October 31, 2007
Halloween in the Castro… or not!
Stay home for halloween. If you dare!
Tonight is Halloween. The city has spent $40,000 on a campaign to keep people out of the Castro. The massive hordes which usually converge here are being told that there is “no party” and all the bars will be closed. All subway stations near the Castro are also closing early.
However much of an effort the city makes to deter people, they also know that people will inevitably show up. There was talk of setting up portable toilets on Castro street because very few bars will be open. There was even talk of closing the street if too many people show up. Doesn’t sound like much of a party deterrent to me.
It’s 7pm now and security appears to be building up all over. The Muni has many employees patrolling the subway stations and there are police at every exit (perhaps to enforce the closure in an hour and a half).
Most interestingly, the 24-hour Safeway across the street has had a temporary fence set up around its border. It appears they are keeping only one entrance and exit open for the time being and additionally, there are three busses directly in front of the store (with an additional 7 or 8 on Market St nearby). I’m not sure what any of this is for, but there are a few possibilities.
Perhaps they are simply accomodating shoppers who stay late and would usually take the subway home. This seems strange as there will be free shuttles running after the subway is closed. Also, to have so many busses standing by at a station which is neither the start nor the end of the closure seems a little inefficient.
Another possibility is that the police will be using these busses to cart off partyers by the proverbial and literal “busload”.
According to the SF Weekly “The Snitch” blog, the cops will be using them, but not to carry people away:
Deputy Chief David Shinn and at least half a dozen other officials made pains to note that Muni buses and drivers will be available to ferry “platoons” of cops around town like troop transports. The notion of the police taking Muni to travel about town rapidly was greeted with barely a snicker, by the way.
The overall plan goes something like this:
Shinn will receive reports every half hour from command stations throughout the city; Mission Station, the post nearest the Castro, will be led by Capt. John Goldberg. At Shinn’s discretion, police can be redeployed throughout the city as needed. Shinn described a “zero-tolerance” policy for drunkenness, public urination and other likely offenses (he originally used the term “aggressive enforcement” but changed his wording when Police Commissioner Theresa Sparks told him that “aggressive enforcement” conjured up mental images of Tiananmen Square).
(quotes from: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2007/10/100000_people_are_coming_where.php)
Should turn out to be an exciting Halloween after all 
