A Digital Journal - San Francisco Public Works
In the Works
November 2025
Flooding issues and poor soil at the home of the San Francisco Police Department’s Mounted Unit have been a burr in the saddle for police horses and staff, alike. But a Public Works-led project is looking to improve conditions for one of the longest serving mounted police units in the country.
Jan. 8, 1900, was the day the City of San Francisco officially marked the beginning of the San Francisco Board of Public Works through legislation that would usher in an era of cleaner streets and safer infrastructure for the residents of the City.
Today, we're known as San Francisco Public Works and we continue to provide many of the same programs and services that we did 125 years ago – while facing many of the same challenges.
Take a trip through our history with many rare images from early in the 20th century, which trace the development of Public Works and the City of San Francisco.
FEATURE STORIES
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Hallidie Plaza Gets a Deep Clean
A multitude of Public Works crews converged on Hallidie Plaza this month to conduct a special operation – pulling years’ worth of sludge and grime from beneath the metal drainage grates, steam cleaning the well-traveled brick and granite surfaces and wiping out graffiti tags.
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Hold
Your
Horses
Home for Iconic Mounted Police Unit
Gets Much-Needed Makeover
A police horse kicks up dust outside the Fred C. Egan Police Stables in Golden Gate Park.
Life’s a beach for Ozzie, Gus and Bubba.
And that’s a problem.
In the western end of Golden Gate Park, between grazing bison and polo fields, the San Francisco Police Department’s Mounted Unit, the second oldest of its kind in the country, has its stables. There, police horses, like Ozzie, Gus and Bubba, eat, sleep and train.
Much like people, horses have different personality quirks – some are shy, some are not.
But the sand brought in from Ocean Beach years ago to cover much of the grounds has been giving them issues.
“That type of sand does not drain well,” said Public Works Project Manager Tony Abuyaghi, who is helping oversee an overhaul of the site. “It’s not good for the horses in general.”
In years past, the site has not only had issues with flooding, but the poor footing conditions have also made for a hazardous work environment for the mounted police unit.
The imprint of a horse hoof in the sand. Much of the grounds at the stables are covered with sand brought in from Ocean Beach years ago.
“It’s not adequate for the horses and they get injured a lot of the times,” Abuyaghi said. “And not just horses, but also humans – the caretakers, visitors to the site. It’s not ideal.”
A Public Works-led project aims to fix the drainage issues at the paddock area of the stables. The hope is that in the future – once more funding becomes available – additional drainage upgrades can be made to the adjacent arena where the horses train.
The stables in Golden Gate Park, along with a paddock area and arena, are where the police horses eat, sleep and train.
For now, construction crews have been busy with the paddock area, working to regrade the site to funnel stormwater runoff toward an existing catch basin. In the past, Public Works Bureau of Building and Street Repair teams have been dispatched to unclog the pipes whenever they become caked with sand and muck.
An aerial view of the grounds during construction.
Once the site improvements are completed, there hopefully won’t be a need for those types of maintenance cleanouts anymore, Abuyaghi said. Not only will the new grade help direct stormwater runoff toward the catch basin, but the improved permeability of the new soil will prevent ponding.
Once the regrading is complete, crews will reconfigure the ground in layers, starting with drain rock at the bottom, followed by specialized, so-called geogrid mats, pea gravel and then clean sand on top. The work also will include replacing some existing pipes.
Once the work is complete, flooding and ponding issues should no longer plague the regraded and reconfigured soil.
The ground-stabilizing geogrid mats used for this project are specifically meant for horses, said Public Works engineer Brian Chau, who is helping manage construction on the project.
Due to a busy summer concert season in Golden Gate Park this year, the construction timeline was moved back a bit. Work on the project started in early September and is expected to wrap up next month. The effort is a race against time with crews jockeying to finish work before the winter season’s heaviest rains arrive.
“We’re fighting against the weather,” Abuyaghi said.
The mounted unit currently has six horses, but staff are always on the lookout for suitable candidates to add to the roster.
It’s not every day that Public Works renovates grounds for police horses, but Abuyaghi said the team at the Police Department has made for an excellent partner, moving horses around when needed and helping crews get the access they need.
“They’ve been super accommodating to make things work for the project, for the contractor,” he said. “They’ve been just really spot on.”
‘An Iconic Part of San Francisco History’
A visit from the vet was on the itinerary on a recent fall morning at the stables and Cinco, one of six police horses living there, needed to fast beforehand. He was growing hangry.
“He’s trying to eat his rope and he’s just, like, neighing really loud and being a total drama queen,” said Sgt. Theresa SanGiacomo, who leads the mounted unit. The hope was that a walk would distract him.
