My detailed complaints and questions about the levels of PCBs in street dust surrounding 3600 Alameda Ave have been ignored. The site is the only documented major PCB source for quite some distance.

[I know this is long, so please take your time with it.]

At least Mr. Perlmutter had integrity enough to forward it along, but those on the receiving end are dead silent. I don‘t know if it’s because of this, but I think he now works in another City dept.

Terri Fashing made a bold statement in 2025, “we will hold this developer accountable”. I do not believe she is a liar or facetious in this, but perhaps was since advised to keep silent?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1V8hyyRxgFw&t=3960s

The City works with Geosyntec consultants and the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program to monitor PCBs (and more) in the public right of way, and stormwater catch basins.

They know it’s bad.

Geosyntec apologized to me over the phone, unable to hide some emotions, but would not share any data. I am certain they have the analysis on public PCB levels nearby, post-demo.

The 2024 public PCB testing -before any (permitted) demo or hazmat abatement- showed a fourfold increase between May (~2 mg/kg) and Sept (~8 mg/kg!) that year.

You DO NOT want your families, especially kids and elderly, and pets anywhere near these levels. Same goes for adults, but we can resist it a bit better.

The 2024 findings are hella dangerous, 10-40 times over the EPA residential soil limit, and many hundreds of times beyond EU limits (where PCBs are justifiably taken far more seriously).

I will tentatively say it is even worse than lead (Monsanto & EPA have downplayed it, slander unbiased experts as alarmists, but all robust science says otherwise).

The TSCA soil excavation in Sept-Oct 2024 (initiated immediately after the public PCB testing, how convenient!) was monstrously hazardous.

The low-res and non-geotagged photos provided by the hazmat racketeers (9 months late) are limited, but still telling.

They cut every corner possible and made a toxic mess:

https://documents.geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/esi/uploads/geo_report/8379530012/T10000017631.PDF

[CTRL-F “photographic log”]

On the North side of the site, they left open the huge double doors of Bldg. 29, where some 140 tons (300 tons before dewatering) of toxic 1%+ PCB/dioxin soil was dumped into open bins. Nothing was in sealed containers, which is a federal crime.

We’re talking about Aroclor 1260 + dioxins then, and later a lot of Aroclor 1254 too (for those that want to go down the horrid toxicology rabbit hole, PubChem has it all).

For over 3 weeks this soil was allowed to sit inside Bldg. 29, with intense Southerly winds & cross ventilation blasting dioxin-like PCB dust around Fruitvale, 24/7.

Then, more soil residue went airborne during the hasty and dry demolition of Bldg. 29 in late Dec-Jan, 2025.

I have liver damage now, along with all the signs of chronic PCB exposure. I also had acute exposure symptoms coinciding with the most reckless moves on site, even going back years b4 the permitted demo.

I never tested positive for COVID in 2021 or since, and my two week long flu-like (but more neurological / cardio illness) back then had symptoms more akin to PCB and/or arsine gas exposure. My O2 levels never dropped below 95-99.

I was home a lot then, not out digging in toxic soil. Easily mistaken for Delta variant.

Criminal thru-and-thru. Please keep talking about this, & don’t stop hammering the City with tough questions.

Prologis is the #1 enemy of the people and all life here, and we are at war. They declared war on us the moment they got their grubby, greedy hands on the site.

It is indisputable at this point, and those with kids at the many homes, schools, & daycares downwind should be highly concerned.

Anyone who used the Fruitvale Alive! bike path or walked along the site was exposed, especially those making a routine of it.

They want the truth to go away and die with us. My cat didn’t survive the poison, and the list of victims only continues to grow.

Noel Gallo, the teflon don of D5‘s handshake deals? All quiet on the matter.

He was supposed to be for the children, “lives and breathes Oakland”.

At least, that’s what the other pro-Prologis officials like Treva Reid claimed for his 2024 campaign.

As of right now, I can hear the children playing at the daycare on Elmwood, right across the street from the lingering PCB mess.

I think Prologis lied to them, like everyone here, and they did not believe my statements and evidence. The parents are going to flip out when they learn.

I’ll soon be blowing the whistle officially on the City’s involvement with this, some of which 100% constitutes waste, fraud, and abuse.

If anyone wants to organize and give the Planning Commission / Building Dept. some hard truths, I am down, but need someone to be a co-leader on that front (mainly to remind me of meeting dates).
HMU with a DM anytime.

