like thousands of people in this city and millions in the world that we needed to change structures,” she told attendees Back in December, Grant’s family pushed for Fruitvale Station to be renamed as the “Fruitvale-Grant” station it would be part of BART saying yes this happened here we vow that it won’t happen again and we vow to work with the communities and ensure that all people are treated equally,” Grant’s mother said at the time saying that its policy prohibits it from naming stations after individuals and that names have to be tied to the location The agency said at the time that they had commissioned a mural in Grant’s honor to go up on the wall of the station instead Grant’s mother doubled down on her request for the station to be renamed “Fruitvale Grant Station — we’re claiming that,” she said …the real-life Oscar Grant in Fruitvale Station (2013) The drama chronicled the final day in Grant’s life leading up to his being shot by a transit police officer in Oakland …performance in the controversial film Fruitvale Station (2013) leading parts in the James Brown biopic Get on Up (2014) and the family dramas Black or White (2014) and The Great Gilly Hopkins (2015) a recurring guest role (2013–15) on the TV sitcom Mom on November 2 In a nook between the parish offices and the sanctuary with its pearly white walls and stained glass windows Elizabeth church in Fruitvale looking for answers to the unexpected and unexplainable.  her head tilted down as she stands before the still figure of La Virgen de Guadalupe another woman waits patiently for her turn to feel the altar’s motherly warmth many people of Hispanic origins join in collective mourning and honoring of loved ones in front of altars has transcended borders and is alive and thriving here in Oakland This weekend,  many people of Hispanic heritage are confronting and celebrating something natural and inevitable a fact of life that doesn’t discriminate between young or old healthy or sick: We will all eventually die Días de los Muertos is a way to face death without fear.  Fruitvale will celebrate the 29th annual Día de los Muertos Festival with live music “Everyone in Fruitvale benefits from the festival,” said Nalleli Albarran-Cruz senior manager of senior wellness at the Unity Council the nonprofit that has organized the event since 1996 Those who join in the festivities will enjoy the warm feeling of gathering with loved ones to remember the people who shaped their lives It may seem like a strange concept: How and why do people celebrate something as painful as death is a Mesoamerican ancestral celebration and explanation of death the deceased travel back to the world of the living where they are received by family members who bring them food the holiday is widely celebrated and varies from region to region the central activity is the same: a family gathering at the gravesites or at home altars dedicated to loved ones Fruitvale is the epicenter of Oakland’s Hispanic population with more than half of its residents identifying as Latino this neighborhood will attract thousands of people to its annual celebration.  Día de los Muertos FestivalWhen: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Where: International Boulevard and Fruitvale AvenueCost: Free, public transit encouragedWhat else: Food, vendors, music, activities, ofrendas on displayMore information: Unity Council website from the Mexican state that surrounds Mexico City has owned and operated Los Mexicanos Bakery 2 on Fruitvale Avenue for the last 35 years She stood on a stool behind a counter in her small bakery the air filled with the pleasant aroma of sweet bread Castellanos López could not recall mourning many people close to her as a child in Mexico yet her memories of celebrating Día de los Muertos are vivid “People would go to the cemetery and clean their loved ones’ tombs; they would bring them mole and drinking water.”  Castellanos López came around the counter and gestured to an altar at the front of the store was full of bright yellow marigold flowers Castellanos López didn’t start celebrating Day of the Dead until her brother passed away and its deep meaning became clear to her “You have to put the things that they liked,” she said but they’re visiting us and we have to put what they like That’s why I put a Coca-Cola on my brother’s altar.” “As soon as we are born there is only one known thing has worked at Tony Rossi & Sons Florists in Fruitvale for the last 29 years and stopped celebrating Day of the Dead until he started a family The difference between Day of the Dead in Mexico and in the U.S. is that in his homeland the holiday is ubiquitous and over here not everyone knows what’s going on.”  the holiday was so woven into the fabric of life that everyone understood the traditions he worries about people trying to profit off the holiday “Money is the last thing you would think of on Día de los Muertos The first is to honor your ancestors and the second is to share with others.”  The Day of the Dead festivities in Fruitvale are beautiful because they teach others about a beautiful tradition of Mexico because it is a very important holiday for us (Top photo: Día de los Muertos altar inside Tony Rossi & Sons Florists in Fruitvale Community | Culture | Fruitvale | Neighborhoods […] of the highlights of Fruitvale’s cultural calendar is the Día de los Muertos Festival this festival is a colorful celebration of life and remembrance You must be logged in to post a comment Oakland North welcomes comments from our readers but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic Comments post automatically without review from our staff but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous We request that commenters consistently use the same login name Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted Oakland North assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content Oakland North is an online news service produced by students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and covering Oakland, California. Our goals are to improve local coverage, innovate with digital media, and listen to you–about the issues that concern you and the reporting you’d like to see in your community. Please send news tips to: oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com Fiona Ulrich on April 30 Haydee Barahona on April 29 Daniela Castillo on April 24 oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com University of CaliforniaNorth Gate HallBerkeley Oakland North is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city By: 5:30 am on January 9 The formal application has been filed for a six-story affordable housing project at 1223 33rd Avenue in Fruitvale, Oakland. The project aims to bring 68 apartments close to the Fruitvale BART Station. Unity Council a prolific Fruitvale-based developer responsible for several other apartments next to the transit hub The formal submission calls for a six-story building with five wood-frame floors above a concrete podium base Plans have increased slightly from the preliminary application of which 64 will be one-bedrooms and four will be two-bedrooms The ground level will include the residential lobby The sixth floor will include a shared laundry room with an outdoor terrace Pyatok is listed as the project architect though details for the design have yet to be shared The firm’s portfolio shows consistent use of well-designed podium-style apartment complexes clad with plaster The existing 0.33-acre parcel is currently occupied by surface parking and open land The irregularly shaped small plot is located along 33rd Avenue and East 12th Street across from the Oakland Public Library César Chávez Branch within the Fruitvale Station mixed-use development BRIDGE Housing and Unity Council finished constructing the 181-unit Casa Sueños at 3511 East 12th Street Selfhelp Ventures Fund is the project developer The estimated cost and timeline for construction have yet to be shared Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Like YIMBY on Facebook Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews Great that more housing is being made in such a really good transit hub ga('send', 'event', ‘Robert ‘Becker, 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/desktop-ad.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ADVERTISEMENT ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sfyimbyadnews.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/sf-yimby-dot-com-graphic.