>> good morning everyone! and welcome to china basin park. [applause] my name is jack bear and for the last 30 years i had the honor of working for the san francisco giants and for a great many of those years, i had the distinct pleasure working with many of you on all of this. we are still putting a few finishing touches on the park, some light, way finding signs, picnic benches and will reinduce the messages engraved in tiles and part of the park. more later, but not today. we removed the construction fencing surrounding the park just a few weeks ago. on the morning of giant opening day and

what seemed like just minutes the park was full of people, exploring this corner of the waterfront. by all accounts, they liked it. we have a great lawn overlooking the bay. we have something that the neighborhoods of north beach and south beach do not have, a beach. [laughter] there is a gathering grove, a storm water garden, food trucks, and willie mccuvy returned perched gracefully on the shoreline of the china basin channel or some refer to it mccovey cove. joining us today is the daughter, allison. today is about expressing our appreciation and gratitude to all who made this possible.

this park did not happen overnight. we started planning for this day more then 15 years ago. it has been a long journey since our very first workshop at the port. throughout, it has been a very collaborative process, with active participation from virtually all possible stakeholders. before continuing with the program, i wanted to acknowledge someone who's unfortunately is no long er with us. i are can't help but remember corrine woods and the extraordinary force she was. i like to think corrine is beaming with pride from above. she is represented today by her husband peter schneider. thanks for being here peter. this is a long program but it

will be snappy. next to say a few words is the executive director of the port of san francisco, elaine forbes. [applause] she is our landlord, a kind and thoughtful leader and good friend. elaine. [applause] >> thank you jack. i will keep it snappy. i'm really really delighted to be here today and representing the port commission vice president gale gilman and commissioner harrington are here as chief operating officer michael martin and representing the leadership team. sl no prouder day we can welcome an exceptional place that brings people to the shoreline and unparalleled beauty of the san francisco bay. this is a day port mission comes to life after 15 years of work. congratulation. this park was built with

private money. the park was built with very complicated land use deal. very state of the art infrastructure and it took 15 years to get here, and are there are many of here in the process that 15 years of work and we can't how beautiful it is. i want to recognize former port director, monique moyer, i believe she is here today for her visioning early on in the project. thank you so much monique, you are such a inspiration. [applause] i have to name port employees because they worked so hard. [calling out names] people no longer with us-thousands of hours of work. we thank you so much. [applause] also, among us is city staff and city partners who had to be here at the table to make this thing work and did incredible work, including the

city attorney office. fire chief. carla short. [indiscernible] remember. sarah phillips here from workforce economic development. these partners made this work happen and our private partners, we could not hope for better partners in the san francisco giants who are our home team, who care about san francisco and are totally dedicated to this place, and to tischman-[indiscernible] what a successful collaboration. finally to the community. i remember when corrine woods demanded this park be built in phase 1 and i was someone who said, never, not that financially makes no sense, please fight with her on that and she was right and the right decision to deliver it the park. thank you corrine and thank you to the community. it is my pleasure to introduce our next speaker who emphasized the

importance keeping this work going during covid. imagine this was built post-pandemic, the first project to rise from the ashes that. she kept this work going, demanded our city departments work together. she marshaled resources for this. she is insuring our waterfront is safe, clean and viberant to welcome all san francisco residents and visitors. brave and visionary mayor, mayor london breed. [applause] >> i just realized there was a step behind me. first of all, it is so great to be at the new china basin park! [applause] and let me just say, because we got to take this back not just 15 years, but over 25 years ago and maybe even further. how many of you remember when this was just railroad tracks? a golf shooting range and a

espre outlet? in fact, kelly mission rock, the mission rock restaurant used to be the place we used to party when i first turned 21. so, that just shows you how far i go back with this area and to come here today and see what it has become over the years, because of visionary leadership of the past that looked at this area as a possible new neighborhood of san francisco. what people don't always talk about is, what san francisco has become as a result of mission bay and that includes, housing, the university of california san francisco and its various institutions. it includes restaurants. it includes students. it includes residents, families, a new school being built.

