Fact check: the de Young Museum lobbyists’ JFK disinformation campaign
Last week, the de Young Museum’s lobbyists launched yet another misleading public campaign about the future of the JFK promenade in Golden Gate Park. It’s full of misinformation and falsehoods, and attempts to do one thing: put cars back on JFK at all costs.
Read on for a fact check, and take action to tell the de Young that Parks are for People by sending a letter today.
A quick refresher: The eastern end of JFK was closed to private vehicles in April 2020, and since then over 7 million people have visited to walk, use bikes, roll, and enjoy the promenade. Before 2020, the eastern portion of JFK was on San Francisco’s High Injury Network, the 13% of streets responsible for 75% of injuries and deaths. Up to 88% of JFK traffic was cut-through commuters. The museums have lobbied behind the scenes for decades to keep JFK as a dangerous cut-through street, and this latest campaign is more of the same.
Despite calls from members to change their position, the deYoung’s lobbyists this week doubled down on their misguided campaign with an op-ed from Thomas Campbell, their Director.
The museum could embrace these millions of new park visitors and bring its own magic to an incredibly popular park destination. But instead, it has chosen to attack what we hold dear: A safe, quiet, and community-rich oasis in the heart of our city’s premier park for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy.
San Franciscans care about the values and integrity of the institutions that they patronize. Right now, thousands of visitors and members of the de Young have said enough is enough, and that they won't return to the museum until they are honest about the win-win solutions that are on the table to advance low-income and disabled access to the park. We're eager to see the de Young recover and fulfill the promise of its mission—but none of that will happen if it's lost the trust of San Franciscans.
Accessibility Claims: Misleading at Best, Dishonest at Worst
All accessibility concerns must be taken seriously and solved in good faith. SFMTA and Recreation and Parks have been working hard to improve accessibility to park attractions since JFK opened to people 24/7. So far, they’ve opened Conservatory Drive West to allow direct car access to the Conservatory of Flowers, added a dozen new free ADA parking spots adjacent to park attractions, and undertaken plans to improve the park shuttle. Unfortunately, the de Young Museum refuses to acknowledge any of these real solutions and instead continues to stand by the following misleading claims and half-truths.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “The closure of JFK Drive has removed most free parking spaces for the disabled within a reasonable distance of the de Young…There are proposals to add parking for the disabled in other places in and outside the park, such as the tour bus parking lot by Martin Luther King Drive and on Fulton Street.”
THIS IS MISLEADING. These aren’t just proposals: nearly half of these new ADA spots have been added. Twenty-six free ADA spots on JFK were available on weekdays and off-season Saturdays before the pandemic. Rec & Park has added 12 new free ADA spots already, with 14-24 coming in early 2022, for a total of between 26 and 36 new free ADA spots.
24/7 accessible parking in Golden Gate Park has increased during the pandemic because new parking spaces are available 7 days/week.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “The proposal is to replace the spaces lost on JFK Drive, but each of these options would reduce accessibility for those who need it, as the spaces would be located farther away, and in the case of Fulton, in a high-injury zone on a heavily trafficked road.”
THIS IS FALSE. The new free ADA spots at the Bandshell increase access for disabled visitors because they are available seven days a week, unlike the spots on JFK, which were only available on weekdays and off-season Saturdays.
The new free ADA spots at the Bandshell are significantly closer to the Botanical Gardens, the Japanese Tea Garden, and the California Academy of Sciences, strengthening disabled access to all of those popular park destinations. On average, the new free ADA spots at the Bandshell will be about 200 feet farther from the de Young entrance than the old free ADA spots on JFK.
JFK was part of San Francisco’s High Injury Network before the pandemic. The de Young’s plan would see most disabled visitors who drive and park on JFK crossing that dangerous street to access the museums. The new free ADA spots on Fulton don’t require crossing any high injury network roads.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “We need the parking spots that were lost with JFK’s closure reinstated for people with disabilities, those with disability parking placards, seniors, families with young children and others not able to come to the park without a car.”
THIS IS A DEFLECTION: Free ADA spots in the Concourse Garage directly next to the museum’s underground entrance would represent a significant improvement in disabled access and proximity to the de Young compared to the spots on JFK.
Why haven’t Thomas Campbell and the de Young advocated for superior free ADA parking in the Concourse Garage, so that disabled visitors have the best access available?
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “Vendor, contractor, maintenance and other authorized vehicles need a safe route to the de Young…Accessing the loading dock that allows us to run the de Young is only possible from John F. Kennedy Drive.”
THIS IS MISLEADING: Authorized vehicles accessing the loading dock are specifically allowed under the terms for maintaining JFK as a pedestrian promenade. Many access it regularly today.
Currently, a sign notifies the public of this arrangement, but a better system would be permanent bollards that can retract for authorized vehicles. Thomas Campbell and the de Young have refused to work with the city on this.
The truth about the Music Concourse Garage
The de Young ignores the 800-space Music Concourse Garage that sits empty mainly directly underneath the museums. San Francisco taxpayers approved the construction of this garage through Prop J, passed by voters in 1998. Prop J promised to create a “pedestrian oasis” in the heart of Golden Gate Park. Let’s take a closer look at the dubious claims made by museum lobbyists that the garage can’t be a part of the solution.
The Music Concourse Garage directly under the de Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences sits mostly empty most of the time.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “While it has been suggested there is ample space for parking inside the Music Concourse Parking Garage, many cannot afford to pay its expensive fees.”
THIS IS MISLEADING: Kid Safe SF has advocated for free garage parking for those low-income visitors who drive, but Thomas Campbell and the DeYoung have actively opposed this measure to increase equitable access.
For visitors who can afford to pay for admissions to the museums, garage parking is typically a small part of the overall cost of visiting:
Cal Academy admission for a family of 4: $141.50
de Young special exhibit admission for a family of 4: $82.00
3 hours of parking at the Concourse Garage on a Saturday: $18.75
For comparison, it costs $23.40 to park for 3 hours in the SFMOMA garage.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “Making the garage more affordable is, unfortunately, a highly complicated process that is outside of the museum’s control.”
THIS IS FALSE. 6 of 7 garage board members are museum insiders. The garage also owes the museums over $2.7M and makes no principal or interest payments—a remarkable arrangement for two organizations that Thomas Campbell claims are unrelated.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM:“Those rates must be sufficient to pay down the not-insignificant public debt accrued during the garage’s construction.”
THIS IS FALSE: Thomas Cambpell deliberately omits the Garage CFO’s $4M embezzlement scandal, all under the inadequate oversight of the Museum-dominated garage board. This required the garage non-profit to take on even more debt in a 2010 refinancing to cover the losses from fraud.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “The rules do not allow the garage to offer free or discounted parking to those with disability placards or lower-income visitors.”
THIS IS FALSE: Prop J prohibits discounts to “employees of the City or any institutions located in the Park” and does not forbid free parking for low-income visitors or visitors with ADA placards.
CAMPBELL’S CLAIM: “High rates aside, the number of spots the garage provides isn’t enough to satisfy the demand by park visitors.”
THIS IS FALSE: Pre-COVID, the garage was 28% full on average. At peak hours on weekdays, Rec & Park found that the garage was 49% full. Thomas Campbell and the de Young are demanding that cars return to JFK on weekdays when the garage has plenty of room. They are counting on you not paying attention to the details here.
Take action today, and write a letter to tell Thomas Campbell and the de Young that parks are for people. Don’t let them get away with yet another attempt to gaslight San Franciscans with misleading lobbying campaigns and backroom deals.
