With "Friends" Like These...

A group called the "Friends of Mason Street" has formed to protest the potential closure of a tiny block of Mason Street at Columbus Avenue in North Beach


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The section of street above would be converted to open space and the library moved into an expanded facility at the corner, where the weird little triangle island currently sits. In their poorly-formatted web page, the 'Friends' paint a bleak picture:

Imagine over 5,000 additional vehicles pushed onto surrounding streets daily, battling for space with other cars, MUNI buses & cable cars, school buses, neighborhood delivery vehicles, patrons of neighborhood businesses,neighbors and their guests, tourist buses, taxis, bicycles, and pedestrians of every type - from school kids to senior citizens. -Friends of Mason Street

Clearly these 150 feet of asphalt are key to preventing the pedestrian paradise that is North Beach from being overrun by thousands of cars. Oh wait...

Personally, I wonder how the apparently silent majority of North Beach residents who aren't dependent on cars would appreciate the slower traffic and increased open space. If you're interested, you may want to vote in their totally neutrally-worded "Community Survey."