so much has changed. this is a new neighborhood of san francisco, but it is not in isolation. it is connected by different communities and the bay trails with the new bike lanes will connect the bayview hunters point community to this neighborhood that is in close proximity where not only people live, but so many people come to this area to work at chase center, oracle park and the concerts, the games, the hotels. this is a incredible example of the diversity of a neighborhood that continues to transform itself and are now with a dozen parks already completed and more to come, it is rapidly becoming the hippest hottest coolest neighborhood in san francisco. [applause] so, i am excitesed to be here

today. a park is always something that makes people happen and in fact, san francisco has some of the best parks and this park is a great addition, especially because right here where the cove is we hope somebody gets the ball past over to china basin park. who knows it may happen. we are hopeful and excited what this park means and what this means entirely for the city and i really want to thank the port and the port staff. i want to thank tischman spire, mission bay development and the san francisco giants. i remember on the board of supervisors when we first and matter fact david chui was on the board at the time and we were looking what this could be as it relates to a neighborhood with visa, with open ai coming here as well, how this could be such a diverse neighborhood and today we are living in the future by welcoming in this

new park and we are so excited and happy about what this means for san francisco newest hippest coolest neighborhood. thank you all so much for being here. [applause] >> thank you mayor breed. she's always so incredible without notes. next up, larry goldspan. he returns bcdc rfx , the san francisco bay conversation development commission and been there a wlaung time. we worked together on the ball park project before we worked on this park, so larry, on behalf of bcdc. [applause] >> thank you jack. it is positively marvelous to be here this morning. it happens our family have been giant season ticket holders about 30

years and our seats are in view box 323 so we had a direct view of lot a since the ball park started. that view includes the bay, mucevy cove and mission rock. it also happens the state agency which i work, insures the development along the bay provide maximum feasible public access to the bay. some people may be surprised to learn the giants and our regulatory agency have been great partners as the giants creative constructive teams design, redesigned and implemented where we are today. the gianted an expanded bay trail and it is gorgeousmentf resilient to rising sea level in the future and it will be. and to provide different types of spaces within the park to entice and satisfy different users. as such, our working relationship only strengthened over that time and since the ball park was initial ly

proposed. during yesterday game i spent a lot of time in 323 watching people walk and bike on the bay trail, picnic on this lawn, take pictures at the statute and activate this park. the space invites people to come in and will establish china basin as a great place to hang out whether waiting for friends before the game, finding a place to get lunch or just looking at the bay or ball park. in sum, this is the activating space the public deserves around the entire bay. china basin park is a winner and on behalf of it public who love this park and will continue to love this park, thank you so much giants for making this public space so welcoming. [applause]

>> hello everyone. beside me is john doneally, design principal escape and my name is chris murphy. as the director of design and construction for the mission rock partners, it has been a true privilege being a part of this incredible journey. i joined the team early 2020 under steve minden and matt to oversee design with it team. partner with the port through the permitting process and execute on the construction. as a san franciscans it is a unique and extremely humbling experience to play a role developing a new waterfront neighborhood for enjoyment of the people for the great city. china basin park the cornerstone across from a world class ball park sument as a monumental public gathering space. my congratulations to our

general contractor, web corp builders which brought the park from the page and into existence. of course, they had a lot of help from a wonderful group of subcontractors. our two all star lbe include taharo who placed all the architectural site concrete. [applause] and [indiscernible] who performed the mass greeting and geo form block install. [applause] also, special thank you to jensen, who brought all the gorgeous landscaping to life. [applause] list a few others, ranger, lify, [indiscernible] about a half dozen trades who completed the restroom behind me. i was want to give a huge shout out all to the men and women who labored to turn this park into realty. you should be forever proud of your accomplishment: [applause]

i would like to highlight one unique invasion that speaks to the sustainable approach mission rock partners utilized across the entire development. the park is designed to be 10 percent lighter then the existing surface parking lot that it replaced. so, even though it has grown as much as 16 feet in elevation, when you are at the top of the great lawn behinds me you are on top of tw feet of soil, 13 feet of light way geo foam, 7 feet of concrete and 2 feet of foam glass aggregate made from recycled bottles. [applause] this is a truly complex mument layered engineering approach which achieves load off set and creating resiliency against future sea level rise. we are forch tunate to have a truly all star design team.