Few know the horses better than SanGiacomo. “They are all so different from one another,” she said, ticking off their personalities.
Police horses play an important role in the department’s community outreach efforts.
Bubba is “an absolute cuddle bug.” If a golden retriever could be a horse, that would be Ozzie. Some are mischievous. Others very stoic. And that day, Cinco was hangry.
“They all have such quirky personalities that they vibe with different humans differently,” SanGiacomo said. “They’re very sensitive creatures, these horses.”
Celebrating its 150th anniversary last year, the San Francisco Police Department’s mounted unit has been continuously operating since 1874 – the second-longest stint in America after New York City.
Police horses and officers on horseback have been a part of San Francisco since 1874.
“It’s just an iconic part of San Francisco history,” SanGiacomo said. “And then there’s the whole community outreach aspect of the entire unit.”
In many ways the horses offer a natural opening for the community and officers to connect – even for people who may not ordinarily want to approach or talk to cops.
“It is a foot in the door to a conversation with people who don’t like you,” SanGiacomo said. “And if that can happen one time a day, with some San Franciscan somewhere, then all of it is worth it.”
The officers on horseback and their steeds supplement patrols all over the City and can be seen patrolling areas such as The Embarcadero, Marina Green, The Palace of Fine Arts, China Basin, McLaren Park, Golden Gate Park, Castro Street, Union Square, Japantown, Pier 39 and more.
The department’s mounted unit patrols areas and neighborhoods across San Francisco.
Their height offers officers a clear view of crowds and their conspicuous presence is a major crime deterrent. But they also visit schools and show up for every big parade.
To SanGiacomo, her team and the horses, the improvement project at the stables is “a big deal.”
Not only is the beach sand problematic for the horses’ tendons, but after some 25 years it has been “pummeled into absolute dust,” she said.
Proper drainage when it rains will mean the horses aren’t standing in a “swamp” that softens their hooves.
Police horse Bubba recovers after a vet visit.
“They’re similar to human fingernails,” SanGiacomo explained. “So when you get out of the shower and your fingernails are soft – it's like that but ad nauseum for them. And then they get abscesses in their feet and then they can’t go out on patrol.”
The beach sand and the drainage issues go hand in hand, SanGiacomo added. She is grateful they’re both being addressed. “It’s part and parcel of the same problem.”
While its scope and scale may be on the smaller side, Abuyaghi agreed that the project has an outsized impact.
“To know we’re going to help the horses live better and for their safety – to me that’s rewarding,” he said. “It’s not just about the site drainage but just making sure they’re comfortable to live there. I mean, this is their home, right?”
BY THE NUM83R5
PUBLIC WORKS
2025 -YEAR TO DATE (through end of October 2025)
9,059
POTHOLES
FILLED
10,891
TREES
PRUNED
936
CURB RAMPS
CONSTRUCTED
499
NUMBER OF BLOCKS RESURFACED
19,527
TONS OF DEBRIS COLLECTED
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Volunteers shore up a new street tree on Tehama Street with stakes and a cross brace.
Branching Out: A Tree Revival
Comes to SoMa and the Tenderloin
San Francisco’s urban forest is getting a meaningful boost – thanks to residents who want greener streets and San Francisco Public Works crews determined to make it happen.
More than 40 neighborhood volunteers joined forces with Public Works gardeners and certified arborists to plant 15 new street trees in the South of Market. For many, the Nov. 15 planting workday was more than a beautification effort; it was an act of environmental justice.
Teresa Dulalas, a community leader with SOMA Pilipinas, helped organize the event.
“This is a very important day,” she said, her voice enveloped by the thwack-thwack-thwack of volunteers on Clementina Street hammering nails into the trees’ protective cross braces and stakes. “We have one of the lowest tree canopies in the City. We’re in a freeway corridor and we need more trees to bring cleaner air and a healthier environment to SoMa.”
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Young volunteers help at the South of Market tree-planting workday.
Public Works Director Carla Short underscored the far-reaching benefits of urban greenery: cooling overheated neighborhoods, absorbing carbon dioxide, providing habitat for pollinators, calming traffic and even reducing violence − all backed by studies.
“They make our central neighborhoods safer and more inviting,” said Short, a trained arborist. “But Public Works can’t keep these trees healthy alone. We need neighbors to help steward them so they thrive for generations.”
Public Works is prioritizing plantings in communities that historically have lacked canopy cover.
“Every San Franciscan deserves access to green, shaded, healthy streets,” Short said. “We’re building a more equitable, climate-resilient city, one tree at a time.”
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Public Works crews check the depth of the hole where a sapling will take root.
