Four months after voters approved the sit-lie ordinance, San Franciscans still await police enforcement. So some Haight Street merchants have taken matters into their own hands, which is working but provoking a backlash.
Some shop windows now display signs warning passersby not to sit or lie on the sidewalks in front of their business. But street kids and other opponents of the law are combating these measures with pro-loitering graffiti painted directly on area sidewalks.
In the windows of a liquor store at the corner of Haight and Cole Streets, where as many as 20 people once congregated, a bright pink sign now explains store rules. “NO Loitering! NO Trespassing! NO Sit & Lie! NO Open Containers! NO Excuses!” it reads.
For the most part, street kids seem to be heeding the store’s request. Elsewhere on Haight Street, though, it’s a different story.
