{"id":1850,"date":"2025-10-13T16:54:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1850\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T16:54:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:54:25","slug":"day-213-at-the-16th-st-plaza-camaraderie-on-capp-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1850\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 213 at the 16th St. Plaza: Camaraderie on Capp Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can see all the 16th Street posts\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Federico and Anthony, both in their late 40s, looked like they had known each other forever. But really they had just met today, on the corner of 16th and Capp streets. They formed a San Francisco postcard, leaning back against a sun-soaked brick wall, laughing softly with quiet ease.<\/p>\n

That was until a glass pipe slipped out of Anthony\u2019s hands and shattered on the pavement.<\/p>\n

Anthony is a San Francisco native with a debilitating fentanyl addiction, he told Mission Local. Over the past few years, he has struggled to get clean six times but never managed to stay sober for more than a month. He used to love the Mission but he\u2019s getting tired of it \u2014 it feels impossible to stay clean when drugs are so accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been writing down baby steps \u2014 baby goals \u2014 to try to achieve them,\u201d he said. His feet began to tap a frenzied rhythm on the sidewalk, and he swayed as he ran his hands through his hair. When asked what his goals were, Anthony said he wanted to go to the DMV on Monday to apply for a driver\u2019s license, and that he wanted to open a bank account so that he could start applying for jobs. Fentanyl is expensive.<\/p>\n

Federico watched him, only his gray eyes visible: He wore a handkerchief over his mouth, and a bright red beanie pulled low over his eyebrows. His voice was a painful rasp from the dehydration of smoking crystal meth, a habit he picked up after his mother passed away a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was depressed. She could live for a 100 years but I\u2019d still miss her every day,\u201d he said. \u201cI enjoy crystal meth but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d call myself addicted.\u201d His habits paint a different picture, however.<\/p>\n

Whatever he earns, he spends on drugs, getting high \u201cmaybe two, three times a week,\u201d and on rent. He shares a low-income studio on 15th and Mission with three cats, and works as an assistant at a nursing home and a chef at a SoMa homeless shelter.<\/p>\n

As Federico talked, Anthony suddenly bent over in the stupor characteristic of fentanyl users. He began dancing around the sidewalk awkwardly. His hands trembled. His dose was taking effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Federico had his eyes trained on a police car that made its way down Capp Street, but it passed without incident.<\/p>\n

As Anthony devoured a prepackaged glazed doughnut with a fresh banana inserted through the center, Federico described the origins of their friendship \u2014 just earlier this morning. Anthony had seen Federico on the street and called out for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be homeless 10 years ago. I know what life is like on the streets here,\u201d said Federico. \u201cNow I work and I share a little of what I earn with my friends. Life has truly changed.\u201d .<\/p>\n

Since he usually picks up night shifts, every other day Federico likes to walk around the Mission District, meeting people, making friends and helping out wherever he can.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of affection for the people here,\u201d Federico said as he and Anthony ambled away, leaving that part of Capp Street empty.<\/p>\n

Capp Street<\/p>\n

\"A5:03 p.m. 10\/10, Capp Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n

Wiese Street<\/p>\n

\"A10:02 a.m. 10\/10, Wiese Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"A4:49 p.m. 10\/10, Wiese Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n

Julian Avenue<\/p>\n

\"A10:03 a.m. 10\/10, Julian Avenue, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"A4:50 p.m. 10\/10, Julian Avenue, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n

Caledonia Street<\/p>\n

\"A10:04 a.m. 10\/10, Caledonia Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"A4:51 p.m. 10\/10, Caledonia Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n

Southwest Plaza<\/p>\n

\"Urban10:24 a.m. 10\/10, southwest plaza on 16th Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"People4:46 p.m. 10\/10, 16th St. and Mission across the southwest plaza, Photo by Anusha Subramanian \"A4:47 p.m. 10\/10, southwest plaza on 16th Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n

Northeast Plaza<\/p>\n

\"People10:26 a.m. 10\/10, northeast plaza on 16th Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"A4:45 p.m. 10\/10, northeast plaza on 16th Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian\"16th4:46 p.m. 10\/10, northeast plaza on 16th Street, Photo by Anusha Subramanian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You can see all the 16th Street posts\u00a0here. Federico and Anthony, both in their late 40s, looked like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2673,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-16th-st-plaza-cleanup","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}