The Bureau of Urban Forestry has renewed its partnerships with residents in SoMa, the Tenderloin and beyond to bring more trees to streets where conditions can be challenging. Narrow sidewalks, fire escapes, underground utilities, vandalism and ADA accessibility requirements often limit where young trees can grow.
While Public Works does not want to plant trees where their survival would be at significant risk due to inhospitable site conditions, the department is committed to identifying locations that can work.
Public Works Urban Forestry Superintendent David Moore and Urban Forester Chris Buck spent the fall walking blocks with neighbors in the South of Market to identify suitable planting spots for new street trees around Eighth and Folsom streets.
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Public Works crews and community volunteers came out on Nov. 15 to plant 15 new street trees in the South of Market, including this Chinese flowering fringetree.
Moore was energized by what he saw.
“Everyone is rolling up their sleeves to get the job done,” he said, as volunteers behind him heaved the trees from their 15-gallon growing buckets into their new forever homes, carefully covering each root ball with nutrient-enriched soil. “People are even decorating the protective cross braces, making these trees unmistakably theirs.”
He hopes that personal connection helps prevent vandalism and builds a sense of shared ownership.
“These are the community’s trees,” Moore said. “We want this to be the beginning of many more stewardship collaborations.”
Thanks to major federal and state investments, San Francisco can now accelerate planting in neighborhoods with the least canopy cover − including Bayview-Hunters Point, the Mission, Chinatown, SoMa and the Tenderloin.
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A volunteer builds a cross brace to protect the young street tree.
Highlights include:
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$12 million federal grant to plant 3,500 trees in disadvantaged, low-canopy census tracts
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More than $7 million in workforce development planting and watering grants with local nonprofits, an initiative that creates green jobs while planting 1,800 trees and maintaining up to 3,000 young trees in equity-priority neighborhoods over the next two years
Earlier this month, Public Works staff and the nonprofit, Friends of the Urban Forest, met with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District (CBD) to scout sites where trees previously failed due to vandalism or lack of care.
“We love greenery and we need more trees,” Cyntia Salazar of the Tenderloin CBD said as she checked out tree basins on Larkin Street. “We’re excited to identify new planting locations and revive basins where trees didn’t make it.”
Both the Tenderloin CBD and the SOMA West CBD – two nonprofits supported by property owners in their areas – have committed to helping monitor young trees. They will check for browning leaves, replace broken stakes and make sure new plantings get the water they need. SOMA West CBD has pledged to water all 15 newly planted trees in the South of Market for their full three-year establishment period. Watering is the most expensive component of adding new street trees due to the labor it requires.
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Tree protection is key to helping a sapling survive in the early growing years.
At the Nov. 15 event, community member Johnny Rodriguez of the San Francisco LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District offered a sage blessing for the new saplings on Tehama Street − a symbolic gesture wishing them a long life and strong roots.
“We use smoke as an offering,” he said, “carrying our prayers up to the ancestors so these trees will thrive.”
Behind the scenes, Public Works brought together the Bureau of Urban Forestry inspection, Cement Shop and arborist teams to prepare basins and remove long-dead stumps. District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey joined volunteers during the planting celebration.
“I’m so grateful for this new partnership,” said Alex Ludlum, executive director of the SOMA West CBD. “It’s a great day for SoMa.”
Want to Help a Tree Thrive?
If you’d like to volunteer as a tree steward in SoMa or the Tenderloin, email: streettreenursery@sfdpw.org or volunteer@sfdpw.org.
Public Works crews remove gunk from beneath the drainage grates at Hallidie Plaza.
Hallidie Plaza
Gets a Deep Clean
A multitude of Public Works crews converged on Hallidie Plaza this month to conduct a special operation – pulling years’ worth of sludge and grime from beneath the metal drainage grates, steam cleaning the well-traveled brick and granite surfaces and wiping out graffiti tags.
The three-day operation at the downtown plaza ran from Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 and was completed in time for the start of the busy holiday season.
Our team included plumbers, stationary engineers, street cleaners and graffiti busters. Augmenting their work were crews from the Union Square Alliance and Mid Market Community Benefit District, two nonprofits in the area that run programs focused on cleaning, beautifying and activating the neighborhood.
Public Works’ government affairs and community engagement teams helped organize the special operation, which took extensive planning and coordination to minimize impacts on the public.
Using shovels, hoes, brooms and other tools, crews tackle the Hallidie Plaza drains.
The collaborative work between Public Works and the nonprofits shows the importance of partnerships.
The top of the three-tiered plaza is adjacent to the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets; the lower level provides access to the Powell Street BART and Muni Metro station, which is used by thousands of transit riders a day.
Hallidie Plaza – named after Andrew Hallidie, the inventor of the cable car – opened in 1973 to serve the new underground train station.
The Public Works team that worked the Hallidie Plaza operation.