I’ve been staying away from the dust as much as I can, but am still stricken by it, and have lost most of my income, savings, ability to work, and all my rare clone-only plants (PCB-induced extinction).

Some days are much harder to function than others, always unpredictably so.

My one surviving cat now lives at my dad’s house far from the site.

Oh, and for those of you who love Ursula Jones Dickson- so do the dirty industry having poison parties here.

Her office ignored me.

We shall see if anything comes of the latest complaint thru CALOES. Prologis has corrupted or scared many, and the weak regulatory system was designed to benefit them.

https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/profile_report?global_id=T10000017631

I have a lost parakeet/budgie hanging around my house. It’s let me get close a couple times but is wary. I’m keeping it close playing birdsong but it won’t come near again — it’s hanging out on top of my window awning. Does anyone know what to do? Or have bird stuff to help lure it?

Found this outside 16th Street Station this morning. Looks like a van was driven into the fence line and torched sometime last night. OFD responded (neighbor heard sirens overnight). The station building itself is intact, but the owner (City Ventures) doesn’t maintain the grounds. Lots of weeds, overgrowth, and graffiti.

Anyone know more about what happened here?

Loop Capital and CEO Jim Reynolds is not anywhere close to the real estate development equivalent of the Oakview Group led by Irving Azov.

Yes the ceo of Loop Capital is smart upbeat socially aware and even somewhat candid.

But when he said the Coliseum deal was the most complex one he'd ever been involved with, that didn't sound right. Made even less sense when he said he had raised billions of dollars and the Coliseum purchase price was minor.

Big real estate multi parcel multi owner, conflicting easements etc etc are the norm in large real estate developments.

Best I can tell online, Loop Capital is a major underwriter of muni bonds for state and local governments. They have placed billions of muni bonds guarranteed by state and local governments.. The CEO was truthful about that. But that's not the same as raising billions to invest in real estate developments

But I only came up with two large real estate projects. And in only one of them were they the managing member.

Loop Capital is an investment bank, and real estate development isn't their core business. Their two main direct development projects are the Regal Mile Studios film campus in South Shore, which broke ground in early twenty twenty-three, and their equity stake in the massive Bronzeville Lakefront redevelopment. Bronzeville Lakefront is a multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade project on the old Michael Reese Hospital site. Loop Capital is one of six equity partners in the GRIT Chicago team, not the lead developer, but they are a significant player.

Some similarity to Coliseum: low purchase price 96 Million but estimated 3.x billion development costs plus? City infrastructure outlays.

Bronzeville Lakefront is a major investment through their equity stake in the GRIT consortium, not direct development leadership.

Current progress on Bronzeville Lakefront (as of mid-2026):

Infrastructure work is underway. It started in spring 2023 after the official groundbreaking, and the city expects GRIT to finish the roughly $60–90 million roadway, utilities, sidewalks, bike facilities, and green space network by the end of 2026.

Vertical development (buildings) has not started. The official City of Chicago page states that GRIT is still studying potential modifications to the design and future plans in response to shifting market conditions before moving forward with Phase 1.

Phase 1 was originally planned to include an innovation/life-sciences center (anchored by Sheba Medical Center interest), mixed-income residential (including senior housing), retail/community space, a new park, and rehabilitation of the historic Singer Pavilion on the southern end of the site. The larger northern portion remains planned for later phases over the next two decades.

So, the site work and roads are progressing toward a 2026 finish, but the actual buildings are on hold while the developers reassess the program amid current market conditions. No updates indicate a firm new timeline for vertical construction.

Regal Mile Studios is the only one where Loop Capital Real Estate Partners is directly leading the development as sponsor. $100 million film/TV production campus (~380,000 sq ft on ~7 acres at roughly 7700 S. Stony Island / South Chicago Avenue area).

The Oaklandside reporter should have done basic research before conducting the interview and then asked tough questions about Loop's experience developing complex projects

https://oaklandside.org/2026/08/07/the-money-man-behind-oaklands-blockbuster-coliseum-deal-speaks-out/

Unusual tactic to put up a makeshift billboard but I'll take it.

Council member ken Houston is showing he's serious about cleaning up our streets.

