spoiler
A San Francisco restaurant owner is undergoing a 30-day hunger strike to protest a new bike lane he says is destroying businesses.
While the decision may seem extreme, 41-year-old Eiad Eltawil said he felt it was necessary after the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency refused to address the Mission District neighborhood’s complaints about a 12-month trial bike lane. After 11 days of sleeping outside and not eating, he Eltawil says he’s lost about 15 pounds.
"Yesterday was an extremely tough day, my stomach really, just in extreme pain,"Eltawil told USA TODAY on Thursday. “Before that I was doing OK. But I’m willing to do it. I really want people to know all my suffering I’m going through.”
Eltawil said he isn’t just his fighting for his family, which owns the Yasmin Mediterranean restaurant and the Rossi Mission SF artwork store, but several others he says are being hurt by the bike lane. He also intends to pursue legal action against the city.
Since launching in August, the bike lane has created a parking deficit on Valencia Street by removing 70 spaces, according to attorney Jim Quadra, who is representing Eltawil. The implementation has also shortened the amount of time drivers can use the remaining spots, some of which have a five-minute time limit.
At least 10 businesses on the street have closed and Quadra said he expects that number to rise to 15 before the trial period ends. The lane has also eliminated all left turns on Valencia, creating more traffic congestion.
“If you’re going to come all the way to a neighborhood like Valencia, if you don’t have parking, it’s impossible,” Eltawil said. “Five minutes is not going to do it. No left turns makes confusion, a lot of accidents. It’s just become very undesirable.”
The street has also seen an increase in accidents, near misses and some serious collisions, Quadra said. Additionally deliveries to the businesses have become nearly impossible.
“You have these trucks to deliver for restaurants and other shops and if they pull over, they’re basically blocking traffic,” Quadra said. “It’s a complete mess that was created.”
Even more frustrating and dangerous than the lane itself is the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s lack to communicate, Eltawil said, adding that he’s tried talking to people in person at the office and at City Hall.
“They refuse to communicate,” he said. “Every time you send an email, they’ll send you a generic answer every single time with no forward.”
Small business consultant Kevin Ortiz, who represents Eltawil’s restaurant, also accused the agency of taking six to seven months to provide businesses with basic permits for things like outdoor seating or clothing racks, which he said is “unacceptable.”
Eltawil said other business owners choose not to speak up due to fear of retaliation so decided he’s going to raise awareness through his outdoor protest.
“All I want to do is my hunger strike and duty and try to let people know what’s going on,” he said.
The Municipal Transportation Agency said officials have spoken to stakeholders on Valencia and will use their feedback to inform the design of the bike lane.
“Our outreach and collaboration will continue through the spring, as we work on solutions that best protect both businesses and bicyclists on the corridor,” the agency said in a statement to USA TODAY.
So I hang out in this neighborhood/street often, talked to a bunch of people about it, and this is a rare situation where literally everybody hates this new center of the road bike lane
Bicyclists hate it because a bike lane in the middle of the road is obviously dangerous af both riding straight and turning at intersections and also annoying to get off of
Business owners hate it because it’s lowered traffic due to less parking spots and increased difficulty in getting off the road onto the sidewalks for both cyclists and drivers
Drivers hate it because they can’t u-turn or overtake anymore and cyclists always have to cross them at intersections
The people who made this decision have provided 0 evidence that this design is in any way better than just standard bike lanes beside the curbs and quite a few people have been hit because of this design
It’s almost like public works projects in capitalist countries are intentionally done badly in order to convince people that public works projects are better handled by the free market™
Meanwhile I’m guessing this “public” work was actually handled by a private contractor who offered to do it the cheapest (therefore barebones and shitty) way
You do not have the constitutional right to a profitable business and you don’t get to reverse a vote by whining (and then probably just eating as much as he wants when nobody is looking)
Imagine complaining about your self inflicted hunger while there is an actual homeless epidemic and people dying of hunger not by choice
Fuck this whiney privileged loser. Get the fuck over yourself.
This poor kulak will have to see increased foot traffic to his low-cost restaurant. The entire reason I don’t go to my local equivalents of this place is that the biking infrastructure is terrible and a falafel plate isn’t worth driving a congested road with hazardous parking for. I avoid our downtown core largely because no amount of increased parking stems the increased flow of car traffic looking for a spot, while a lack of bike lanes which are also opposed by our kulaks means I’m not risking biking there. The buses are stuck on the congested roads and we can’t rebuild the lightrail because they tore it out for the street parking there isn’t enough of.
There are many valid, noble causes to go on a hunger strike for, and you chose this?