i like to thank min design, [calling design team] [applause] all of these great firms worked under the direction of the wonderful team who artistic vision is a driving force for the park we are dedicated today. >> hello. today represents the culmination of decades of visionary thinkish, gritd and hard work. on behamp of the team, congratulations to everyone who played a role bringing this park to life. i also like to say thank you tiffman spire, san francisco giants, the port of san francisco and all who entrusted the design to scape. much of the early efforts focus on building consensus what the

park needed to be and how to best serve the public giant fans, local residents and members of the new mission rock community. this unmatched site is so inspiring and offered up so many aspets. oracle park, mucevy code, san francisco sky line and bayviews. i lost my spot. [laughter] and the new mission rock neighborhood. we work carefully to sculp the land and connections to the urban experiences. at the time a performative park that manage storm water through the mission rock neighborhood, enhance comfort protecting the site of realty of sun and wind and anticipates the future of rising seas and climate changes. the soul of the park is the unique terrain of san francisco magnifying a landscape. the sweeping lawn with cypress

trees. plant specious that shade the gathering grove chosen for special relationship to the city. the beach pavements and materials echo the gradients of coastal edge present across san francisco shoreline. design is inspired by waterfront landscape of san francisco and urban spectacle of game day splash hits. today china basin park is a multifaceted park greater then the sum of the parts. it is a collection of the spaces, diverse habitats and experience. flexible enough to accommodate both game day crowds and quite moments of reflection. the park serve community events and cr daily connections between neighbors and the bay. it is is a place that expresses the diversity of the city and welcoming all people to mission rock, mucovey cove and the bay. we have been so honored to lead the creation of this new public space that serve san franciscans into the next

century. thank you so much. [applause] >> up next, maggie and larry. [applause] >> hello. maggie from tischman spire side of the mission rock partners team. it is really surreal to be up here now standing in front of these buildings in this amazing park. john and chris highlighted resiliency elements of the park and i wanted to talk more about something near and dear to my heart which is irrigation system here for this. when you are building a tremendous amount of new green space, you see all the vegetation we have among us. it is hard to do when you are in a drought ridden climate and something mission rock did, which is different and sets apart from other projb ects within san francisco and beyond is built a black water treatment plant which is no small feat.

that treatment plant will serve to irrigate the entirety of this park and other open spaces within mission rock with water we recycle on site. it is another element how coming together with a public private partnership working directly with the port, the other city agencies have allowed private development to do things differently. we are excited how that can set the tone and be a example for other future project that think about design sustainability and build the project of tomorrow and excited to see that come to fruition here. i touched on the importance of public private partnership nature and the amount of people and faces standing out here who i have interactsed with over the process and many beyond the people here that have had a hand in this. i have been able to see late nights early mornings that all come to bring this park to be reality and

incredible this perseverance paid off to get to this point today. lastly, excited this park serves as the front yard to this new neighborhood. we have residents living in the canyon who can come out bring their dogs to play in this park, bring their kids out to have picnics and really serve the transit point for them getting to and from home and the office. we also have visa coming here and you see their sign very prominent behind me who is coming to make this neighborhood their new home within the next month and then you have cat gemini who moved in their space this week and have a place to have lunch on the lawn, they have the ability to enter their space, have beautiful views of the park while they are working and it just serves as a landmark here in the southern waterfront and we are excited what it does for this great neighborhood, so we are incredibly happy to be here. there is so many people to

thank in the process and wouldn't have been done without all the contributions of people thin crowd and well beyaunds. with that, thank you all and i'll turn it over to larry to say a few words. [applause] >> thanks maggie. hello everyone. wow. i was actually as i was standing here listening to maggie, i was looking out and i was looking out--it was a major wow, because as i was looking out in the few minutes that maggie was speaking, there was a jogger jogging on the bay trail, there was somebody walking a dog and somebody taking a picture with willie mccovey in the background and ball park. it today crystalizes what so many worked on in a incredibly collaborative way for a long long time, as

jack said, 15 years. i will start by just asking, we call them the mission rockers. everybody's in the giant family that worked on mission rock, because as jack alluded them to stand up and take a collective giants bow, because amazing work, including a wonderful alumni fran well who i will call out. fran lead the projbect for years and years and years and years and now on the east coast and doing wonderful things there. so, the collaborative nature of what this project is and was was how it was conceived, super important to what we have today. i distinctly remember and this has been referenced, but want to highlight the decision to basically do the park first.