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); Follow on Instagram © COPYRIGHT New York YIMBY LLC a young man from the Bay Area who was fatally shot by transit police on New Year’s Day 2009 will have you tearing up as it recounts Grant’s final hours New director Ryan Coogler weaves the mundane and the heartrending to create a sympathetic portrait of Grant as a young man trying to put his life on track the film—this year’s Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance and a crowd and critic fave at Cannes—pulses with powerful energy that keeps Grant’s spirit alive After a career-solidifying turn in Friday Night Lights Jordan continues his hot streak in Fruitvale Station (opening nationwide today) By: 5:00 am on October 30 The pre-application does not include any additional information for the project beyond the parcel location and the developer is invoking Senate Bill 330 to streamline the approval process The developer’s proposal will alter the 0.17-acre parcel at the corner of East 12th Street and 33rd Avenue Future residents will be across from the Fruitvale Village a mid-rise neighborhood of housing offices and retail developed over the last couple of decades by Unity Council In the last week, new details have surfaced for two nearby proposals by Unity Council in the pipeline. This includes renderings for 2610 International Boulevard and the pre-application filing to replace the former Ghost Ship Warehouse site at 3073 International Boulevard Self-Help Ventures Fund is listed as the property owner The fund is an off-shoot of the Center for Community Self-Help a nationwide non-profit founded in 1980 with operations in California and Wisconsin focused on financial assistance Unity Council has yet to reply to a request for more information It’s a shame they couldn’t cover the adjacent parking lots By: 5:00 am on October 28 The 60-foot tall structure is expected to yield around 76,900 square feet including 71,000 square feet for housing and 5,800 square feet for parking the structure will provide 58 affordable units for households earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income Parking is included for 24 cars using stackers and 15 bicycles in a separate room connected to the gated ground-level courtyard The ground-level courtyard will be looked over by a community room and three one-bedroom residences A second-floor terrace above the ground-floor units divides the project into two five-story structures connected on each floor by skybridges 3073 International Boulevard view from 31st Avenue looking at the sky bridges Mithun and Yes Community Architects are jointly responsible for the design The project features a natural-tone palette achieved through a mix of textured cement plaster One caption indicates that the sky bridge will be an opportunity to feature ‘commemorative art,’ while the street-level walls facing International Boulevard can be decorated by a local muralist The final artists or potential designs for both public artworks have yet to be finalized Unity Council purchased the property in 2023. Speaking at the time to the Bay Area News Group “We’ll give this land much-needed care moving forward… We just want to be really really thoughtful in this process and just understand what a tragic event this was to [the families.]” In a recently published community engagement summary Unity Council summarized the feedback into five separate themes: safety and making the project rooted in Fruitvale 3073 International Boulevard entry corner view 3073 International Boulevard existing condition Future residents will be nearly a quarter mile away from the Fruitvale BART Station The blocks surrounding Fruitvale Station have been redeveloped over the last two decades to become a dense mid-rise neighborhood with housing I love the ground floor mosaic and the artistic bridge connecting the two buildings Will be wonderful to see new housing rise on the site of this tragedy I’m so glad to see the investment into Fruitvale and Iternational Blvd the tile amd breeze block are cool and kinda retro or the facade materials were more interesting Follow on Instagram © COPYRIGHT New York YIMBY LLC, 2025 Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb Prepare for future growth with customized loan services succession planning and capital for business equipment Serving the world's largest corporate clients and institutional investors we support the entire investment cycle with market-leading research A uniquely elevated private banking experience shaped around you Whether you want to invest on you own or work with an advisor to design a personalized investment strategy We aim to be the most respected financial services firm in the world serving corporations and individuals in more than 100 countries The Unity Council revitalized Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood with an innovative transit-oriented development that puts the community’s needs first This video opens with an aerial view of a city block with modern apartment buildings and stores an older woman with short silver hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office And when I think about the Transit Village A montage shows a rapid transit train passing along a bridge over Fruitvale Village A man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office The Unity Council started back in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement a silver-haired man with a beard speaks to us from an office Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer It was formed really in response to the long-term disinvestment They were very visionary in seeing what it would take to revitalize the Fruitvale neighborhood A woman with brown hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office Managing Director Community Development Real Estate and literally everything they did and have done is related to them Iglesias speaking with three colleagues in a small conference room The cost of housing is particularly high here The Bay Area is almost like the epicenter of a crisis we see nationwide An aerial view shows the city of Oakland with miles of surrounding neighborhoods was always kind of a mystery about who lives in affordable housing and what does it mean and why is it so important the pandemic showed why it's so important: we need to have our essential workers close to the Bay And that's what affordable housing is: it's housing for essential workers that are vital parts of the community And that's exactly what you have here with Casa Sueños a brightly colored directory stands near a small business Chalifour outside a building with a sign reading "Casa Sueños." We are part of a TOD (a Transit-Oriented Development) one of the most famous ones in the country A sign on a restaurant reads "Wahpepah's Kitchen." Then a woman with pulled-back black hair speaks to us from an office It's a huge honoring being in the Fruitvale area and especially when you're born and raised and you care so much about this community sometimes you have to dig deep and look under the layers So that's why Wahpepah’s Kitchen is right here in the heart of Fruitvale A montage shows Fruitvale's colorful multi-cultural themed murals Neighbors shop at an outdoor farmer's market also for community engagement and community resources A montage shows a spacious hall (with high ceilings and large columns) undergoing renovation We finally turned it into a New Market Tax Credit deal in partnership with JPMorgan Chase Iglesias walks through the renovation site with a JPMorgan Chase executive New Market Tax Credits are a federal tax incentive that was created to stimulate private investment in distressed communities you're going to have the Fruitvale Public Market which is a small business incubator that has 8 to 10 small businesses you're going to have a combination of coworking space for small businesses entrepreneurs – a lot of which are minorities – and then also you'll have their small business assistance center we like to provide catalytic impact that's going to stimulate other investments And so right down the street you have Casa Sueños which was funded by JPMorgan Chase as well So it was a great story to bring everything full circle Bridge is happy to add its financial and technical expertise and capacity to groups like Unity Council Framed family photos are displayed on a long shelf in an apartment An elderly mom and her grown daughters sit at a living room table and just general community members access and a place to convene and to call home It's not the bricks and mortar that's so important; it's the values and JPMorgan Chase are marketing names for certain businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively We prepared these materials for discussion purposes only and for your sole and exclusive benefit This information is confidential and proprietary to our firm and may only be used by you to evaluate the products and services described here disclose or use this information for any other purpose unless you receive our express authorization These materials do not represent an offer or commitment to provide any product or service the accuracy and completeness of publicly available information or information that you have provided to us analyses and estimates included here reflect prevailing conditions and our views as of this date and you should consider this information to be indicative preliminary and for illustrative purposes only This Information is provided as general market and/or economic commentary It in no way constitutes research and should not be treated as such You should always consult your own financial or similar advisors before entering into any agreement for our products or services In no event shall JPMorgan Chase or any of its directors employees or agents be liable for any use of for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon or for any inaccuracies or errors in The information does not include all applicable terms or issues and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any product or service Our products and services are subject to applicable laws and regulations Not all products and services are available in all geographic areas or to all customers eligibility for particular products and services is subject to satisfaction of applicable legal JPMorgan Chase’s “know your customer,” anti-money laundering anti-terrorism and other policies and procedures Products and services may be provided by Commercial Banking affiliates securities affiliates or other JPMC affiliates or entities securities brokerage services other than those that can be provided by Commercial Banking affiliates will be provided by appropriate registered broker/dealer affiliates Any securities provided or otherwise administered by such brokerage services are not deposits or other obligations of any Commercial Banking affiliate and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation When The Unity Council set out to revitalize the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland The area had faced decades of disinvestment Fruitvale Transit Village is a renowned transit-oriented development with mixed-income housing offices for community organizations and easy access to services residents need The neighborhood already had “good bones,” said Arabella Martinez “We were able to do all the things which made those good bones really shine.”  