San Francisco is getting $9.25 million from the Crankstart Foundation to improve conditions at the Mission District’s two BART plazas, Mayor Daniel Lurie and District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder announced Nov. 6.
According to the mayor’s office, the gift will fund lighting upgrades, public-safety technology and more civilian ambassadors at the 16th Street and 24th Street plazas and nearby blocks. It will also pay for a dedicated Spanish-speaking ambassador at Marshall Elementary during school arrival and dismissal, plus fencing, murals and landscaping around the school. Combined with $3 million set aside in the state budget, the total is $12.25 million.
Mission Local reported that the city has not yet decided what technology it will install, or how many ambassadors it will hire and when they will start. The grant is expected to fund the ambassadors for about two years. The plazas see more than 10,000 visitors a day.
Crankstart is the family foundation of Michael Moritz. The city is also adding evening SFPD and Sheriff deployments along Mission Street and a 60-day CHP deployment, the mayor’s office said.