{"id":191884,"date":"2026-02-24T20:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191884\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:43:11","slug":"chyanne-chen-caught-in-the-middle-a-turf-war-at-crocker-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191884\/","title":{"rendered":"Chyanne Chen caught in the middle a turf war at Crocker Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ballfields at Crocker Amazon park at the southernmost edge of McLaren Park have seen better days. Gopher holes and soggy turf routinely keep the diamonds closed for well over a month during the wet spring months. When, in 2025, San Francisco\u2019s parks department announced a $45 million project to revamp the park \u2014 split 50\/50 between<\/a> the San Francisco Giants<\/a> and the city\u2019s 2020 Health and Recovery Bond<\/a> \u2014 officials expected gratitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, they got a fight. A group called Keep Crocker Real is pressuring local officials to vote down the renovation plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their beef: In the proposal, the new ballfields have synthetic turf instead of real grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the officials in their crosshairs: The Rec and Park Commission, which will vote on\u00a0 whether to greenlight the renovation plan in the coming months. The Board of Supervisors, which has final approval. Supervisor Chyanne Chen, whose district includes Crocker Amazon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chen said her inbox is flooded with emails about the turf war. She\u2019s routinely approached by people both in her district and citywide, passionately arguing their case. But she doesn\u2019t have much \u2014\u00a0if any \u2014\u00a0 control over the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Representatives of the Recreation and Parks Department have not offered a version of the Crocker Amazon revamp that does not include synthetic turf, meaning that anyone who votes against the plan is not only voting down 20 acres of synthetic turf, but the entire rebuilding project.<\/p>\n

Keep Crocker Real formed shortly after Rec & Park released the plan. While some live in District 11, several of its key members hail from other districts \u2014\u00a0including Bob Hall (the Panhandle in District 5), Susan Mullaney (Inner Sunset in District 7) and Sophie Constantinou, (St. Mary\u2019s Park, which borders District 11).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chen appreciates the investment that\u2019s coming into the \u201cforgotten\u201d District 11, she said. Her daughter used to play games at Crocker Amazon\u2019s grass soccer field, which will also be redone under the new proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"It was a sunny day at Crocker Amazon park on Feb. 20, 2026. Photo by Mariana Garcia. <\/p>\n

At a recent Recreation and Park Commission meeting, five members of Keep Crocker Real showed up to urge them to vote down the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not cover our earth with plastic,\u201d said Mary Fecher, of Keep Crocker Real. \u201cWe have enough asphalt, cement and things like that. We\u2019re in a climate crisis right now. San Francisco should not be a part of that climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some local cities<\/a> such as Millbrae in San Mateo County are attempting to ban artificial turf, but San Francisco is not one of them. To make its case, Keep Crocker Real cites tests done by San Francisco\u2019s Public Utilities Commission on stormwater runoff from existing artificial turf at Garfield Square in the Mission District and South Sunset Playground. <\/p>\n

Those tests found a chemical inventory washing off with every rain \u2014 including phthalates and heavy metals. A 2024 follow-up test at two other city turf fields found elevated levels of chromium, copper and zinc.<\/p>\n

Rec & Park has, so far, chosen to argue that not all fake grass is bad grass. At the Thursday meeting, the commission unanimously passed something called the Rec and Park Synthetic Turf Program Policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The non-binding policy sets recommendations for what types of synthetic turfs city departments should buy \u2014\u00a0discouraging components like crumb rubber, which is made from used tires, recommending independent chemical testing before each new turf installation, and recycling old turf domestically rather than attempting to ship it overseas. <\/p>\n

Keep Crocker Real disputes<\/a> that all of the above are improvements, or even possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"A soccer field at Crocker Amazon has synthetic turf on Feb. 20, 2026. Photo by Mariana Garcia.<\/p>\n

Currently, the city has and maintains 12 artificial turf fields<\/a>, including some at Crocker Amazon. Katherine Gillespie, the president of the San Francisco Little League and an Outer Sunset resident, spoke out at the meeting in favor of the turf, on the grounds that it was more important to get kids outside and playing ball than worrying about fake grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critical for communities to promote policies and develop infrastructure that encourage sport and recreation,\u201d Gillespie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Catherine Dodd<\/a>, a public health nurse and former deputy chief of staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom for Health and Human Services who dialed in for public comments, agreed that there is a need for \u201cmore physical activity for kids and to get them away from screens.\u201d However, Dodd added, that didn\u2019t mean that artificial turf was an unalloyed good.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to expose them to dangerous chemicals that have both short-term and long-term health effects,\u201d Dodd said, of the city\u2019s baseball-playing children. \u201cPlease base it on science, not just on hours of play.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if she personally supported the turf, Chen hedged. She wants to \u201cachieve an appropriate balance,\u201d she said. Chen, for her part, said that balance means hoping that Rec and Park can be persuaded to have one of the five ballfields designed to be turf \u2014\u00a0the one on the north side \u2014 to be real grass instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that we can preserve nature,\u201d Chen said. \u201cBut then at the same time, continue to maximize outdoor playtime for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HandmadeTwo weeks ago, Keep Crocker Real organized a sign making event at Hummingbird Farm for residents who oppose installing artificial turf at the park, according to Bob Hall. Photo by Bob Hall. <\/p>\n

Mullenay, who lives in District 7, and Hall, who lives in District 5, were less interested in negotiation. At the Thursday meeting, both floated the idea of voting Chen out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have enough experience to know, but I think if enough of the residents say \u2018Fuck you, we don\u2019t want this\u2019 or something similar,\u201d said Mullenay, \u201cWe\u2019d have to vote out<\/a> Chyanne Chen \u2026 before her term ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Sunset Dunes kind of process,\u201d Hall added. \u201cGet rid of the supervisor.\u201d<\/p>\n

After publication, Mullenay and Hall confirmed that they were not pursuing a recall.<\/p>\n

There is one key difference between Crocker Amazon and Sunset Dunes. Joel Engardio<\/a> was recalled as\u00a0District 4 supervisor for not only openly advocating for Sunset Dunes, but signing it onto the ballot. Chen, meanwhile, said she is \u201curging\u201d Rec & Park to listen to what the community has to say about the renovation proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really strongly urge the [Rec and Park] commissioners to ensure that community input is the foundation of any plan,\u201d Chen said. \u201cThis is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ballfields at Crocker Amazon park at the southernmost edge of McLaren Park have seen better days. Gopher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[89967,43500,1725,101,103,102,89968,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-191884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-district-11","9":"tag-excelsior","10":"tag-parks","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","13":"tag-san-francisco-news","14":"tag-san-francisco-recreation-and-parks","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-headlines","17":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191884","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=191884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}