The Unity Council—then known as the Spanish Speaking Unity Council of Alameda County—was founded in Oakland at the height of the U.S “It was this small but mighty group of local activists that started advocating on behalf of basic needs in the community,” said Chris Iglesias “They started getting some wins and just continued to grow from there really responding to the needs of the community And I think that’s what has kept us around for 60 years.” the community saw disinvestment and displacement When a prominent new development—a parking garage—was proposed in the 1990s Fruitvale’s reaction was overwhelmingly negative Parking wasn’t going to spark economic development essential to keeping residents in the community The Unity Council had a vision for a very different type of project: a transit-oriented development providing safe affordable housing and access to much-needed services and doing that with the people in the community,” Martinez said Making that vision a reality took decades of work close collaboration with a team of public and private organizations People told The Unity Council it would be impossible for the organization to develop a project on Fruitvale Transit Village’s scale The organization needed to convince critical local organizations to support their vision and raise substantial funding to get even the planning stages off the ground “They had that passion, that love for the community, that made it non-negotiable,” said Cécile Chalifour, West Region Manager for Community Development Banking at JPMorgan Chase which supported Fruitvale Transit Village with multiple layers of financing The Unity Council grew Fruitvale Transit Village into a 19-acre mixed-use development including: But the final phase of development was critical to completing The Unity Council’s vision: an affordable housing development that could help keep Fruitvale’s long-term residents in the community Casa Sueños is a 181-unit affordable housing community The Unity Council co-developed with San Francisco-based BRIDGE Housing one of the leading nonprofit affordable housing developers on the West Coast The colorful new community is a substantial addition to the pool of affordable housing in Fruitvale Casa Sueños also includes 46 supportive housing units and space for a local nonprofit serving the community “What that does is helps stabilize [the neighborhood],” Mather said “You get better educational outcomes for kids you get better financial outcomes for adults you get better outcomes for folks who need supportive services.” JPMorgan Chase’s Community Development Banking provided an $89.8 million construction loan and $55.7 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investments to develop 47 affordable housing units was able to envision it and work with BRIDGE Housing to actually build it—I still think it’s kind of a miracle,” Iglesias said “It has really lifted up the community in so many ways.” All the growth in Fruitvale Transit Village meant residents needed a space to gather The Unity Council had owned an abandoned Masonic temple—an ideal location for a community center—for about 20 years But the building needed renovations and accessibility improvements JPMorgan Chase provided a $3.95 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) equity investment—the final capital needed to fund the project the building will house Peralta Service Corporation The Unity Council’s social enterprise organization as well as a small business assistance center and affordable co-working space “We call that ‘lasagna financing’ because there are so many layers that have to come together that’s what makes these projects special,” said Jalen Marable Vice President with JPMorgan Chase Community Development Banking’s NMTC team “When you can get so many different organizations working together to create something as meaningful as this project JPMorgan Chase also provided $3 million in philanthropic capital to The Unity Council to lead economic development efforts in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood with the goal of creating a prosperous affordable housing and an ecosystem of local businesses The firm also opened a JPMorgan Chase Community Center branch in Oakland which will include services such as financial health workshops mentoring for entrepreneurs and a community event space along with traditional banking services “We are bullish about the Oakland community and saw the vision of the whole village and how transformative it will be for the entire area,” Chalifour said but completing the final phase of Fruitvale Transit Village after 30 years “has lifted up the community in so many different ways,” Iglesias said “I hope it gives folks hope for the future To show that—despite the pandemic and all these financial challenges—we could continue to deliver these types of projects for the community,” he said JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/legal-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content By checking the boxes below I consent to JPMorgan Chase using the personal data I have provided to send me: Learn more about our data practices in our privacy policy Products and services are subject to approval and change Understand how blockchain works and emerging applications in commercial real estate including smart contracts and faster payments Syndicated loans are key to financing large commercial real estate projects These tips can help you strengthen your financing strategy Commercial property insurance costs are on the rise—and on track to increase nearly 80% by 2030 A local look at what multifamily real estate investors in cities across the country can expect over the rest of 2025 Transactions are beginning to pick up in Denver plus key trends for investors to watch in 2025 Find out how colleges and universities can help meet the need for workforce housing—and why it’s a win-win for institutions and their communities Higher inflation can increase financing and operating costs and decrease property values But an inflationary environment does offer opportunities for commercial real estate Small cities and rural areas across America face hurdles accessing investment that powers opportunity Find out how JPMorganChase is ramping up investment to help close the gap privacy and security policies don’t apply to the site or app you're about to visit privacy and security policies to see how they apply to you Morgan isn’t responsible for (and doesn’t provide) any products services or content at this third-party site or app except for products and services that explicitly carry the J.P By: 4:30 am on August 11 Demolition permits have been filed as a part of a new affordable housing project proposed for development at 2700 International Boulevard in Fruitvale, Oakland The project proposal includes the construction of 75 affordable housing along with space for retail use and parking in a six-story building The Unity Council is listed as the project applicant 2700 International Boulevard street activity The scope of work includes the demolition of an existing three-story medical dental building a two-story office building and a vacant commercial land and surface parking the developers aim to construct a six-story building offering affordable housing The building height will rise to 74 feet and yield around 100,800 square feet of total built-up area 2700 International Boulevard establishing view As covered previously 74 will be designated as affordable for very-low and low-income households The project will have a capacity for 32 cars and 50 bicycles at ground level 2700 International Boulevard community space Residents will also have access to 3,670 square feet of amenities. The second level will feature a community room and landscaped courtyard designed by Cliff Lowe Associates The project site and surrounding areas are serviced by multiple AC Transit bus lines New tenants will be situated within walking distance of the Fruitvale BART station Well I can’t wait I have applied for everything so fingers crossed I get a place soon By: 5:30 am on August 6 Preliminary permits have been filed for an affordable senior housing project at 1223 33rd Avenue in Fruitvale, Oakland. The development would replace a vacant parcel with six floors by the neighborhood BART Station. Pyatok Architects is the project applicant and prospective architect The project application will bring five floors of wood-frame housing above a concrete podium floor Pyatok states that the building will be all-electric and seeks