Mayor London Breed blames news coverage for perception of San Francisco after ABC says it's 'too dangerous' to film downtown

San Francisco Mayor London Breed lashed out at recent news coverage for giving misconceptions about the city and claimed "Good Morning America" conflated information when the show said it was "too dangerous" to film in San Francisco's Union Square.

According to the Daily Mail, Mayor Breed took issue with a report by ABC's "Good Morning America" after the program interviewed her about problems facing her city. On the June 14, 2023, episode, reporter Matt Gutman said there was concern that San Francisco "could turn into a so-called zombie with its downtown hollowed out by a fentanyl epidemic, pervasive homelessness, and fleeing retailers."

Gutman asked the mayor, "Is San Francisco dangerous?"

"Here's the thing: San Francisco is a major city and it has challenges," Breed responded. "Let's back up a little bit; you are talking about people who are leaving the city, but not the people who are staying, expanding, coming to San Francisco," she continued.

Toward the end of the news piece, reporter Gutman noted, "It is worth mentioning that we are not at Union Square or the Westfield Mall this morning because we have been advised that it's simply too dangerous to be there at this hour."

The report for the morning show took place at about 4:00 a.m. local time.

It was that conclusion that Mayor Breed reportedly took issue with. In a statement to SFGate, the mayor's office said, “Sadly, some of the news coverage conflate [sic] the reasons or do [sic] not provide the full picture of why big retailers and other businesses in San Francisco are deciding to leave or transfer ownership of their operations."

“Lacking foot traffic in our downtown areas as a result of work-from-home habits, as well as challenges stemming from shifting shopping trends that have persisted for years, were exacerbated by the pandemic," the statement continued.

"The reality is that the number of reported violent crimes in Downtown and the Tenderloin is down so far this year, when compared to the same time period last year,” the statement also claimed.

According to the Daily Mail, some crimes such as homicide and robbery have increased in the city compared to 2022, but total crime is down almost 7%.

At the same time, however, drug overdose deaths in the city have skyrocketed by 41% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the previous year.

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