Night event with booze at U.N. Plaza: What could go wrong?

A man rests against the monument at United Nations Plaza. A man rests against the monument at United Nations Plaza. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Night event with booze at U.N. Plaza: What could go wrong? 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

San Francisco has an innovative idea. I'd say it's either an inspired Mid-Market notion or a case of civic irrational exuberance.

City officials want to host an open-air market with live music, artisan food and designer fashion trucks at U.N. Plaza, the scruffy homeless hangout between the Tenderloin and Market Street.

At night.

With cocktails.

What could possibly go wrong?

Actually, there's a certain urban logic to the concept, which will be called the Night Market and will kick off as a pilot program on Sept. 5. The plan is for it to continue every Friday between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. through Oct. 24. The theory is that with all the techies moving into the Mid-Market area to work and live, an outdoor food truck-beer garden-live music venue will, to use the current buzz phrase, "activate the civic space."

"There are night markets all over the world," said Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. "The Night Market will liven up the center of our city with lights, music, food, merchants and, above all, people."

That sounds optimistic, but Carolyn Diamond, executive director of the Market Street Association, says the reaction has been surprisingly positive.

'Good luck with that'

"I've had some people say, 'Good luck with that,' " she admitted. "But no one has said, 'Are you out of your mind?' "

And after all, there's already a thriving farmers' market, the Heart of the City, which has been at the site since 1981 and has a large following on Wednesdays and Sundays. And food trucks come out for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Still, when it comes to the Night Market, count us among the 'good luck with that' crowd. Certainly it will be a wonderful development if it takes off, but it may be an uphill climb.

A cynic would say there's already a thriving market at U.N. Plaza - go there if you want to buy a stolen cell phone or a pair of recently shoplifted jeans. As for sitting there and sipping an alcoholic beverage: no problem. Just remember to keep the bottle in a brown paper bag.

Taking into account its seedy reputation, the New York nonprofit Project for Public Spaces recently put U.N. Plaza in its "Hall of Shame," calling it and the adjoining Civic Center "vast but terribly underperforming." The project particularly disliked the U.N. fountain, which it called a poor use of space.

That's for sure. In 2003, the fountain had become such a magnet for problems - drug use, toilet and homeless bath facility - that the city fenced it off. It's been restored, but it still "promotes bad behavior," according to the nonprofit.

Still, Cynthia Nikitin, a senior vice president at the project, which is involved in improving public spaces, says the Twitter-techie influx has the potential to change the culture in the plaza - but only if we can get them out of their work spaces.

Luring young techies out

"You get all these creative young people down there, and they are locked inside their buildings," she said. "You need to get them out of their cushy offices - their playpens - and be more inclusive to the community."

In that way the Night Market will serve as a canary in a coal mine. If the Mid-Market turnaround is truly going to happen, a vibrant night market would be an indicator.

"This is the space that people have been asking for," said Simon Bertrang, project manager for the Department of Public Works. "When there's nothing going on there you get people just hanging out. We think this can become a place where people will want to come."

And, says Diamond, it isn't enough to have people stroll through.

"We want them to linger," she said. "Hopefully what we will see is three or four people at a table, waiting to meet up with friends. If people are going to the theater, for example, they might say, 'I'll meet you at the market.' And everybody would know what you meant."

The plans are definitely upscale. There will be festival lighting, six to eight food trucks a night, tables for lounging and trucks that will market local designer fashions. And there's the clincher: beer, wine and cocktails.

"Whenever I talk to people about this," Diamond said, "people say, 'Is there going to be alcohol?' And when I say there is, they say, 'Great.' "

Just stay out of the fountain.