to get Greenpoint certification The upper five floors would bring between 63 and 65 units The second floor will include the building’s laundry room Renderings have yet to be shared for the project Pyatok’s portfolio shows a pattern of a fairly well-designed podium-style apartment complex clad with plaster 1223 33rd Avenue property outlined approximately Public records show the property sold in May of 2019 for just under a million dollars The development that has happened around Fruitvale station is encouraging It’s good for housing and BART ridership Doolen-Fruitvale Neighborhood by CJ Boyd  The Doolen-Fruitvale neighborhood runs from Country Club Rd the Doolen-Fruitvale Neighborhood Association is one of the newest Neighborhood Associations in Ward 3 located at the corner of Country Club and Grant is neighborhood’s most significant feature the original name was Catalina Junior High School At a recent meeting with Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott we discussed the fact that he was an assistant principal at Doolen Middle School 22 years ago Doolen Middle is one of seven schools in Pima County that use a Community School Model which is a pilot program partially funded by the county to meet the economic and behavioral needs of students of students Doolen has the highest student homelessness rate of any middle school in TUSD and has multiple programs to address the needs of refugees and other student groups who need extra help which provides special challenges as well as a rich cultural landscape in which students and families are able to learn from each other Keep an eye out for a future newsletter article dedicated to just the Community School Model program founding Neighborhood Association board member and resident of Doolen-Fruitvale for over 30 years the neighborhood was named not only after the Doolen Middle School which is how the surrounding area was historically designated.  The Neighborhood Association was responsible for installing the Sparkman Butterfly Garden in the dirt yard in front of the TEP Substation between Bermuda St One of the boulders was donated by Ward 3’s own Bennett Bernal The Sparkman Butterfly Garden is a lovely oasis in the neighborhood which doesn’t contain any official parks or churches It does contain a few other notable neighborhood resources such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson on Grant Road and Exodus Community Services on Country Club Road exists to provide people in recovery “with safe twelve-step oriented environments” in order to provide clients with the “care and structure necessary to develop life skills essential for transition to independent living.” Doolen-Fruitvale has a mix of single family homes with an even mix of homes that are rented and those that are owner occupied.  Some neighbors on Water Street get ready for Halloween with creepy yard decorations One of the few local restaurants in Doolen-Fruitvale's bounds is Robert’s Restaurant a breakfast and lunch spot serving American diner fare located on Grant Rd Another interesting local business is Native Rainbows a Native American goods store located on Glenn St.  When asked her favorite thing about living in Doolen-Fruitvale Neighborhood Association co-chair Kali Van Campen said I was happy to see the City-owned land behind/attached to Doolen Middle School be developed into soccer fields and a walking park Neighbor Helen Garfinkle mentioned the same soccer field as one of the great improvements the City has recently made “My favorite thing about living here is the beautiful soccer park created in the Doolen School playground area and I walk the track every morning in a lovely open green space The other thing I love is that I can be anywhere in less than 10 minutes “I’ve lived here for over 30 years and have seen the neighborhood change Lately I’ve see small changes for the better The Doolen-Fruitvale Little Free Library on Flower Street Ask a Question. Report an Issue. Submit a Suggestion. To contact us, call 311 or visit Tucson 311 to submit a request By: 5:30 am on July 23 the five-story structure is expected to yield around 96,340 square feet with 82,690 square feet for housing and roughly 14,000 square feet for the health and cultural center Four of the 76 units will be dedicated to extremely low-income housing and one market-rate unit for the on-site manager Parking will be included for 48 cars and 32 bicycles 3050 International Boulevard second-level landscaping NAHC was founded in 1972 in California to serve around 15,000 members across the Bay Area working in partnership with Indian Health Service the group purchased and developer the nearby property of 2950 International Boulevard with another five-story complex The building opened in 2007 with 36 affordable homes The future health center at 3050 International will focus on youth and adolescent care There will be behavioral health and twenty additional dental workspaces a 300-person community and cultural center to host events The site is hoped to serve ten thousand new members while facilitating an additional twenty thousand annual visits PYATOK Architects is responsible for the design and is working with the landscape architecture firm Cliff Lowe Associates The roughly 0.7-acre property is located between Derby and 31st Avenue close to the intersection of International Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue The Fruitvale BART Station is around eight minutes away by foot Construction is expected to cost around $91 million The crews celebrated the groundbreaking in March of this year Hopefully this will encourage more infill in Fruitvale with the success of Sinners showing a potentially promising future for studio pictures and an undeniably bright future for the director After films like Fruitvale Station and Black Panther the director showcased his genius in new ways through his Jim Crow era vampire slasher with dark undertones that infuse meaning into a previously well-trodden genre The world of horror filmmaking is ripe with meaning and links to socio-political issues in the real world but Coogler plays on the tropes of the genre to create something that is highly entertaining and also meaningful commenting on the exploitation of Black culture and music through the history of blues and a town plagued by blood-suckers Many are coining Coogler as one of the saviours of cinema and the next best thing to happen to Hollywood The director describes his influences and the films that led him down the rabbit hole and into the world of cinema for good Despite becoming well-known for the monstrosity that is Emilia Perez Jacques Audiard was once known for making good movies with Coogler praising one in particular as being one of his all-time favourites follows a man sentenced to prison who joins forces with a group of Corsicans in the prison toughening himself up to win their validation it’s a film I’ll probably go back to the most.” Many of us have our comfort watches even if they are the least comforting stores to return to the films we watch as children are the most formative of our lives informing the types of stories we gravitate towards and those that make us feel something Coogler was touched by the power of Spike Lee discussing two gems he saw at too young an age yet had an indescribable impact on his understanding of the medium “I saw two movies with my dad in the cinema and it felt like home.” The impact of Lee’s work cannot be overstated with his astute perspective adding life and meaning to cinema as a whole particularly when it comes to female directors Arnold is one of the boldest creative voices to emerge from Britain shine a light not only on young girls coming of age but also on working-class stories that are rarely showcased on the big screen A major medical emergency at the Fruitvale BART station Wednesday night closed that station and the Lake Merritt station as service in Oakland was halted The agency announced the initial service disruption at around 9 p.m the transit agency said there was no BART train service between West Oakland The Oakland Fire Department confirmed to CBS News Bay Area that a person had been struck by a train on the tracks Click here for the full story via CBS San Francisco CBS Local Digital Media personalizes the global reach of CBS-owned and operated television and radio stations with a local perspective Sponsored link Peregrine falcons have long nested atop the Fruitvale Train Bridge, hunting prey and raising their young. One particularly photogenic pair living there captured local imaginations during the pandemic (although perhaps not as much as the falcons perching atop Cal Berkeley’s campanile) “Peregrine falcons are really all over the place here. They’re not just a part of the ecosystem, they’re a part of life,” musician and composer Deborah Crooks said over the phone from her home in Alameda “They’re on almost every bridge in the Bay Area I’m just flabbergasted that I can look out my window and see them.” Crooks has been a longtime falcon enthusiast, deeply involved with the local ecological history of bringing the species back from the brink: At UC Santa Cruz, she changed her major from English to Environmental Studies, so she could be a part of the Predatory Bird Research Group which helped peregrine numbers recover after toxic population-decimating pesticides like DDT were banned “And while I grew up to be a musician rather than an ornithologist or field researcher I still keep up on what’s going on in bird world.” because although the female member of the pair was shot But in the time it took for her to recover the male had already found another companion “The story opened up all kinds of opportunities—I wanted to tell it from the points of view of the original pair is the whole question of how humans and wildlife interact and exist with one another It intersects with so many of my interests.” Inspired Crooks set out to create a fully-fledged folk opera from the tale “It’s not an opera in the traditional sense And while we don’t wear bird costumes onstage depending on when we need our glasses,” she laughs She’s joined for the evening by singer-actor Tania Johnson and multi-instrumentalists and performers Kwame Copeland “One of the big bonuses about ‘Flight Lessons’ is that to gets to celebrate Alameda,” Crooks says FLIGHT LESSONS Sat/8, 7pm, Rhythmix Cultural Works, Alameda. Tickets and more info here Remember to check our Arts & Culture section for more great events THU/6: ZOOM COMEDY BENEFIT FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION WILDFIRE RECOVERY FUND One of our hometown heroes of comedy, Lisa Geduldig, is hosting an online laugh jam to benefit those affected by the fires down south. With Cathy Ladman, Wendy Liebman, Scott Blakeman, Eve Meye, and Lisa herself. 