While cleaning crews are at the site every day, this month’s targeted operation went above and beyond the routine, with the primary focus on cleaning out the drains that get clogged with trash and dirt. Poor drainage leads to standing pools of water and unpleasant odors. The team used hand tools to remove the built-up sludge and then flushed the drains with high-pressure water to get the job done.
Our plan now is to conduct a deep-cleaning operation at Hallidie Plaza on an annual basis.
A Bureau of Urban Forestry worker loads a downed tree into a chipper.
Stormy
WeatheR
November ushered in a new series of winter rains and gusty winds that puts Public Works at the forefront of the City’s storm response.
We work closely with the Department of Emergency Management, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Fire Department and other City departments on a coordinated storm-response operation.
Our No. 1 priority remains public safety.
Key to our response work is the Public Works Radio Room, a 24/7 operation that triages all requests that come in from 911 and 311 and relays them to the appropriate staff.
For example, a flooded intersection goes to our Street Environmental Services crews who hustle to clear storm drains; a gaping sinkhole goes to our asphalt crews who cone off the hazard and start roadway repairs; a hillslide goes to our engineers who assess the risk and develop a plan to make the area safe; and a downed tree goes to our Bureau of Urban Forestry crews.
Public Works crews clear a blocked storm drain on Mission Street.
Public Works also operates a courtesy sandbag distribution, providing up to 10 free sandbags to San Francisco residents and businesses whose properties are prone to localized flooding.
Sandbags are available from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Operations Yard. Enter at the Marin Street and Kansas Street gate. More information at sfpublicworks.org/services/sandbags.
Public Works provides free sandbags for San Francisco residents and businesses.
The department’s graffiti abatement crew, which can’t perform its regular work when it rains, helps with the sandbag operation.
This type of response is at the core of what we do at Public Works in service to the people of San Francisco.
Our crews keep busy removing leaves and litter from storm drains.
Members of the community can help, too. Please sweep up leaves and litter in front of your homes and businesses to help keep the storm drains clear. And report non-emergency storm-related concerns, such as a fallen tree blocking a sidewalk or a clogged storm drain, to 311 so we can address the problem. For emergencies that threaten public safety, including downed power lines, a significant landslide or a tree-related injury, please call 911.
There’s a lot more winter to come. Let’s work together to stay safe.
Stationary engineer John La Monte not only resets the time, but he also changes the light bulbs on the public clocks.
All Hands on Deck
Twice a year, just like clockwork, our stationary engineers head to Market Street with their tall ladder to reset the three towering public clocks to align with the start and end of daylight saving time.
This year, the clocks had to be set back an hour for the pre-dawn time change on Nov. 2.
Twice a year, Public Works stationary engineers reset the Market Street clocks.
Public Works is the keeper of the 1970s-era bronze street clocks along Market Street – located at Drumm Street, O’Farrell Street and Sutter Street.
They make sure the clocks provide the correct time for people passing by, gently using their own hands to move the clocks’ hands. Each of the timepieces has four faces, which, most would agree, is better than being two-faced. Who likes a clock that isn’t sincere?
The clocks get some extra TLC at the start and end of daylight saving time.
The stationary engineers will be clocking back in for timepiece duty in about four months, when daylight saving time starts again on March 8. A tradition, indeed, but not a timeless one.
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It takes a team effort to remove invasive ivy from a public staircase.
#LoveOurCity
The final Love Our City: Neighborhood Beautification Day event of the 2025 season drew nearly 140 community volunteers who worked alongside our crews to green and clean North Beach, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill and other District 3 neighborhoods.
It was one of the biggest turnouts of the year for our foremost monthly volunteer event. And there was a lot of great work that got done on the Nov. 8 workday. The teams planted trees, pruned and weeded, removed graffiti, picked up litter and more.
Supervisor Danny Sauter, who represents the northeastern neighborhoods, helped kick off the day. We also honored high school student James Kitaguchi, who attends Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, as this month’s NBD (Neighborhood Beautification Day) All-Star for being a stalwart volunteer.
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Planting street trees is a favorite activity at Neighborhood Beautification Day events.
This year, more than 1,000 people combined came out for the 11 Neighborhood Beautification Days, which rotate through a different supervisorial district, January through November. Collectively, that added up to 3,595 hours of volunteer time. Public Works thanks all the participants who stepped up to give back to their communities.
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Volunteers sweep up leaves and litter during the community workday.
We’ll be back in January for a new season of Love Our City: Neighborhood Beautification Day. We’ll announce next year’s calendar next month and some changes are in the works that we think folks will enjoy. But you don’t have to wait until January to get involved. Check out all our volunteer opportunities at sfpublicworks.org/volunteer.