SFMTA to study Central Subway extension to Fisherman’s Wharf

The SFMTA has allocated $1.2 million to study an extension of the still-in-progress T-Third Central Subway from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf. (Courtesy SFMTA)

San Francisco’s newest — and still under construction — subway may soon see an extension from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently allocated $1.2 million in its budget to study extending the T-Third Central Subway from its terminus in North Beach all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Some are calling the study a major first step by the SFMTA that shows a clear sign of moving toward a new subway than ever before.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority previously conducted a feasibility study with the SFMTA, said SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin.

“[The new study] would go a level deeper,” he told the San Francisco Examiner. “This would do more community work and more technical work, to tee it up into preliminary engineering into environmental impact and analysis.”

Reiskin affirmed his support of the project while clarifying that nothing is set in stone.

“It doesn’t guarantee we get a subway built,” he said. “I sure hope they will see this project come to fruition. If you look at the very long term in The City, it makes all the sense of the world.”

The study is one of many items in the SFMTA’s newly proposed multibillion dollar budget for fiscal year 2017-18, which will be debated at town hall meetings throughout March. The SFMTA Board of Directors is set to vote on the budget in April.

Though it’s just a proposal, the study has transit supporters buzzing.

Supervisor Scott Wiener is an outspoken supporter of subway construction in San Francisco and he predictably lauded the study.

“Extending the Central Subway north is a very high priority, and essential to our future subway expansion efforts,” he told the Examiner. “I’m happy to see the [SFMTA] concretely moving forward.”

This, Wiener said, “is a big deal.”

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose supervisorial district includes Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown, said he, too, is supportive of the subway.

Peskin said he looks forward to a “robust and comprehensive community process” for the project.

The Fisherman’s Wharf community has been vocal in the past about its needs for new transit options.

Troy Campbell, head of the Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefits District, told the Examiner last year that when it comes to businesses at the wharf, there’s been an “exodus of minimum-wage workers in The City.”

Workers need transit options, Campbell said, and the lack of crosstown transit options to Fisherman’s Wharf makes attracting workers like cooks, bussers and shop workers increasingly difficult.

Rachel Brown, a spokeswoman for the district, told the Examiner the problem still persists, which is why the group supports the Central Subway’s extension to Fisherman’s Wharf.

“We’d still need half a billion to one billion and a half dollars we don’t have,” Reiskin said, noting that conducting a study “doesn’t solve that problem.”

Reiskin said the Central Subway extension would require significant federal funding, but that regional transit officials did not place the project near the front of the line for federal funding.

“There’s not a foreseeable federal funding source I’m aware of,” he said, “but that could change in the next federal bill.”

Still, the transit director has not lost all hope. He said performing a study and creating San Francisco’s Subway Master Plan may eventually attract more federal dollars.

“Just because you have a plan, the federal government won’t throw money at you,” Reiskin said. “But you’re in a better place to state your case.”

Article and images sourced from http://www.sfexaminer.com/sfmta-study-central-subway-extension-fishermans-wharf/

The Classics: Tommaso’s, serving wood-fired pizza since 1935

A few years ago there was a monumental North verses South debate about who “invented” the modern pizza. The South group gave credit to Wolfgang Puck at Spago; the North group gave the nod to Alice Waters at the Cafe at Chez Panisse. I contend it was neither of them; it was Tommaso’s,  a North Beach institution that brought the wood-fired oven to the West Coast in 1935.

Tommaso’s is ground zero for pizza, and even today there is often a wait for a table, even early in the evening.
When the oven was installed the restaurant was called Lupo’s. It became Tommaso’s in 1971 and was bought by the Crotti family in 1973, who have been running it since.
The restaurant has an unassuming entrance. As diners walk down a few steps, the  yeasty smell of pizza dough being cooked and pepperoni warming and settling into a blanket of cheese and tomato sauce engulfs them. There’s also a chalkboard that lists more than a dozen wines by the glass. You’ll only see the varietal and price; the producer or where it comes from isn’t listed.
Diners are seated  around the perimeter at regular tables or at a long communal table down the middle that’s often taken over for family celebrations.

The interior  looks much like it has for decades. Walls of the basement entrance are filled with memorabilia including photos of Francis Ford Coppola, a regular and fan.  Murals of Italy cover the upper parts of the dining room walls, which carry the patina that comes with age and dozens of coats of paint.
Everyone orders the pizza, which has a moderately thick crust, lightly charred by the oven. Is it the best? No, but it has a nostalgic appeal because it’s being produced the same way it has been for decades. Still, it’s good, and unless you have a big appetite, you’ll probably have a few slices to take home.
There’s also a large menu of other comforting Italian foods that include beef carpaccio,  a well-prepared Caesar salad, Cho-Cho clams,  a respectable cacciatore, lasagne. and spaghetti with marinara sauce, which is also available to take home in a jar.
Desserts, at least what was served on my visit, are best forgotten. The cannoli tasted stale; the tiramisu was simply OK.
Still, Tommaso’s has a lot to recommend. While it has an old world sensibility the preparations are generally made with care. It’s clear the family — and the no-nonsense waiters who deliver the food and will even divide it for if sharing — are committed to keeping  the tradition alive.



Articles and Photos Sourced From:  http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/06/18/the-classics-tomassos-serving-wood-fired-pizza-since-1935/#24329-3