SF Park Repeatedly Vandalized After Great Highway Closed to Cars

“Your bringing trouble,” and “bad idea,” loopily spray-painted in blue, were among the ominous messages that greeted walkers, bikers and surfers flocking to the Upper Great Highway on Sunday morning.

Overnight, the roadway-turned-park was vandalized for the second time since it closed to cars on March 14.

The fate of the highway, which has been a thoroughfare between Lake Merced and the Outer Richmond for decades, is controversial — as the tag “gentriffy,” misspelled on the pavement on Sunday morning, might suggest.

Voters passed Proposition K, which closed the 2-mile span to cars permanently, in November. The race divided the city, with most westside residents voting to keep the road open, while neighborhoods farther out opted for closure.

By Sunday evening, volunteers from Friends of Ocean Beach Park, which supported the proposition, and Recreation and Parks department painters had removed all traces of the vandalism, but anger and opposition over the park are only increasing as its official opening draws closer.

Shortly after the election, a group of westside residents launched a recall campaign against their supervisor, Joel Engardio, who represents the Sunset and broke with his neighborhood to support the proposition.

Opponents also filed a lawsuit against the city earlier this month, arguing that the measure was unlawful and asking for the city to halt the closure. The night that the road was officially shut off to cars, the first of 16 temporary artworks being installed in preparation for the park’s April 12 grand opening was defaced with graffiti.

“JOEL LIE$ #RECALL” — a reference to Engardio — was scrawled in what appeared to be the same paint on the highway surface.

Emily Fromm, the artist behind the 60-foot mural that was vandalized, said that she and another artist working at the site were verbally harassed by people opposed to the closure. Her work, “A History of Play,” was restored by volunteers, who Fromm said have stepped up to keep artists company and ward off negative comments from passersby as they work.

“Resorting to vandalism is both counterproductive & frankly, ridiculous,” said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park department in a statement on Sunday, after the second incident. “There are countless constructive ways to engage in conversations about our city’s future, but spray-painting public spaces isn’t one of them.”

A spokesperson for the Recreation and Park department said that it would be stepping up official park ranger patrols in the area.

Lucas Lux, who leads Friends of Ocean Beach Park, said that thousands of people were visiting the oceanfront weekly and that support remains strong.

“Destructive behavior by a few won’t get in the way of our work to make the coast enjoyable and accessible by all,” he said in a statement.

Despite the backlash, Rec and Park is making progress on the transformation of the space, including selecting a name for the park. A spokesperson said the department received more than 4,000 entries and is preparing for a community event on the official opening day next month.