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| Creative Commons image via Flickr. |
The Blue Angels are causing a lot of buzz in the city — but not the kind that requires earplugs. While San Francisco predicts that 1.2 million locals and visitors will swarm in to watch the aerobatic troupe, the highlight of Fleet Week, some are still hoping the supersonic jets will just go away.
Two years ago Supervisor Chris Daly tried to end the annual air show. But other city officials, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, argue that any disruptions to locals’ daily lives, such as sound pollution or parking impacts, are offset by the fiscal benefits the jets reap for the city, which is seeing less tax revenue these days and over the summer struggled to fill a $438 million deficit, the worst in decades. They say San Francisco can’t afford to give up Fleet Week.
October is one of the busiest tourist times of the year due to the mild weather, which averages in the 70s. Tourism contributes to more than 72,000 local jobs, which include food servers, hotel employees and cab drivers.
Activists want to use a meeting of the Middle Polk Neighborhood Association to attempt to limit the flight paths over the water. They’re urging residents to appeal to Supervisor David Chiu, the guest speaker of this October’s meeting, at It’s a Grind, at 1800 Polk St. in Russian Hill/Polk Gulch.
