each day, likely pushed out of their regular downtown spots ahead of the summit.
“So already I’m a little nervous. People just come inside the restaurant, we can’t lock the door, they throw a tantrum. One guy had a knife. We called 911 and they didn’t show,” Eusope said of police.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said she fears a repeat of what happened when San Francisco hosted the 2016 Super Bowl. Then, people were booted out of shelter lines to make way for those who normally reside downtown and had to be moved.
“It’s rough out there,” she said. “Folks want to get off the streets, but there’s not capacity for everybody.”
The city is not opening special homeless shelters specifically for the summit. However, a group shelter opens Friday and roughly 300 new beds will be available this month and next, said Emily Cohen with the city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.
Meanwhile, city boosters see grounds for optimism.
This month, Air China resumed direct flights between San Francisco and Beijing after suspending flights just before the pandemic.
Tourism from Asia, and China in particular, fuels San Francisco's Chinatown, says Malcolm Yeung, executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center. He hopes the city will facilitate visits to the neighborhood and use the summit to declare that Chinatown is back, along with all the city's other vibrant Asian American merchant communities.
“APEC really is a moment to say, ‘Hey, we’re open for business, we’re open for business, Asia,’" he said.
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Associated Press journalists Haven Daley in San Francisco and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.
What is APEC?: summit brings global politics to San Francisco
Greg Lee
Fri, November 10, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The eyes of the world will be on San Francisco as the city hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting or APEC. This will be the largest gathering of world leaders in San Francisco since the founding of the United Nations in 1945.
"APEC was founded in 1989 because the Asia-Pacific economic trade was increasing," said Chris Tang, faculty director of UCLA’s Center for Global Management. "They needed to find an inter-governmental forum to discuss how to actually work together to facilitate, stronger trades within these countries."
There are now 21 APEC member economies, including the United States. The group accounts for nearly 40% of the global population, nearly 50% of global trade and more than 60% of U.S. good exports.
"As of 2021, APEC members are the source of $1.7 trillion in foreign direct investment into the United States," said Matt Murray, U.S. ambassador to APEC. "Investment that provides jobs to 2.3 million American workers."
The U.S. is the 2023 APEC chair. Meetings this year have been held in Honolulu, Palm Springs, Detroit and Seattle.
San Francisco is the site for both the "Economic Leaders Week," a gathering of world leaders like President Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping; and the CEO summit, a meeting of business leaders.
"This year – 2023 – is the 30th anniversary of the first-ever leaders’ meeting that took place in 1993," said Murray. "During that time we’ve now seen lots of challenges in the global economy, whether those were brought on by the Asian financial crisis or the global financial crisis or most recently COVID, and so – and certainly war and conflict around the region as well. And APEC has still been a place where it could – economies could work together to advance economic partnerships."
APEC members have discussed a wide range of issues this year including sustainability, food security, trade, healthcare and regional economic issues. The theme for the US host year is "creating a resilient and sustainable future for all, with a focus on issues of climate change, supply chain resilience and connectivity.
MORE: APEC, where world leaders will meet face to face, gets underway Saturday
"In terms of inclusion, we need to be aware of the developments of AI in China and US," said Tang. "It’s very advanced here, but some less-developed countries, they need to catch up. There’s a digital divide."
Expect road closures, commute impacts, protests and tight security, especially around the Moscone Center.
San Francisco cleaned up ahead of APEC summit
Crystal Bailey
Thu, November 9, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco is undergoing a cleanup in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, where 20,000 high-profile CEOs and Heads of State are expected to gather in the city.
Mayor London Breed said this could revitalize the local economy by bringing in nearly $53 million dollars.
With San Francisco in the international spotlight, leaders are making sure the city shines.
"Tourism is our business here in San Francisco, and we need to focus on making sure that the tourist dollars still come back," said resident Patrick Rylee.
Caltrans is repaving major roadways like the Harrison Street off-ramp from Interstate 80.
