The new year for 2021 in San Francisco rang in like no other. There were no concerts or events or parties. No fireworks. With COVID cases rising, San Francisco was under a stay-at-home order. It was very, very quiet.
In contrast, here’s a just a partial listing of events in San Francisco that were held to ring in 2020:
Mega New Year’s Eve International Ball San Francisco at the Palace Hotel, Passport to the World New Year's Eve at The Westin St Francis Hotel, Mother of all New Year’s Parties at The Regency Ballroom, Countdown 2020 New Year's Eve San Francisco at Roccapulco, New Year's Eve Massive 2020 at the Parc 55 Hilton Hotel San Francisco, SF New Year's Eve 2020 at the W Hotel, New Year's Eve with Dillon Francis at Fort Mason Center, New Bohemia NYE 2020 at The Mint, New Year's Eve 2020 Masquerade Ball atop the Hotel Via, deadmau5 / CUBE V3 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, New Year's Eve Yacht Party on the SF Belle, New Year Eve Dance Party on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien Battleship, The Claypool Lennon Delirium with Sausage at The Warfield, Portugal. The Man at the Fox Theater, Dead & Company New Year's Eve at the Chase Center, The Black & Gold Soiree Black Cat Jazz Supper Club, Spafford at Great American Music Hall, Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Lakou Mizik at The Fillmore, Lettuce at The Independent, Maceo Parker with Special Guest Candy Dulfer at SFJAZZ Center, Big Blu Soul Revue at the Presidio Social Club, New Year’s Eve Night Watch Sing at GLIDE Memorial Church, Seth Macfarlane and the SF Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, Annual Japanese New Year's Bell-Ringing Ceremony at Asian Art Museum, New Year's Eve Fireworks Ferry Building, Embarcadero
While we didn’t have any celebrations to attend on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day 2021, there were reasons to be hopeful in the start of the new year: The end of the nightmare of the Trump presidency. The hope for a COVID-19 vaccine. Beautiful street art appearing on walls and outdoor dining structures. Big, beautiful bubbles floating down Mason Street on a sunny day. A gorgeous sunset.
Although times are incredibly tough for San Francisco and the nation and the world, the dawn of 2021 brings with it hope for better days ahead.
This artwork titled “dream within a dream” by artist “Pablito” Raiz is on a an outdoor dining structure outside Ace’s bar on Sutter Street.
This new, stunning mural “Full Circle” by Amanda Lynn is on Larkin Street. I have been following Amanda Lynn’s work on the streets of San Francisco for more than 20 years. I swear she just keeps getting better and better!
This very sad Christmas tree scene was just up the street from the Amanda Lynn mural. The City of San Francisco encourages residents to leave their old, unwanted, sad, dead Christmas trees out on the sidewalks. City crews pick them up and turn them into mulch for parks. Trees covered in glitter (or pink paint) are not accepted.
Flamingo art on Bay Street next to a Goodwill store, some pigeons, and some discarded Christmas trees.
This festive miniature winter scene was in a store window in North Beach. I liked how all the figurines were wearing masks.
This very disturbing hand made sign was placed on the corner of Powell Street and Columbus Avenue. You never know what you will find on the streets of San Francisco!
On a grey day, U.S. and Flags of the Republic of China flying over Waverly Place in Chinatown.
Mister Jiu's is a high end restaurant in Chinatown. Last year they erected these outdoor dining booths with green plastic dividers. With outdoor dining shut down by the city, they have closed for the month of January, leaving these empty.
Bargain Bazaar on the corner of Grant Avenue and Sacramento Street was open for business and featured an impressive display of pandas!
An art gallery on Leavenworth Street on Russian Hill had this scary looking figure in the window along with a hand written “I love you” message on the window.
One of the things I just love about San Francisco is the Victorian bay windows. There are thousands of these rounded cornices on buildings all over the older areas of San Francisco. What a great way to frame a corner store!
Festive lights decorated Hyde street weeks long after Christmas had come and gone.
Before the day I took this photograph, I had never walked across Hairy Bridges Plaza without seeing skateboarders. This is their number one hang out spot. They have always been there. Always. Strange times indeed.
Mike Ashe, a.k.a. The San Francisco Bubble Man, is well known around Nob Hill. In a normal year, he would be renting out his bubble extravaganzas for birthdays, corporate picnics, weddings and school events. For the last few months, he’s been bringing his act to city street corners. He sets up a speaker, plays music and lets his giant bubbles fly down the streets. The bubbles are pretty, fun and do a lot to lift spirits.
Scaffolding for renovations to The Clift Hotel cast stark and graphic shadows on Taylor Street.
For years I walked past Galvanized Iron Works on my way to and from work. It was recently gutted and is now under construction. There is very little left to the industrial industries in western SOMA.
Since I don’t work South of Market anymore, I don’t visit very often. When I do, I always encounter something cool, crazy or creative. This was posted on utility box at 7th and Harrison Streets.
With indoor and outdoor dining shut down in San Francisco, to-go containers are everywhere. Here, a discarded plastic container was nicely illuminated by the winter sun.
These two icons from a bygone film era were hanging out in window on Taylor Street.
This mural and grill were outside La Rocca's Corner, a North Beach bar at Columbus and Taylor that's been around since the end of Prohibition.
In the '40s and '50s, everyone went there: fishermen, showgirls, politicos, athletes, celebrities, even mobsters. It was at La Rocca's that Nick DeJohn, a Chicago racketeer, had his last drink in 1947 before he was found stuffed in his car trunk. Joe DiMaggio was a regular.
Any hint of shadiness was long gone during its heyday in the 1960s, when the glitterati and power brokers of the city dropped in, including the Gettys, George Moscone and John Burton. It was also the destination spot for the after-hours crowd from nearby Bimbo's 365, Lido's, the Italian Village and other clubs.
The spot is still classic San Francisco with a nod to its older days with sports posters and mugs shots of Al Capone and other historical Alcatraz tenants on the walls.
With COVID-19 rates rising and hospital capacity becoming more scarce, outdoor dining remained shut down in January. This park outside The Boardroom, a sports bar in North Beach, awaited a lift in the restrictions imposed by the state and city.
This hand made sign was posted outside a gerage down the street from where I live.
Mannequins stand guard in a Macy’s store window on Stockton and O’Farrell Streets. Love has been the theme Macy’s has been promoting throughout the pandemic.
We had some beautiful sunsets this January. This one was taken from Russian Hill on January 15.