to open the park at the front end and elaine and the mayor and all our city partners were very much on board with that. tischman spire. because what this feels like on the ground to folks that are coming as maggie said, the folks working here, people living here. we have 60 plus percent of the canyon filled. the red building. the green building will be opening later this year. we have more buildings residential and office to come. we have retail opening. to be able to have this park as an emenity for everybody in the neighborhood as when we went to the election in 2015 is a crucial part of being able to get off to a great start with mission rock project. i want to especially call out the mayor again for all of her leadership, and while this project has crossed

several administrations in our 15 years of working on it, getting all of these buildings open and there is more ribbon cuttings to come later this year, rest with the city apparatus as it exists today and it has been nothing but incredibly supportive as tischman spire as has the port of san francisco and all the community stakeholders as well. we are really looking forward to very shortly to have in this park movie nights and fitness and music classes, and food trucks, and all of this activating. already-yesterday before the day game it was great hearing larry looking at the park from 323, i also was kind of seeing how people were interacting with the park before the game. tons of people were over taking instagramable moments. take a picture with willie

mccovey and would say willie would be so proud of this park on the cove and just kisses and hugs to allison, willie's daughter. one more round of applause for allison who is here. stand up allison. we know her father no matter what ailment he was battling in the later years was so proud to be sitting in his perch in the broadcast level in the box looking out over mccovey cove and he would see the statute here fronting the beautiful park. thank you all so much. i wanted to call up a couple community partners who have been wonderful throughout this project, and we got just a couple more speakers. hang on everyone. the folks we will introduce now are, ed hatter who was the chair of the

southern advisory committee. edward. are you here? yep. come on up. and alice rogers who is a south beach rinconmission bay neighborhood association. they are the folks here and make this all happen, current residents. [applause] >> good morning. i'm edward hatter, chair of southern advisory committee for the port, and i promised i was going to be brief, but i got a history that just will not stop. [laughter] i look out here and i see the new home of the giants but i was a kid of the old home of the giants candle stick park. i look at this park and look at the people and say giants good job, city great job. this very rarely that we are

able to all come together and come out with a finished product such as this park. alright? i can't wait to get my kids from the neighborhood house down here playing in the fields and everything else and long the bay shore, but this is only the beginning. i want to make that very clear. the giants have an outstanding development team. the city has outstanding department heads. we can come together and start with china basin and at least finish at indian basin. with great parks, great housing, great buildings, great infrastructure. [applause] and with this work, maybe we can even take it back to candle stick. thank you. i would like to introduce alice rogers. thank you. [applause]

>> good morning. mr. hatter is a difficult act to follow. speeches are long, time is short, and what i really in essence want to say is thank you mission rock team for creating this incredible addition to the public waterfront. it has been said earlier, but can't be said often enough, in a properly ordered universe it would be corrine woods standing here in my place ushering the best of class commons. it was corrine's steady advocacy and as importantly, the respect she garnered from the port and from the giants that got us this park now today in phase one of mission rock development as elaine said, normally public spaces bring up the rear when the cash-flow can support them, but great effort was made

to have this now. it was corrine that put the heart and soul at the forefront of the neighborhood and generations who will inojoy this place will carry that forward. corrine set the keystone, but it was mission rock development team that really leaned into neighborhood engagement. throughout the entire 15 years plus of the development of this project, they included solicited the neighborhood input. they created interesting fun charrettes and for all of us to come and brainstorm and think what would make this place unique. appropriate to the site and an addition to the neighborhood that everybody would anticipate. hundreds of neighbors joined

over the years and it is really on their behalf that i'm here to say once again, thank you so much mission rock development for creating this incredible haven. in addition to all of those neighbors who worked so hard over 15 years, we have great new neighbors now, and i like to introduce the bomed family who are new residents in the canyon to what about what it feels like to live here. [applause] >> hello everyone. good morning and good afternoon. we are canyon residents. we just moved here. we always wish to live in mission bay, mission rock neighborhood. we are lucky to get this

project done. i want to thank everyone who contributed to get this done after hearing the challenges and the hard work. thank you. i cannot say enough about this, because we live like on the 11th floor and we are facing the giants. the view of the park, the beach. thank you for everyone who makes this landscape for us. i'm the father of three kids. we can enjoy it, play, riding their bikes. we are very lucky to be here. thank you everyone. [applause] >> before i introducing the

last speaker, i want to acknowledge stella willie's widow who arrived. thank you for coming stella. [applause] now, my colleague and the person who's will oversee the operation of this park-- [applause] >> for the record, i'll managing the fun. there are others doing the real important work. thank you jack and thanks everyone here who has come together and celebrate all the faces that planted the seeds to make this public space possible. if you build it they will come and this is true for china basin park. it has open two weeks and we have seen dogs, dog parents, bikers, kids playing in the sand, we have seen our first bride and groom take photos in the park so people are making memories