7pm, Pay what you want directly to the Wildfire Recovery Fund here and you’ll receive a Zoom link to the show SAT/8: LUNAR NEW YEAR WITH THE SF SYMPHONY The symphony welcomes the Year of the Serpent with some lovely traditional Chinese tunes and rousing performances from conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong with Wu Man on the pipa and Amos Yang on cello. There’s also a starry banquet option. 5pm, Davies Symphony Hall, SF. More info here. 48hills.org is the official publication of the non-profit San Francisco Progressive Media Center We are community supported journalism. Become a member. but we need you to help us beat the billionaires and fight for the soul of San Francisco by becoming a member or donating today KQED Live EventsPRX Podcast Garage EventsEvents Around the Bay AreaMember Benefits with KQED LiveVideos from KQED LiveWatch recordings of recent KQED Live events FeaturedThat's My WordAn ongoing exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history See Senior Director of TV Programming Meredith Speight’s recommendations from this month’s KQED 9 Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift 2024. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)When I meet Chris Iglesias in the Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland office tenants and several apartment buildings developed by the Unity Council Teenagers hang out drinking smoothies in the plaza Elders pass by on their way to the senior center It’s the type of vibrant urban development that city planners dream of but this one serves mostly working-class Latinos and immigrants While Fruitvale has its bright spots like the transit village it has been a neighborhood impacted by gang violence an affordable housing developer and social services provider the Bay Area experienced an economic boom that pushed out thousands of low-wage workers the pandemic laid bare how important and vulnerable essential workers are to our local economy “The pandemic changed a lot about how people view affordable housing and what essential workers are,” said Iglesias who I first met when I reported on housing development for the San Francisco Business Times “They need to be part of the economy of the Bay They can’t be coming from the Central Valley every day.” The Unity Council completed the first phase of the Fruitvale Transit Village including 47 apartments for low-income residents rehabilitated or preserved 591 apartments in Oakland and 235,000 square feet of commercial space across 10 properties in the city the Unity Council partnered with Bridge Housing to complete Casa Sueños a 181-unit apartment building at 3511 East 12th St The organization is now working to redevelop the site of the tragic Ghost Ship fire the Unity Council runs Head Start child care centers for low-income preschoolers operates a teen mentorship program in local high schools and provides workforce training The organization has an operating budget of $34.8 million and 347 employees “We’ve just kind of evolved over 60 years to meet the needs in the community,” Iglesias said “It’s not because we want to be a big organization.” The organization rose to the occasion and so did Iglesias When former CEO Gilda Gonzalez approached him about taking her job he’d spent more than two decades working in city government in San Francisco He trained and recruited workers for city-financed construction jobs and connected small businesses with city contracts He also ran San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission and later a construction workforce development program called City Build for then-Mayor Gavin Newsom who was born in Oakland into a large family with roots in Mexico recalled spending much of his childhood at his paternal grandmother’s home in West Oakland the language and food were always kind of front and center with how I grew up,” he said his parents bought a home in Concord because affording a home in Oakland was challenging for working-class families He went to San Jose State University on a football scholarship he discovered an interest in real estate after working on construction during summer breaks in college and after graduating He enjoyed watching empty lots turn into finished buildings and remembers one day seeing a group of men in suits overlooking the workers He recalled telling his father that he wanted to be the one planning and making decisions on buildings he’s combined his technical knowledge of construction with an understanding of connecting communities with opportunities and resources Leading the Unity Council allowed him to reconnect with Oakland and he regularly runs into relatives and family friends when he’s out eating lunch or at events “It’s kind of like a homecoming,” he said but like my tias and my cousins and for everybody We feel like this is where we all started.” It can be hard to stay optimistic given the onslaught of today’s social problems so Iglesias focuses on strengthening the organization’s programs finding more ways to provide affordable housing and connecting with future Latinx leaders “I see this wave of talent coming up and I feel like I’m at [the] point in my career — I need to tee them up as much as I can and lay the groundwork for them,” he said or you could have the governor’s job But you need to be thinking like that.’ And a lot of times He’s observed that people in the Latine community often want to be humble stay in the background and not take up too much space It’s a cultural trait that doesn’t always serve us I felt like I had to remind folks that it’s OK to have money and it’s OK to go get money,” he said “We have to be able to get what we need to do the work because our work is really important.” This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. Click here to subscribe. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. By: 5:30 am on June 30 BRIDGE Housing and the Unity Council have officially opened Casa Sueños, a four-story affordable housing complex at 3511 East 12th Street in Fruitvale, Oakland which will bring 181 units immediately next to the Fruitvale BART Station is Phase IIB of the mixed-use Fruitvale Transit Village The four-story complex will create 181 units of which 29 are subsidized with Section 8 by the Oakland Housing Authority 46 units will be designated as supportive housing Ground-level retail space will offer 7,500 square feet for a local non-profit organization SVA Architects is responsible for the design The podium-style structure is articulated with various hues Unit sizes will vary from studios to three-bedrooms and affordability levels will be staggered offering a range of units for households earning between 20 to 80% of the area’s median income The over two-acre property is located along East 12th Street and 35th Avenue close to International Boulevard Unity Council finished Phase 1 of the Fruitvale Transit Village in 2003 was completed with 94 units in 2018 in partnership with East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation and space for a weekly farmers’ market Construction started on Phase IIB in August of 2021 with a ceremonial groundbreaking Would have loved to see some images of the finished structure Lot of cool development has happened around the Fruitvale BART station Is there by any chance I can get an application As someone who resides there such a great place Thank you Bridge for the opportunity for a fresh start I use Bart to go to work since due sickness can not drive to work Hi can I please can I get application I would love to live in this area I’m looking for low income housing I’m nearly homeless,I need some affordable housing “I have to tell you about this amazing story I read in bed on my phone this morning that I barely remember . . .”Cartoon by Lars KensethCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copied “But listen to me going on about my whale problems Any big plans for your birthday?”Cartoon by Pia Guerra and Ian BoothbyCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copied “Fruitvale Station” won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised it as a “demonstration of how effective understated