Riot-level force at Pride goes viral — and meanwhile, the city is trying to freeze 75 buildings in bronze. Reform, meet San Francisco friction. This is San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily, Thursday. Today: what SFPD actually put in writing to justify that show of force — and whether landmarking 75 sites is preservation or a stall. Mark, you've been circling that landmark story all week. Circling? I've been sharpening. Start me there. If today's show was useful, follow us wherever you're listening — the next one will be waiting. The San Francisco Standard's George Kelly and Michael McLaughlin are tracking this. So the videos are out now — riot-level posture at Turk and Taylor during Pride weekend. And here's what the department keeps missing: once enforcement goes viral, you've already lost the argument, no matter what the policy justification says. The Standard pulled these clips together and put them next to the supervisor scrutiny. And I keep coming back to the where — Turk and Taylor, in the Transgender District, steps from the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria site, per The Dissent. Of all the corners in this city to stage a show of force during Pride. That corner was a choice. And the answer I want is the one on paper: what was SFPD's written justification for that deployment? Right — and Supervisor Fielder's letter set a July 14 deadline for Lurie, Chief Lew, and Controller Wagner to respond. So now we're waiting to see whether Lew has actually answered it yet. Adam Brinklow, writing in The Frisc:
In recent months, City Hall has decided to do both. Via last year’s Family Zoning Plan, lawmakers and Mayor Daniel Lurie have opened huge swaths of the city to taller buildings and denser residential tracts, knowing that new homes will require extensively altering or knocking down many existing structures. But they’ve also agreed to landmark dozens or possibly hundreds of sites, a designation that greatly limits the possibility of new homes on those sites if they require alteration or demolition.
Seventy-five sites, per The Frisc. Same City Hall that passed the Family Zoning Plan last year to open half the city to denser housing is now slapping historic plaques on dozens of buildings that block exactly that. You can't floor it and stomp the brake in the same breath. Landmark a site, and any developer who wants to alter or demolish it is suddenly in a decade of hearings. The Frisc doesn't lump them together, though — green, yellow, red. Some of these are genuine historical assets, Mark. The first Presidio in 1776 was adobe and literally melted in the fog. We've gotten better at knowing what's worth keeping. I'd start with the overlap: which of the 75 sit on parcels that were otherwise candidates for infill housing. If you follow City Hall, you may also like California Governor's Race — daily 2026 race coverage on candidates, polling, debates, fundraising, and policy for voters who want more than horse-race takes. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
What we’re watching next: Supervisor Jackie Fielder has asked for answers by July 14 from Mayor Daniel Lurie, Police Chief Derrick Lew, and City Controller Greg Wagner.
You’ll find links to every story from today’s briefing in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, you can dig into the sources there. That’s San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.