here and they will be the stakeholders we have to answer to when operating and managing this amazing public space. we'll build on this and bring great events and concerts and key amenities for this great urban space. may 11 we will have our first community event free to the public and open to families so nice to start a great season of programming. this concludes the speaking program so thank you everyone. that was a lot of important really great speakers. next we invite the mayor, director forbes, larry and maggie over to do our ceremony planting of the park, then fallowed by a ribbon cutting on the bay trail and join us for photography on the steps and complementary free ice cream in the central plaza because what is a park if not having a good cone on somewhat warm day. thank you everyone and join us over

here. [applause] >> alright,b here we go! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! [cheers and applause]

niversary of adoption of vision zero. that is event at city hall mayor spoke and director tumlin spoke and community and elected leaders spoke and i was very pleased we marked that milestone. >> good morning everyone. let's all give a happy birtday for golden gate park! [applause] a brief love note to kick off the festivities. so, in a city like san francisco, parks are really powerful places, and they rep mind us that place is powerful. and golden gate park just might be san francisco's most important place to understand golden gate park is to understand san francisco. from the post gold rush years to the 1906 earthquake and fire, from the panama pacific international expigz and summer of love. aids epidemic and explosion of business

and jobs it is a oasis through the joy, misery, growth, invasion. within the parks majestic canopy are stories. stories about class, about race, about nationality and religion. stories about conflict and peace. stories about gentrification and equity. stories about constancy and change. stories about stewardship and stories about destruction. stories about technology and nature, about celebration and suffering, about all arts, music and food. about love gartherings and solitary strolls. stories about communities neighborhoods and families. stories about all of us. on a personal note, this park is my post important place. no other place knows me better. this park watched me fall in love, raise my two daughters, make friends, build my career. golden gate park helped me work through

struggles and challenges and helped me find joy, health and inspiration. the trail network and tree canopy offered me privacy and shelter to find myself. during my time as our parks director i had the hum bllg opportunity to influence the park landscape, form and rhythm through both preservation and through change. through the ghost of william hamenhall and john malaren watching closely. over the last 15 years we restored the fountains and band shell and music concourse. rebuild the mercy windgil and mark station. renovated the soccer fields and club house. ceezer stadium, cezer triangle. we added--behind me, the first piece of permanent art added to the park in generations in conserve tore valley. we added a restroom at the 45th

avenue playground. renovating the bloleing greens. improve all the park entrances and signs. we now call speedway meadow hellman hollow and middle drive east, nancy pelosi drive and sharon meadow robin william meadow. we added a musical evening light show to the conservancy of flowers, piano to botanical barden. tea house. outside land music festival to polo fields and a portion of this beautiful space that used to be call jfk is now a car free prom naund for hundreds of thousands walk, run, roll, ride, sun-bathe and enjoy art music and food. while visitors once traversed the park on horse and buggy, and now travel on scooters, segues, bicycles. the park became a safe refuge

during the covid pandemic. we celebrated a bunch of anversity. the redwood grove, spreckels lake. holiday tree lighting. the 50th anniversary of summer of live and in 2020 celebrated in the rain the parks own 150th anniversary. we got a little shorted because of the pandemic, so 154 is the new 150, which is why we are making such a to do out of today. [applause] golden gate park is resilient and bigger then any one event, policy, decision or person. but that doesn't mean our kunt stewardship of the space isn't critical. ernest hemmingway, today is one day in all the days that will ever be but what will happen in all the other days that come can depend on what you do

today. perhaps only this park itself knows what the future holds. it is the keeper of all of this city stories and secrets. no doubt it will always be the guardian of san francisco's treasureed public memory, so happy birthday golden gate park. you will always be san francisco's very important place. [applause] not bad for 154 year old. i'm not that old. alright. so, we all love the space. and if is really really nice to be here. i'm going to introduce a bunch of special guests that are here. we have a lot of honored guests here. we have let's give up for the amazing rec and park staff for generations and generations. [applause] but, i now have the great pleasure of introducing our city's official park

champion in chief here to celebrate the parks beautiful birthday, our mayor, london breed. [applause] >> i mean, who doesn't love a birthday party? ! it is so great to be here to celebrate 154/i guess 150 years of golden gate park and what it is meant to the people of san francisco. how many of you were alive in 1870? nobody? nobody? okay. well, the thing about this park and the establishment, it made it possible for people all over san francisco to enjoy. it has so many stories phil talked about and it has a great story i want to tell about the children's park, which was the first public playground for children in the city and county of san francisco, and how many of

