Copyright dailymail
San Francisco residents are slamming the city's officials for airing a tourism promotion featuring a beloved community landmark that has been repeatedly torn down by health and safety bureaucrats - despite no reported injuries in its almost 20-year history. The renowned rope swing in the city's Bernal Heights neighborhood makes an appearance about ten seconds into a one-minute promotional video that aired across the US during a college football game last weekend. It was created by San Francisco Travel, a private nonprofit that serves as the city’s official destination marketing organization. While its appearance in the video suggests the city embraces the rope swing as an important tourist attraction, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department has taken it down dozens of times in a game of whack-a-mole with locals who keep replacing the iconic swing. Tamara Aparton, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement on Tuesday: 'We know DIY swings are fun and photogenic, but they’re also uninspected, unmaintained, and often unsafe. 'They’re also tough on our trees. That said, we have 184 playgrounds with swings we can vouch for.' Residents were quick to point out the irony that the department's own logo features a silhouette of a person on a rope swing. In the comments of a post on the San Francisco Reddit community that asked who keeps taking down the landmark, users posted edited versions of the logo with the swing cut down. On X, San Francisco tech entrepreneur Matt Brezina wrote: 'Citizens of SF install guerrilla swing in Bernal Heights. City bureaucracy removes the swing multiple times. 'San Francisco’s official Travel Marketing organization just featured the swing in a national TV spot. Our bloated, overfunded, overstaffed, union-protected bureaucratic jobs program is holding back the potential of our city.' It is unknown when the rope swing was first installed in Bernal Heights, a neighborhood on a hill about four miles south of San Francisco's downtown. Neighborhood residents, however, told Mission Local they remember seeing it as far back as 2008. In the years since, San Francisco officials have regularly cited injuries tied to unauthorized rope swings and potential damage to trees as reasons for the landmark's removal. The swing has remained a popular attraction for tourists despite those efforts, and visitors who trek up the hill with a panoramic view of the skyline often come away confused and disappointed when it is not there. One man, known simply as the Swing Guy, has been particularly dedicated to the landmark's right to exist and locals' right to decide if they want to risk using it. He has replaced the swing many times after city officials took it down, calling his efforts a form of guerrilla public art. The Swing Guy, who has tried to remain anonymous for fear of legal retaliation, estimated that he has spent more than $1,000 on materials to reinstall the rope swing. 'I will keep doing this until the Sun swallows the Earth,' he told the San Francisco Standard. Other locals see the swing as an important representation of the neighborhood's creativity and community. One Bernal Hill resident, Charlie Holtz, said removing it was an 'outrage,' and that 'the swing is the heart and soul of Bernal.' But lovers of the swing may take solace in the frequent removals seeming to inspire creativity with each iteration of its installation. One user on the Reddit thread asking who keeps removing the swing wrote, 'the coolest incarnation I saw was a skateboard attachment to the swing.' In response, another user wrote: 'Yeah, my old roommate used to be the one installing the old skate decks for the swing. He must have put up 8-10 decks over a few years.' Although there haven't been any injuries reported in association with the Bernal Heights rope swing, San Francisco officials have highlighted cases of serious injury and even death at other unauthorized rope swings in the city and state. A French tourist broke his leg at one on Billy Goat Hill some years ago, and a woman died near Sacramento after falling from one in 2023. In 2012, a San Diego high school student fell down a ravine after another rope swing broke. Aparton, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson, acknowledged the department has been a buzzkill but emphasized the importance of safety. 'We know it’s a bit of a bummer because rope swings can be charming, but we can’t assure the safety of people or the trees,' she said.
