Rob AriasOur bi-weekly newsletter for this period includes five stories related to Emeryville including:
- A diverter was recently added to Horton at 53rd as part of the Emery Yards Project
- The vibrant bench on Spur Alley was dismantled reportedly following issues with homelessness
- A Trump attack ad linking Kamala Harris to a murder case that rocked Emeryville and Oakland is being criticized
- Longtime Emeryville business INNA Jam announced they would be ceasing operations within a year
- ICYMI: Gig Car Share is phasing out service
Diverter Unveiled at Emery Yards Project
Drivers attempting to cut through Horton Street might be surprised by the recent installation of diverter between 53rd and Stanford.
The diverter creates a small plaza area that links the parcels of the vast BioMed Realty “Emery Yards” project (FKA Emeryville Center of Innovation). The plaza is equipped with bollards, planters, seating and a colorful street mural by artist Mila Moldenhawer.
The installation of the diverter at the location came as a bit of a surprise to some as it was shown in a different location in the vehicular circulation documents of the approved Final Development Plan (page 104).
“The concept of a diverter on Horton was included in planning documents,” provided the City of Emeryville Senior Civil Engineer. “But the details of how it was to be constructed were part of the project development process and not described during the project approval process.”
Those traveling south on Horton will need to adjust as continuing across Standford will hit a dead end and require a three-point turn to back out.
Horton is designated Bicycle Boulevard making reducing traffic counts an objective.
10/21 Update: The City Engineer confirmed that this action was in response to the cumulative traffic generated by the Emery Yards and The Emery Housing Development projects.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2024
Trump Attack Ad Blasts Harris for Death of Journalist Chauncey Bailey
A Trump attack ad being run in battleground states is blasting the record of rival Presidential candidate and East Bay-born Kamala Harris. The ad criticizes her time as DA in San Francisco saying she has “blood on her hands” for the 2007 killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey.
Emeryville and North Oakland played pivotal rolls in the crime as the killer worked at the Your Black Muslim Bakery on San Pablo Ave and the nearby Emeryville IHOP is where the killers gathered following Bailey’s killing.
We covered this story in depth on the 10-year anniversary of Bailey’s murder.
Bailey’s killer, Devaughndre Broussard, was among a group of men who assaulted and robbed a man on Muni in October, 2005. Broussard served a year as part of a plea deal with the San Francisco DAs office. He ended up killing Bailey on August 2, 2007 while on probation (Broussard also confessed to a separate killing in North Oakland just weeks earlier). The father of the man assaulted on Muni later blamed Harris for Bailey’s death.
While true that Harris was the SF DA at the time of Broussard’s conviction, Pulitzer-winning journalist Thomas Peele argues that since Broussard was a first-time offender, the plea deal he reached was standard and it’s unlikely Harris was directly involved in the case.
Peele also argues that since Broussard was effectively just a hitman in the murder ordered by Your Black Muslim Bakery owner Yusuf Bey IV, someone else would have ended up killing Bailey regardless. Peele wrote in depth on the subject in his 2012 book Killing the Messenger.
The ad has touched on a larger conversation involving the role of the DAs office in reducing criminal recidivism. Criminal Justice Reform activists have been critical of Harris as a DA saying she was too tough on crime.
Popular Spur Alley Bench Disassembled Following Issues with Homeless
The vibrantly colored bench along otherwise grey Spur Alley has sadly been disassembled. The bench was located on private property and no reason was given for its removal.
According to many residents, a homeless man had recently set up camp at the bench. Many commenters expressed support for him describing him as “respectful” and harmless.
Others told a different story.
“He was pooping under it … unfortunately, we saw happening,” described another commenter. “I knew then that someone was going to do something. The next day one of my clients told me that they saw someone taking the bench down.”
INNA Jam Ceasing Operations After 15 years
Longtime Emeryville business INNA Jam near Doyle Hollis Park announced that they were ceasing operations after 15 years.
In a instagram post addressed to customers, founder Dafna Kory made the announcement writing “all good things must come to an end.”
Kory begam making jams in 2009 and founded INNA a year later. They moved to their Emeryville location in 2012. They eventually branched out to pickling and syrups.
Kory did not provide any specific reasons for the closure saying business was good but that that is was hard work and “time for me to change gears and make space in my life for other things.”
INNA will continue to offer their products for the next 12 months.
GIG Car Share to cease service in December citing decreased demand and rising costs
ICYMI, Gig Car Share announced that they would be discontinuing service.
“Despite our best efforts, there have been challenges — primarily around decreased demand, rising operational costs, and changes to consumer commuting patterns,” the company provided to the media back in July.
Gig’s signature blue and black cars equipped with roof racks were a favorite to those that shun car ownership or looking to slim down to a single car household.
Their final day was announced as December 27, 2024 but many of the Bay Area locations are already phased out.