naturalistic filmmaking is at conveying even the most incendiary reality.” Public interest in the film intensified after a stroke of terrible happenstance and the next day a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman the film became a part of the conversation about the deaths of young Black men and the lack of accountability that so often attended them The film’s success left many people anticipating an indie purism from Coogler and they were surprised when he next chose to direct “Creed,” a studio film that introduced a new generation of characters to Sylvester Stallone’s fading “Rocky” franchise said that his family had often watched sports films together and that his father was particularly a fan of the “Rocky” movies an aspiring fighter who is the illegitimate (and unacknowledged) son of Rocky Balboa’s nemesis turned friend bringing in a hundred and seventy-four million dollars worldwide against a budget of less than forty million and it positioned Coogler to make the leap into big-budget studio films a company that develops and produces podcasts (Göransson later joined them.) Coogler had always imagined having such a company “I think it was really because Spike Lee had one his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks,” he said Proximity Media’s name reflects its mission “We want to bring people in closer proximity to people and stories often overlooked,” Zinzi told me Starting the company was also a way to insure that its principals would have opportunities to work in proximity to one another Among their first undertakings was King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021) a drama about the Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and his betrayal and murder in 1969 The film earned six Oscar nominations and two wins: Best Original Song for H.E.R.’s “Fight for You,” and Best Supporting Actor “Sinners” is the company’s first project directed by Coogler The launch of Proximity Media coincided with the opening of “Black Panther.” Marvel had touched on political themes before—government surveillance and unchecked military authority feature in the “Iron Man” and “Captain America” films—but never as overtly or as centrally as in “Black Panther,” which Coogler co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole The primary conflict involves Erik Killmonger (Jordan) who is revealed to be T’Challa’s neglected American cousin—from Oakland Coogler is prone to giving his main characters a single line in the third act which summarizes the entirety of their being bloodied and exhausted in a fight he has no chance of winning Speaking to the pain of paternal rejection and illegitimacy “That I wasn’t a mistake.” In “Black Panther,” a badly wounded Killmonger rejects an offer of medical attention knowing that survival will mean imprisonment he instructs T’Challa to drop him into the ocean so that he can join his ancestors who jumped from slave ships “because they knew death was better than bondage.” The story exploded the parameters of what a superhero film could be; Kevin Feige watched an early cut and declared it the best film Marvel had ever done The success of “Black Panther” raised anticipation for a sequel who had been privately battling colon cancer “I didn’t know that his life was hanging in the balance the whole time I knew him,” Coogler told me the first film in a Marvel franchise establishes the protagonist’s origins and the sequels present that character with challenges from increasingly formidable opponents “Wakanda Forever,” had to introduce a new protagonist and also maintain continuity with the first film The movie opens with T’Challa dying off camera of an unknown ailment for which his sister desperately tries to find a lifesaving treatment Her character’s grief mirrors the anguish of the cast and the director as they worked in Boseman’s absence “There were long stretches on that movie where I didn’t know if we would finish,” Coogler told me The filming also coincided with another milestone in Coogler’s life and with another incident that blurred the line between life and art Zinzi gave birth to their second child just a month after production started before he began working on “Fruitvale Station,” he hadn’t seriously thought about having children “I have a daughter.” Coogler was deeply moved by the clear primacy of Tatiana in Grant’s short life “Wakanda” was shot in several locations around the world but a good deal of it was filmed in Atlanta Coogler stopped by a Bank of America to make a sizable cash withdrawal from his account to cover some family expenses The teller thought that he was attempting to rob the bank and called the police Coogler thought immediately of his children “That’s the first place your mind goes when a gun is drawn,” he said The film was a success at the box office but the travails of making it became a defining point of reference for him When I talked with him about the challenges of finishing “Sinners” in the wake of the Los Angeles fires he seemed keen on keeping difficulties in their proper perspective “I know what we went through on ‘Wakanda’ and what that film did,” he told me The day after Coogler and I met on the Warner Bros he and about thirty members of the “Sinners” production crew gathered at the Los Angeles headquarters of imax for a screening of a few sample scenes from the film It was the first time that they had seen it displayed in such grand dimensions and a charge of nervous energy bounced among them who told me that he’d been working in the film industry for fifty-three years walked the group through some technical aspects of the projection process and then ran a three-minute series of excerpts Both “Black Panther” films were shown on imax but it was notable to Coogler that this film which is not part of a franchise but his own stand-alone vision “That type of technology is kind of reserved for epic storytelling,” he told me a soundless rendering of the moment when the vampire Remmick first appears Coogler pointed out the clarity with which a small spiderweb fracture on a car windshield was visible He listened enrapt as Keighley explained that the three minutes of film he’d just shown weighed eleven pounds The final cut could be expected to weigh roughly five hundred pounds and would require a hydraulic lift to be placed on the spool from which it would be projected The exchange between them reminded me of a point that Ohanian made about “Fruitvale Station.” Despite the project’s meagre budget Coogler insisted on shooting on film rather than use the less expensive digital options that were then just gaining traction Coogler told me that he had wanted the warmth of film a distinction that he felt was important because Grant’s death had been captured and widely disseminated on grainy he was both more upbeat and more reflective He’d locked the final cut of “Sinners,” and early screenings were yielding favorable reviews He’d just arrived in Mexico City to begin a promotional tour and our conversation was interrupted by joyous yelps from his children He seemed ready to take a deep breath at the end of an arduous effort Proximity Media had been created to facilitate collaboration among its founders but pulling the team together to work on “Sinners” had been a task in itself The demands on everyone’s time had increased exponentially and unlike in the early days they were now integrating creative work with family life “Running the company is a full-time job,” he told me Coogler seemed to reflect on his own narrative “and I’m not forty yet.” He was planning for the long haul A long-ago crime, suddenly remembered A limousine driver watches her passengers transform The day Muhammad Ali punched me What is it like to be keenly intelligent but deeply alienated from simple emotions? Temple Grandin knows The harsh realm of “gentle parenting.”  Retirement the Margaritaville way Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Thank You for the Light.”  Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. this is Serious” takes readers into Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood Her parents are racist against her Black boyfriend The other is grappling with an absent father and a mother who emotionally neglects her There’s a lot of hardship and love in this story Author Carolina Ixta is a schoolteacher from Oakland She's also the daughter of Mexican immigrants Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker It was a dream come true for an East Oakland kid who grew up bussing tables at his grandmother’s Mexican restaurant on East 12th hatching plans to someday open his own spot It seemed like he was out of the game for good Until a couple of months ago, that is. In March, Martinez started a new job as the general manager of Todos a two-year-old Mexican restaurant in downtown Oakland where he does a little bit of everything — works front of house he’ll be rolling out some of the La Casita classics that made him a local legend: the birria It’s an answer to so many soup lovers’ wistful prayers Now firmly entrenched in his new gig, Martinez acknowledges that the past four years were a dark and difficult time. Losing his dad, Nolberto Sr. — himself a chef and longtime fixture in Oakland restaurant kitchens — was a big blow to the entire family Losing La Casita on top of that left Martinez feeling even more heartbroken and unmoored “All I ever wanted was to open my own restaurant,” he says Martinez says he turned to his Oakland