you have spent time going up and down that slide with a piece of cardboard? memories all over the place. and this place has so many more stories. the conserve tory of flowers behind me was the first building erected in golden gate park in 1879 and as time went on this place hosted over 2 million people for the world fair in 1894. when i think about the summer of love, because you think golden gate park and summer of love, this place has been a beacon of hope excitement love and laughter and we continue the tradition with so many amazing public performances with music, including outside lands and comedy day and other events that really bring joy and lift our spirits. and we have the academy of

sciences. we have the d young museum. we have so many other-we have the lisa and doug goldman tennis center and we have so many options for people to play and have fun and to enjoy. during the pandemic, i just to back up a bit, growing up as a kid in this city, we would catch the bus and walk to golden gate park and put on our roller skates and we roller skate and we would hope that somebody had a boom box because you know how it was with the batteries that wouldn't last very long, so people have their boom boxes, roller skating, dancing and everything else and david miles has taken it to a whole another level down the street with an amazing place for people to skate and have fun. when i think about golden gate park, i think about so many things. this can be whatever you want it to be

on any given day depending on your mood. but what it did for the people of san francisco during a global pandemic was extraordinary. in fact, a spent a lot of times during the pandemic with my hoodie on walking to golden gate park, walking through and around and honesty getting lost sometimes in golden gate park and this was a place where i saw people and i saw people outside safely social distancing with their mask on, but never the less, getting fresh air and coming together and bringing their kids and family members out here in wheelchairs and baby strolers and bikes and you name it, they were all out here enjoying this beautiful park. how fortunate are we that this park is now being considered to be one of the best parks in the entire united states by usa today?

[applause] and it isn't too late to vote so go online to usatoday to make it official. and by the way, we are 200 acre bigger in golden gate park then now york so they can continue to eat their heart out. [laughter] there are so many things we can say about the beauty and the transformation and i know everybody here probably has a personal story, maybe it was your first kiss, like phil talked about falling in love with his wife emily. maybe it was when you met someone and became friends over your dogs sharing a bond or your kids, who knows, but that is what makes this park so special, because of those stories and are those experiences and i guarantee that all most every single story that you will hear about this park is one of joy. is one of happiness. is also one of pride for this

park and for the city of san francisco, so as we celebrate today, i want to take this opportunity to of course recognize its history and its value to the people of san francisco and the visitors from throughout the bay area and the world and i want to take this opportunity to really thank those people who are really in the background, doing all the work. you'll see a tree, maybe have fallen one day and the next day it is not there. there are people who take a lot of pride in protecting, supporting and keeping golden gate park looking like one of the most incredible beautiful parks anywhere in the world and that is so many of our public-our rec and park workers, our gardeners, all of you, please raise your hand if you are one of the people responsible for this beautiful oasis.

[applause] thank you for all you do for not just go golden gate park, but 220 parks around the entire city. it is so great to be here with each and every one of you and to just celebrate this incredible milestone and of course, where there is cake it is always a party. so, thank you and at this time-am i introducing somebody phil? last but not least and as i said, as someone who grew up in san francisco, our parks overall have always looked good, but not this good. they have gotten so much better and i'll tell you, it is a is couple reasons. number one, it is the park bonds the voters continue to vote on to support parks, which provide the resources for the investments made. number two, it is the park alliance and folks like ben davis who raise private dollars in order to invest in

the parks, and number three, it is the people who do the work. i can't get my hair wet. number three, it is the people who do the work. thank you. thank you kat. rec and park, okay. [laughter] that's my bay sox jacket. these are hard to get. number three, again it is the people who do the work every single day and take pride in that work. i want to express my appreciation to each and every one of you for making today special and even the rain can't stop us from enjoying a good old fashion birthday party celebrating golden gate park. happy 154th birthday! thank you. [applause] >> one thing better then cake and hat is rained on cake. we were here 2020 for the 150

and it was also raining and i just are want to make a moment to reflect on the four years since. who knew in february 2020 what we were headed to. this mayor steered us through one of the hardest times in the city history and did it with toughness and resilience, but importance with hope and grace and now we get to just celebrate joy here today so let's give it up for our mayor. [applause] the real reason we are hp celebrating golden gate park birthday, but this is get out of the vote ralee. we are in the middle of election, and i can legally from this microphone plug the election and tell you to vote not just once or twice but every day between now and april 8. golden gate park is up for the title of the nation's best city park in