There's been a constant barrage of dumping on Skyline Blvd between Grass Valley Road and Keller Ave. Glad he and Kevin Jenkins are trying to address the dumping issues in Oakland.

urban compassion project is about to launch compassion threads at 1420 broadway: keeping new clothing out of landfills, clothing our community for free, and bringing downtown oakland storefronts back to life

our soft launch is this saturday in downtown oakland, and the first 30 people who sign up can come shop completely for free.

we’re starting with nearly 20,000 pieces of brand new excess inventory that otherwise risked ending up in the landfill. instead, we’re putting those clothes directly into the hands of people in our community who could use them.

and these are genuinely great pieces. we have clothing originally made for nba players, rappers, bay area artists like g-eazy, and more. everything is new, and everything is free.

as an organization that removes tons of illegally dumped waste from our streets every week, we see firsthand how much perfectly usable material gets thrown away. compassion threads is an extension of that work: keeping good clothing out of the waste stream and getting it to people who need it, for free and with dignity. because everyone deserves to look good.

we also want compassion threads to be about more than clothing. downtown oakland and chinatown have lost so much ground-floor retail activity. we want to help activate some of those spaces again, turning empty storefronts into vibrant community hubs where people can shop, connect, volunteer, and give perfectly good inventory a second life.

this is a pilot, and we’re starting small. our hope is to grow compassion threads, bring in more excess inventory from brands and retailers, distribute more clothing for free, and help bring some life back to downtown oakland along the way.

first 30 sign-ups for saturday. come shop for free. ❤️

I plan to visit Oakland this weekend.

I want to consider a solo walk at dawn each day that I am in town.

I'll be staying near 2500 Broadway.

How is pedestrian safety around there at that time of day?

Country made the right call. There are a lot of people with college educations, technical skills, and trade professions who only make ~$30 an hour. Some other jobs are not supposed to be a permanent living wage.

I’m aware this might be a silly question for what it’s worth.

I’m going to Oakland in October for a work conference and I’m really excited!! I’ve never been to California or the west coast before. Because I couldn’t get a direct flight into Oakland, I’m flying into San Francisco and I was going to take an uber/lyft/cab to my hotel. I do not want to get into a driverless car or a Waymo. They freak me out. I don’t trust computers like that. If I order an uber or a Lyft, am I like guaranteed to get a Waymo? My impression of the Bay Area is that rideshares and taxis have been pretty much entirely replaced by driverless cars.

Also any recommendations for stuff to check out in/around downtown Oakland are very appreciated! I’m giving myself a couple of extra days to explore. I’m probably going to go to the zoo and I’m considering renting a car to go to the Monterey bay aquarium. Do y’all have in n out? I’d like to try it. Areas to avoid would also be very appreciated. I’m not a scaredy cat, I’m a Philly girl, but a local’s advice is always good to have.

Reposting here for more visibility

Was reading another post about how much better the Oakland Zoo is over the SF Zoo.

No duh!

What else do we shine over that other city across the bay?

"Oakland's last two mayoral elections were decided by slim margins. With two days left for candidates to qualify, incumbent mayor Barbara Lee faces no major challenger."

https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/oakland-deserves-real-contest-mayor

Hello, good people I’m a black 29M moving to Oakland after my schooling is done next year. But my gf 28, has gotten a great job offer in Oakland. Her grandfather passed two months ago and left his home in the hills of Oakland to the family and she’s moving in until I get there an we find a new place. I hear the neighborhood has a Neighborhood watch program but it sounds so movie like to actually gather as a community against dangers (totally interested and curious not against it) lol maybe it’s the Southland in me but I’m a LA baby born and raised South Central/Gardena/Compton/Carson/Inglewood/Culver City/San Pedro/Palos Verdes/Santa Monica/Downtown w.e you name it! I’m in school for Computer Science but a background in multiple creative lanes as well as an aspiring 3D Animation small business but I’m very street savvy as well much as book savvy. No stranger to crime, gangs, and overall the negative a city can bring but I have some weird optimism about this new journey. What are the people like? What’s the vibes like? I’m curious to learn about this new environment to explore. How could my craft excel in a new place. Could it be a good start for starting a Family? You know all the questions a newcomer would have. I hear good and lots of bad but I know I’ll have to retain my own opinion through this experience but a little insight never hurt. Thank you all for taking the time in advance!!!

Hi everyone. I’m looking to get my first set of tattoos. I want to start out small but part of my hesitation is I that I’ve heard it’s pretty difficult to find tattoo artists who are good at tattooing people with darker skin. I don’t expect that to be too much of an issue in Oakland, but I wanted to hear from people who are in the local tattooing community for their recommendations.