community for support He worked for a coffee roaster and a moving company for a while then found a job as a prep cook for a nonprofit that delivered meals to churches and convalescent homes too — joined a men’s healing group came to terms with his father’s death and just generally tried to take better care of himself Around this time, one of his coworkers told him that the Todos ownership group — the team that operates Underdogs in San Francisco and a handful of other Mexican restaurants around the Bay — was looking for someone to run their Oakland location They wanted someone who loved Oakland and knew the Mexican food business There is a trope in the food industry where a talented chef quits his cushy job working for a big investor-driven restaurant in order to open his own little passion project allowing him to finally find true fulfillment Martinez’s path has had the reverse trajectory he seems humbled and grateful for the opportunity “Not too many people want to teach you something let alone a guy from East Oakland,” Martinez says of his new employers I feel like I have the weight on my shoulders [lifted].” Martinez is learning the ins and outs of running a 90-seat restaurant — much much larger than his tiny taqueria on Foothill Boulevard handles a massive office catering operation and is taking online classes to acquire all of the deeper business knowledge he’d previously just had to pick up on the fly the most exciting part is that he’s starting to put his own stamp on the menu This week he’ll roll out his beef birria which has already been on the menu in the form of his popular consomé-soaked quesabirria tacos Todos will serve birria in a variety of new formats — the traditional way with rice and beans on the side; as a street taco; and in the double-wrapped crispy tacos known as diablitos “You can call Todos an Oakland birrieria now I’m very proud to say,” Martinez says invigorating broth that warms you up from the inside especially when doctored with a drizzle of the chef’s housemade chile de árbol chili oil And his menudo, that famous hangover cure, may have been the best I’ve ever tasted — the tripe and the jiggly beef trotter slow-simmered until they’re slurpably soft, the broth as clean and clarifying as you can imagine. During La Casita’s glory years, the restaurant was “like a hangover headquarters,” Martinez recalls as customers lined up for their morning menudo fix on Saturdays and Sundays — and even Mondays when the really serious drinkers would call in sick Martinez says it means the world to him to bring these dishes back to Oakland now He thinks about how important it is for him to carry on his family’s legacy — about how much he loved watching his dad cook and how his grandmother opened La Estrellita one of Fruitvale’s first Mexican restaurants There is the matter, too, of repping his neighborhood and hometown. In the old La Casita days, in almost every photo of the restaurant that Martinez posted on social media, he’s posing next to the mural on the outside. It reads, in boldface lowrider-style lettering, “Oakland Over Everything” — an encapsulation of the chef’s Town pride “Me being from the Fruitvale district here in East Oakland A lot of us didn’t make it; a lot of us are not doing good,” Martinez says Todos is located at 2315 Valdez St The San Francisco Foundation’s Bay Area Community Impact Fund has made a new $2 million loan to support The Unity Council’s Juntos Fruitvale project Located in the heart of Oakland’s Fruitvale district the project will renovate and transform the long-vacant 10,000 square foot community hub for artists “Juntos Fruitvale will allow us to support our community in two pivotal ways,” said Chris Iglesias and preserve our culture in the Fruitvale by offering two accessible venues for neighborhood residents and performing arts groups to host performances and events it will be a space for us to support the local economy through our Small Business Assistance Center and by housing Peralta Service Corporation (PSC) and employs committed jobseekers with significant barriers to employment due to checkered employment history the Fruitvale has been passed over for investment Juntos is one more step toward building a thriving community through this vibrant cultural hub in our neighborhood.” “The Unity Council has been an incredible partner and a pillar of the Fruitvale community; from housing to community development they are leading the way,” said Fred Blackwell “The Juntos Fruitvale project is exactly why we have been increasing our impact investments It is a powerful community full of recent immigrants and families who have been there for generations It is alive with small businesses from fruit stands to restaurants and other small businesses Juntos Fruitvale will help keep the Fruitvale a vibrant community and ensure that all our neighbors have access to what they need to thrive.” Juntos Fruitvale is directly aligned with the foundation’s Equity Agenda of building a Bay Area where everyone can get a good job Juntos Fruitvale project is accessible via public transportation and connected to the Fruitvale Transit Village (and the BART station) via a pedestrian shopping street Read more stories of how the impact fund supports local small businesses and preserves communities of color in the Bay Area Oscar Grant's mother Wanda Johnson (center) stands in front of the mural of her son outside the Fruitvale BART station with the BART Board of Directors on June 8 2019. (Sonja Hutson/KQED)BART unveiled a mural of Oscar Grant on Saturday at the Fruitvale station where Grant was fatally shot by a BART police officer 10 years ago The transit agency also unveiled street signs naming a previously unnamed adjacent street Oscar Grant III Way Grant was killed by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year's Day 2009 while the 22-year-old Grant was unarmed and lying face down on the station platform and the cell phone video of the shooting helped spark a national conversation on police killings Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and has said he meant to pull his Taser and not his gun when he shot Grant "The mural and the street doesn't bring him back but it gives a sense of atonement for us in a small part," said Wanda Johnson Johnson says she's going to keep pushing for BART to rename the Fruitvale station after her son shows Grant smiling in front of the Oakland skyline with a dove above it It was painted by local artist Senay “Refa One” Alkebulan even though she usually avoids the station because of what happened to her dad "I feel actually happy because we have a community who actually support us and understands that it's hard for our family," she said she said she likely still won't come to the station "It makes me more sad as I get older," Tatiana said Because when my mom said that he was gone when I was little I thought maybe he's on a trip or far away for a minute,' but now I know he's actually dead." described Grant's death as the start of a movement around the country that pushed back against police shootings of young black men members of the community to put a mirror towards the historical reality and current reality of rogue law enforcement in the face of black men," Simon said "It's extremely radical to have the government agency responsible for the death of a young man honor him in this way And BART is trying to atone for this horrible tragedy Simon said she wants more implicit bias training for BART police officers and to select a new police chief who's compassionate and collaborates with other public service agencies The Best Restaurants in Noe Valley San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants, May 2025 The 18 Best Restaurants and Bars in the Mission Taco expert John Birdsall picks the trucks and taquerias worth hitting up Birdsall has now divulged his secrets for scoring the tastiest tripe as well as Anthony Bourdain-approved tamales “Spend the $2.50—a taco premium on the streets of Fruitvale—on the tripas (small intestines covered in a slushy guajillo-chile salsa that lets through just enough offal breath to make you think “Debate raged for years on user sites whether one or the other of the Grullense trucks these namesakes of rural Jalisco are identical though for no good reason I drift to the truck that parks closer to 29th Ave This pretty much the only truck in the neighborhood I order chicken from—the soft shreds are faintly tomato-stained and deeply chickeny I cut my neighborhood teeth on Grullense’s lengua which is tender and amiably gray under lush green salsa.” “Seafood—mariscos—has taken over Fruitvale in a way that seemed unimaginable just a few years ago when carnitas and pastor were the dominant proteins This bright yellow Grullense spinoff sells tostadas heaped with shrimp and fish ceviche—firm flecked with diced cucumber—that hit like cool slushy relief from the heat of Sunday sidewalks.” Pipirin is a trailer backed up to a corner of a parking lot with patio-chair seating lowering under a tarp—it’s one of my favorite places in the neighborhood (last time I dropped in there was a hot debate going off in Spanish about whether the strawberries in Morelia are better than the ones in Guanajuato) in Michoacano style) and pierna (delicately shredded pork leg) are the specialties in a liquor store parking lot with a standing table rigged from Formica slabs Stop here for cabeza (shredded beef cheeks mostly) so frizzled and rough-tasting you feel