usa today reader choice poll. anyone can vote, once per day. i do it every day, until polls close monday april 8 at 9 a.m. california time. the top 10 winning parks will be announced wednesday april 17. i'll let you in a secret, we are currently number one! but we dont want to let up, so what's everybody going to do today? what are you going to tomorrow? >> vote! >> what are you doing the day after? >> vote! >> there we go. alright. our next speaker, scott beck is the head of sf travel and scott comes to san francisco with so much joy and so much excitement, and he and i had the chance to chat and totally understands how important this park is to getting people to come to san francisco, spend

money in san francisco and enjoy san francisco. we do not have a bigger champion then sf travel, stow so it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the microphone sir to say a few words. [applause] >> wow. thank you for the warm welcome. as a new san franciscans i feel this is special opportunity. my association with the park began as a visitor. i used to chase my wife through the park on a bike when she ran several marathons. my daughters would visit the institutions. it was always on the-i'm excited to have it be part what i call home now. the park is also living example of san francisco creativity, ingenuity and ongoing evolution as phil noted. it took imagination, invasion to transform sands into greenery, to turn the land into oasis for all to enjoy.

and as the mayor noted, it takes dedication and ongoing work to keep the park shining and more accessible then 154 years ago. what other city contains a [indiscernible] arts and cultural institutions, wind mills, lakes gardens music concourse and so much more? this remains a must see for visitors who come to enjoy the beauty and magic of course alongside all of us san franciscans. as phil noted we are rooting for the outcome of usa today best park. i will ask you to vote. whatever the outcome though, this park is the best city park and magnet for the visitors that we bring to this community every day. attractions and places like golden gate park make san francisco a incredible destination and draw millions visitors each year to this community. and we at san francisco travel will continue to share the park heritage and stories for years to come. we look forward celebrating many more

golden gate park milestones and birthdays. congratulations and happy birthday. [applause] >> alright. we are getting down to the big happy birthday. very special acknowledgments. speaking of birthday, scott sampson and lee can you stand up for a second? it isn't just golden gate park birthday today it is academy science. it is true it celebrating the 171? it is older then this park and been in this park for 99 years i believe, is that correct? scott and lee, thank you for this park is great, because of your institution and we like to thank your institution is great because of this park. happy birthday academy. [applause] and also want to recognize our amazing rec and park commission, our president

kat anderson is here. our vice president joe. commissioner louie is here. we are also joined by a handful of really wonderful partners that make it work, rodney fong, head of chamber of commerce is here. stephanie linder, the head of the garden at golden gate park, we are in your front yard stephanie, thank you very much. you heard them back here hooting and hallering when the mayor talked about roller skating, david. skate and place. and then from illuminate who works tirelessly to light this place up and create joy and place-making, my friend ben davis. and i know i'm forgetting somebody and i'm losing my notes, but i most importantly-oh our friend from another planet. there is special bit of news. we have outside land coming

first week of august. already eager beaver tickets are sold out? that is because the show is hot hot hot. and thank you very much for assigning two very important members of your organization to join us for our birthday today. give it up for ranger dave and ranger roof. [applause] and as the mayor alluded, the most important round of thanks are for the hardworking men and women who take care of the part for 150 years with sweat, love and skill, this park is amazing because of them, to the rec and park staff. [applause] alright. so, now is the time for happy birthday and to grace us with a ocpelo

version of happy birthday, from very own young people teen musical theater company, jet. jet where are you? are you ready for this? alright. let her rip. >> just going to adjust the microphone really quick. alright. happy 154th anniversary. i'm going to be singing happy birthday for golden gate park now. [singing] happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy

birthday, happy birthday to you. [applause] >> wow! alright. thank you jet so much. here to the next 154 years of joy. happy birthday golden gate park, let's eat some cake. (clapping)

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ celebrating the wow. turnout this is our third annual to celebrate pride we notice we didn't have community event for pride. we actual had 19 we had godzilla and are you ball weird names i think its unique we're able to have special event we're all women that relax and have fun you know everything is friendly and kind we're all equal i'm happy that

>> i'm also the chair of laco, local agency formation commission. and it's a pleasure of mine to be here with you on a friday afternoon, and it will be all you people clearly. with us here today on a friday afternoon, clearly it's very sunny outside and you have enjoyed the out doors today but here you are with us for conversation around our environment and i really appreciate that. for the last 20 years, the san francisco board of supervisor