SF Weekly Tracks Down Brooklynite Given Bizarre S.F. Travel Advice By New York Times

Next time, Marian. Next time.

​Last week, SF Weekly made a desperate plea to save a Brooklyn woman from a dire fate indeed. Marian Berelowitz wrote to the New York Times' travel section querying how she should best spend a scant four-hour layover in the City by the Bay. Shockingly, America's paper of record offered her an itinerary that one would likely need to alter time and space to cram into four hours that -- gasp! -- featured tourist trap Pier 39 as its highlight.

We recently tracked down Marian Berelowitz in her Brooklyn Heights home. Sadly, we were too late to keep her from misspending her brief sojourn in San Francisco. Happily, however, other forces intervened to ensure her stay here was a pleasant one.

Providence ensured Berelowitz was kept away from Pier 39. Her plane came in so late, that she only had one hour to spare in the city. So she and her traveling companion didn't shlep out on the BART to F-Line-to tourist trap-to Cable Car oddyssey prescribed by the Times. Instead, they simply BARTed it to Powell, wandered to the Top of the Mark, enjoyed the view on a serene, 75-degree day, and then took the train back to the airport. The end.

"It was actually really nice," she says. "So that worked out well."

Berelowitz, an editor, said she was somewhat puzzled by the advice to visit Pier 39, which she likened to New York City's South Street Seaport -- a place locals determinedly avoid "but tons of tourists go there" (an exellent analogy for the editor!). 

She regrets she didn't get the chance to ride the city's Cable Cars, but says she'll be back sooner or later. "Not in the immediate future -- but definitely someday."

Next time be sure to budget more than four hours.