BART will have extra personnel at four downtown SF stations for APEC and has begun overnight deep cleaning more frequently.
"Those deep cleans include scrubbing and power washing the entire station. We’ve also increased the frequency of how often we deep clean our train cars," said BART spokesperson Chris Filippi.
"The city had gotten a little bit dingy over time," said Rylee.
Scrubbing and power washing is happening all over the city, especially where APEC attendees may walk through.
"The bottom of my shoes look clean," joked Marc Savino, who works in San Francisco.
It’s noticeable how clear the streets look and how few homeless encampments there are on major thoroughfares.
"Having been a longtime resident of the Bay Area, you just naturally start to wonder about houseless folks being displaced," said Savino.
Public Works is installing decorative crosswalks in North Beach and Chinatown. The Webster St pedestrian bridge in Japantown was recently repainted. APEC attendees are expected to visit these locations.
The Yerba Buena Gardens at the Moscone Convention Center are decked out with new colorful landscaping and murals, paid for by the "Clean California" grant.
All of this was done just in time for the 20,000 high profile attendees come into town next week.
Some residents said this should be how it’s always done.
"What about the people who are here year round, local hardworking working class Bay Area folks," said Savino.
Other residents welcome the clean-up.
"Anything that brings a positive look on the city of San Francisco is great," said Rylee.
At a press conference highlighting the Clean California beautification project with Governor Newsom on Thursday, Mayor Breed said, "Just to be clear, we clean up the city every day… We will continue to do everything we can to maintain cleanliness in our streets."
City officials said no additional funds have been allocated for beautification. City departments involved are using their standard operating budgets, with a focus on the locations in the city where APEC is taking place.
The summit begins on Wednesday, but visitors will probably start arriving over the weekend and early next week.
APEC security causing transportation constraints for residents
Christien Kafton
Thu, November 9, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco is preparing for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and work is underway to secure venues and manage how people move around the city.
We are now getting an idea of what the so-called red zone around Moscone Center will look like the week of APEC. Workers are building an 8-foot fence around the center, one of the primary sites to host APEC.
The event is expected to draw more than 20,000 visitors and an estimated $53 million, but it's also expected to create some inconveniences for those living, working or traveling near the venues set to host.
The city says it is following guidelines from the U.S. Secret Service to keep the event safe.
"Street closures, and roadblocks and a number of motorcades," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "We know that those are things we need to make adjustments for."
Moscone is one of the so-called red security zones where everyone will have to go through security to enter, and immediately surrounding it, a green zone where traffic will be restricted and vehicles searched, will create traffic congestion throughout the event.
The head of the SFMTA is urging people to check the agency's website for updates on how APEC is impacting travel through the city; everything from parking restrictions to road closures.
"When you're in the city it's also going to be challenging to drive in some locations as well, so we encourage everyone to walk, bike or take Muni," said Jeffrey Tumlin from SFMTA.
Rudolph Mason lives in a building for seniors just across the street from Moscone Center and relies on Paratransit to get around. He's already rearranged his schedule since he says he learned that getting around will be a challenge.
"Well the thing is, I canceled my doctor's appointment next week for the fact that it's going to be barricaded," said Mason.
In fact, Mason says he will likely be spending a lot of time indoors during APEC.
"I'm just going to stay in," said Mason. "I live right there in the building. So, I'm just going to stay in. Got plenty of foodstuffs and everything to sustain me, and just let it happen."
San Francisco's Police Chief Bill Scott also said all officers will be on 10 to 12-hour shifts to make sure there are enough officers to handle the city's daily policing needs as well as address security around APEC and the daily protests it's expected to draw.
"We respect people exercising their First Amendment rights," said Scott. "But, we will not tolerate violence and we will not tolerate property destruction."
What we're seeing now is just the beginning. Federal and local officials say the bulk of the work to secure the venues around the city will start Monday night and is expected to impact the area around Moscone, The Embarcadero, Nob Hill and other destinations in the city, like Lincoln Park.
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