At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, Mission Local closed its official poll on which Golden Gate Park street should be renamed for the dearly departed Claude the albino alligator. The beloved city mascot died of cancer last month at age 30.
The poll accompanies legislation introduced last year by District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar — Claude’s former supervisor — to rename a street. While not binding, the results of this poll “will inform the decision of the Recreation and Parks Commission which is set to vote on the matter later this month,” notes Melgar’s office.
But which street? Readers were offered five choices. And it wasn’t close: Of 6,900 total votes, 3,953 went to Music Concourse Drive between JFK Drive and MLK Jr. Drive. That’s a 57 percent tally in a five-way race.
That easily outpaced Eighth Avenue between Fulton Street and JFK Drive (278 votes, 4 percent); Bowl Drive between Music Concourse Drive and Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive (539 votes, 8 percent); the unnamed road behind the Music Concourse between Music Concourse Drive and Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive (1,957 votes, 28 percent) and 10th Avenue between Fulton Street and JFK Drive (173 votes, 3 percent).
California Academy
of Sciences
California
Academy
of Sciences
Graphic by Kelly Waldron. Basemap from Google Earth.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the winning entry is both the longest street on the list and the one that runs right past the California Academy of Sciences — where Claude resided from 2008 until his death.
“The people have spoken and there is overwhelming support for Music Concourse Drive to adopt the moniker ‘Claude the Alligator Way,’” said Melgar.
“For generations to come, a stroll in the park or a visit to the Academy of Sciences will still remind all of Claude’s fans and followers of his impact. With this street name, he will always continue to make San Francisco proud.”
Claude, the albino alligator. Photo courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences.
Managing Editor/Columnist. Joe was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.
“Your humble narrator” was a writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015, and a senior editor at San Francisco Magazine from 2015 to 2017. You may also have read his work in the Guardian (U.S. and U.K.); San Francisco Public Press; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner; Dallas Morning News; and elsewhere.
He resides in the Excelsior with his wife and three (!) kids, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.
The Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists named Eskenazi the 2019 Journalist of the Year.