like it shows you something deep about the nature of non-prime cow parts Ask for the squeeze bottle of red chile de arbol salsa and retreat to a slab to observe the street hustle.” “The place I brought Anthony Bourdain to for No Reservations a Salvadoran tamale truck with decent pupusas but the tacos de canasta—a special scrawled on a paper plate and taped to the window—are fantastic soft and fleshy the way the tortillas are supposed to be for canastas soaked in an orange salsa that kicks your ass the more bites you take filled with a mashy chorizo and potato filling as satisfying as mom-style Bolognese.” “The pair of Sinaloa trucks face each other across a long sloping parking lot and a sheltered arcade of tables where boys with baroque tattoos smoke blunts and girls dangling hoop earrings pick at fillings and dandle babies I always go to the truck at the top of the slope which are like a confetti dump of perfectly diced seared tilapia and pico de gallo that seems almost exuberantly rash.”Editor's note: There is now a brick-and-mortar version of Sinaloa in downtown Berkeley but it's a shiny new version of the same favorites found in Fruitvale reconstructing the final 24 hours in the life of Oscar Grant was shot dead by a police officer on a train station platform in Oakland The shooting happened at point-blank range The police had been called after a reported rowdy incident on a train; jumpy aggressive cops appeared to haul the suspects out of the carriage and Grant was shot by an officer who later claimed he intended to pull out his Taser Many people filmed the incident on their mobile phones and the online footage sparked an outcry – compounded by an enraged feeling that digital video is proving something that has been happening for decades The resulting movie is a tough and moving drama about African-American lives: a film to be compared with Ken Loach and perhaps Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep or Michael Roemer's Nothing But a Man Michael B Jordan is sensitive and intelligent in the role of Grant; Melonie Diaz is his girlfriend Sophina and Octavia Spencer gives a quietly moving performance as Grant's mother Grant turns out to have had a police record But it also shows him as someone who was making attempts to reform himself Coogler accepts at face value these assurances (the film takes place and there are some fictionally invented or conflated episodes – or at any rate episodes for which there was no eyewitness evidence – showing Grant in a good light I am baffled at some of the brow-furrowing US press coverage suggesting he has been romanticised here as if only cynicism were dramatically valid or plausible a private citizen who did not deserve to be shot dead in cold blood The film becomes overtly political at the end showing the subsequent civil-rights campaign (for me There is something almost spiritual in the eerie importance that all the ordinary banal facts of a life achieve under scrutiny every silly or fleeting thought; everything assumes a new mysteriously vivid quality Grant is a guy whose New Year's resolution is to clean up his act – because he has just been mortifyingly caught cheating by Sophina who is contemptuous of Grant's mumbling claims that this was the only time he had strayed It was just the only time he'd been caught with the political rage at the end of the movie Coogler's camera tracks Grant's final day as he roams about picking his girlfriend up from work and finally parking his daughter with the sitter and getting ready to take the train into San Francisco with Sophina and his friends to watch the new year fireworks The movie follows Grant in what amounts to dramatic real time – but with one expertly positioned flashback to a traumatic period in his life and a highly charged conversation with his mother: a confrontation whose painful repercussions continue right up to the film's final moments It ends with some tough love on Wanda's part and is the first real wake-up call in Grant's life – the second being the discovery of his sexual indiscretion Perhaps poor Oscar Grant really was on the verge of turning his life around Coogler's film gives him the benefit of the doubt – the film-making equivalent Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission In this series, Vulture has been speaking to the screenwriters behind 2013’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack What pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen writer-director Ryan Coogler discusses a key scene in Fruitvale Station his fact-based drama about the last day in the life of Oscar Grant (Michael B Jordan) before he was shot and killed by a BART police officer I have a bunch of tough scenes that fit the bill but the scene that probably went through the most versions was the scene between Oscar and Sophina where Oscar confesses to losing his job this intimate scene between these two characters and the first version I had written just didn’t feel right when the actors did it together but I had to go back to the actual Sophina for inspiration to ask her about what she and Oscar went through Something she said to me and Melonie that was really helpful was We were best friends before we started dating.” She said that still she finds herself wanting to text message him when she wants to share good news Not everybody can say that about their romantic partners that this person I love is also my absolute best friend they played it like Oscar was letting his best friend down I always saw Sophina as the role that’s closest to the position of the audience: She was the person who had the most riding on Oscar and was obviously the most intimate with him out of the three women in his life the other two being his mom and his daughter but she’s really frustrated with him at the same time There are so many important things she has to nail in this conversation I try not to be precious with my words at all Being both the writer and director gives you a lot of freedom to rewrite the scene constantly you’re working with other talented artists like Michael B You always want to make sure that it feels right for them Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York By: 5:30 am on February 25 KTGY is the project architect, PGAdesign is the landscape architect and Ackland International Inc is the civil engineer all four firms involved are based in Oakland The team is aiming to receive LEED Gold certification Villa Fruitvale at 3751 International Boulevard facade running along 38th Avenue Design inspiration for the decorative panels at Villa Fruitvale at 3751 International Boulevard The facade will be three distinct colors plastered with stucco accented with decorative panels These panels were derived from KTGY’s research in the area’s cultural scene The following is taken from the project’s statement about the design inspiration: The proposed design is inspired by the context of vibrant murals and pottery found in the Fruitvale neighborhood and Latin American Culture The proposed building concept is based on a simple form that is carved to reveal bold accents These moments of decorative panel contrast with the raw earth tone color of the main building facade Villa Fruitvale at 3751 International Boulevard martial arts entrance The 71-foot tall structure will rise from 0.88 acres to yield 153,630 square feet with 113,030 square feet for residential use 7,200 square feet of residential amenities 2,280 square feet for a martial arts studio and 2,100 square feet for the retail condo Two levels of affordable housing are included in Oakbrook’s plans with 91 of the units will be for households earning up to 50% of the Area Median Income and 92 for residents earning between 51-80% of the Area Median Income Villa Fruitvale at 3751 International Boulevard facade elevations Oakbrook was founded in 2014 with a mission to provide affordable housing to address the region’s housing crisis the project is also being designed for two distinct groups and one-bedroom units will be designed “to accommodate single Youth and Youth who are custodial parents.” The other half of units will be for workforce families of all sizes Parking will be included for 72 vehicles and 143 bicycles in the 23,200 square foot ground-level garage The property is bound by International Boulevard International Boulevard is a major transit artery for the city with AC Transit running a relatively-new Bus Rapid Transit stop at 39th Avenue with the Fruitvale BART Station just eight minutes away on foot Good location for more housing with good public transportation options available why waste money and space for unnecessary car parking Can this deal be done without public subsidy I can tell you that home owners on 37th and 38th Ave are not pleased I’m sure you can see why if you look hard enough and have an ounce of empathy Why put all low income housing in a lower income neighborhood Parking and traffic is going to be a total nightmare and the homes across the way from this behemoth will live perpetually in its shadow I really feel for long time residents in Fruitvale and the shift all of this high density Is there a long term plan for management of this place so in years to come it doesn’t become a dilapidated Is this just some money making scheme masquerading as a “do good” project I hope this has not been officially approved Crime has gone up in the neighborhood since the development that has gone in at BART and they’re building another huge building there