The Chinatown community is feeling blindsided by news of a proposed sober living facility. Now the mayor is acknowledging the lack of communication and assuring the public no plans have been finalized.
Eva Lee, chairperson for the Chinatown Merchant’s Association says she learned about Mayor London Breed’s proposal last week by reading about it in a newspaper.
“It couldn’t have happened at a worse time, in the middle of Chinese New Year,” said the lifelong Chinatown resident. “I was alarmed. It was a little unsettling.”
The 150-bed North Beach hotel at 935 Kearny St. will house those who have been clean for a year, in hopes residents can maintain sobriety. Lee understands the need for solutions, but believes there are better locations than the densely populated intersection of commerce and tourism.
She points out how a few doors down from the hotel is a bar. The other direction, there’s a liquor store.
“Chinatown is suffering already. We’ve been through the pandemic, the lack of tourism, the anti-Asian hate…we don’t need this right now, we’re suffering enough.”