This Week's Top Stories

Chinatown

Chinatown Night Out Brings Residents Face-to-Face With Law Enforcement at 12th Annual Event

The September 9 gathering at Willie 'Woo Woo' Wong Playground drew community members, officials, and police for food, cultural performances, and direct conversation in a neighborhood navigating major upheaval.

Law enforcement personnel, government officials, and San Francisco Chinatown community leaders held a press conference on September 2 to announce the 12th annual Chinatown Night Out. The event was held on September 9 at the Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Playground Basketball Court at 830 Sacramento Street, running from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Its stated goal: connect the Chinatown community with local law enforcement. Attendees could enjoy cultural performances, children's activities, free giveaways, a live raffle, and complimentary meals. The gathering arrives at a charged moment for Chinatown.

Chinatown

Three Months In, Portsmouth Square Construction Squeezes Merchants and Displaces Seniors to an Alley

With the $73 million renovation on track for a 2028 completion, nearby stores report sales down roughly 60 percent, elderly residents have been pushed from their longtime gathering place, and community leaders say city mitigation still falls short.

Portsmouth Square has long been known as the living room of San Francisco's Chinatown — a gathering place for seniors to play cards, listen to music, and socialize. Now three months into a $73 million renovation, that living room is torn up, and nearby business owners say they are struggling to survive. The project, expected to take two years, has brought construction noise, dust, and the loss of nearby parking, all of which merchants say have driven customers away.

Nob Hill

Nob Hill Tenant Association Holds Firm at 1120 Jackson as Eviction Cases Await Resolution

The group of mostly elderly Chinese immigrant residents, formed in June and backed by the Asian Law Caucus, is still fighting six nuisance-based eviction notices from the building's new owner — part of a citywide eviction surge tied to the AI boom.

Tenants at 1120 Jackson Street — on the border of Nob Hill and Chinatown — announced in June that they were forming a union and urging their new landlord to drop eviction cases against six households. Their struggle comes as rents in San Francisco are skyrocketing, largely driven by the artificial intelligence industry, and as evictions citywide are at their highest levels in nearly a decade.

Upcoming Events

Friday, September 11

Chinatown Night Market — September Edition

📍 Grant Avenue (California to Pacific), Chinatown · 5:00 PM

Saturday–Sunday, September 19–20

36th Annual Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival

📍 Grant Avenue (California to Broadway), Chinatown · 11:00 AM–5:00 PM

Saturday, September 26

Nob Hill Association Movie Night: The Sound of Music

📍 Huntington Park, between Taylor and California Streets, Nob Hill · 7:00 PM

Thursday, October 1

Lower Polk / TL Art Walk — First Thursday

📍 Polk and Larkin Streets (between Geary and Bush), Lower Polk / Polk Gulch · 6:00 PM–10:00 PM

Friday, October 9

Chinatown Night Market — Final 2026 Edition

📍 Grant Avenue (California to Pacific), Chinatown · 5:00 PM–9:00 PM

More from the Neighborhood

FITNESS SF Set to Open on Polk Street This Month, Filling the Long-Vacant Lombardi Sports Building

San Francisco's locally owned FITNESS SF gym chain is opening its ninth Bay Area location at 1600 Jackson Street in Polk Gulch — the long-vacant former home of Lombardi Sports at the…

Construction Is Now Under Way at Russian Hill's Former Art Institute, Being Rebuilt as CASA

Construction has begun at 800 Chestnut Street in Russian Hill, where the California Academy of Studio Arts (CASA) is transforming the long-shuttered San Francisco Art Institute campus into a new nonprofit arts…