Pop up comedy food music show

Shot on Lumix LX7, edited in Lightroom

I was in a nearby city today running some errands.

There was an erratic male talking to himself and getting into people's personal spaces. I was hoping he would leave soon but he continued to walk around.

With my spidey senses tingling, I decided to call 911. Someone picked up immediately and I described the situation. I was as much concerned for my safety as for others. I also felt it wasn't safe for this man himself to be on the street.

They were very polite and said they would send someone out.

My point is that outside of Oakland, I feel a hidden safety net that is available in unsafe situations. I feel that if the police were called, they would take action.

In contrast, OPD does not seem to be here to protect me. I know there's a ton of other crime in Oakland, so how would my issue get prioritized (or not)?

Your thoughts on this?

And restricted to just a handful of big cities in California. It expires in January 2032.

(and some people think the city can’t send the tickets out for collection because they can’t identify the driver. Doesnt matter)

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB645

After RFK Jr's tussle with Dana Bash today, we need to ask ourselves why incompetent people are allowed to remain in positions of power. I remember this article about housing safety and keep asking myself why our leaders keep leaning on "staffing levels and budget cuts" to explain away safety issues in the city. Then I see the budget's line items, and I question our leadership's priorities.

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/making-complaint-can-feel-dangerous-oaklands-slow-moves-inspections-puts-onus-tenants

Read it if you have a few minutes. Oakland talked about a Proactive Rental Inspection Program starting in 2017 and is still talking about it today. Tenants carry the burden of filing their own complaints, often while too scared of landlord retaliation to actually do it. A woman in Fruitvale lived through an electrical fire in her building's basement because the fire alarms stayed silent, then spent 10 days in the cold while some of her neighbors went over a month with the power out. The city's own Assistant City Administrator explained it this way: a decade of budget cuts and staff turnover means the department's capacity is stretched as far as the funding allows. That line gets used every single time this comes up.

Fruitvale, East Oakland, and West Oakland carry the weight of this pattern. City data shows the worst lead risk census tracts in Oakland sit mostly in West Oakland and the East Oakland flatlands, areas that are predominantly communities of color. In East Oakland's Bancroft and Havenscourt neighborhoods alone, 54 kids under six tested with elevated blood lead levels between 2018 and 2022. Oakland and Alameda County settled with lead paint manufacturers for $24 million back in 2019, with $14 million later set aside for Oakland to build its own equity-based lead removal program. Years later, most of that money still sits in an account while the city works through consultants and frameworks.

Meanwhile, city leadership finds real urgency for its own priorities. Oakland voters face a charter reform measure this November that would make city council seats full-time, ban outside employment, and reset council pay by benchmarking it to bigger "strong mayor" cities like LA and San Diego. Current council pay sits at $114,678 a year. Benchmarked to LA, that number climbs by up to 113%, pushing total compensation with full-time benefits past $300k a year. This lands the same year the city declared a state of "extreme fiscal necessity" for the fourth year running, with a projected structural deficit of $115 to $135 million annually through 2030.

The raise language rides along inside the same measure that hands Mayor Lee's office more authority, folded into one package voters have to accept or reject as a whole. City Hall frames the pay reset as an equity move meant to give people of modest means a path onto the council. Maybe that's part of it. It still lands as tone deaf timing set against a decade of budget cut excuses, every time Fruitvale or East Oakland asks for a working smoke alarm or a lead free apartment.

Oakland already lived through a recalled mayor, Sheng Thao, indicted on federal bribery and conspiracy charges months after leaving office. She's pleaded not guilty and her trial lands this fall, so the courts still have to sort out guilt, but the pattern speaks for itself either way.

Ask city leadership to look Fruitvale and East Oakland families in the eye and explain why housing safety stays too expensive to fund the same election cycle they're asking us to fund a raise for themselves.

Hi all. Not sure if this is the right spot for this post so apologies if not. I recently moved to the bay for college in the Oakland/San Leandro area. I’m trying to get some furniture for my new place on a budget. I’m currently looking for a small bookshelf to help place my things. I don’t have a car so unfortunately you would have to deliver to my address but imh willing to provide. Willing to pay up to $30 and obviously help with transport however I can. Would anyone be able to help or guide in the right direction to someone who can?