Yesterday, Feb 19th, was the 4 year anniversary of the battle & seizure of 701 Columbus led by General Aaron Peskin and his regiment of Telegraph Hill Dwellers…

Check out Ranger Wayne Zebzda in a prescient 1982 interview under a long gone magnolia tree at this impromptu mock National Park in North Beach…

More on the controversial history of the triangular 4,119 square feet plot adjacent to Washington Square Park, and where it stands today after the jump…

While Ranger Wayne’s fantasy park video is entertaining, the real story is almost as twisted…

By 2003, the site, occasionally used for parking, became a notorious development wars boondoggle and Aaron Peskin and The Telegraph Hill Dwellers mobilized to grab this tiny privately owned parcel on the edge of Washington Sq Park through eminent domain.

Peskin wanted a local developer’s potential 9 residential unit plan aborted by any means necessary, and in 2004 had his minions seize the land by eminent domain. The city attorney drew up papers claiming it in the name of Neighborhood Bond and Open Space Programs and prevented the rightful owners from moving forwards on their plan.

But as far as I know, no money ever changed hands on the deal, at least according to the last available status report from July 2007.

It’s sorta just an unsolved trouble ticket…

In the end the plot affair hasn’t been entirely completed, but has a proposed cost to taxpayers listed as close to $2 million for the “park”, plus another $2 million for “construction”. Eventually the plan is to take away the public right-of-way and stifle auto traffic a little bit more if we can find the money to do so.

(I suggest building a toll plaza and really sealing the deal)

But…
It’s your park now kids…enjoy it, or at least the video.