Fans navigate the Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Tuesday. The convention center is near Fourth and Mission streets, the most crime-ridden corner in the city.

This week, thousands of NFL jersey-wearing football fans have navigated the intersection at Fourth and Mission streets in San Francisco as they head to Moscone Center’s “Super Bowl Experience,” and the “Fan Zone” festivities and concerts that have taken over Yerba Buena Gardens. 

As someone who works a block away and who walks through the area at least twice a day on my way to the bus, I’ve observed the festivities with no small sense of irony.

Fourth and Mission is the most crime-ridden corner in the city.

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As the Chronicle reported last month, crime rates in San Francisco continued to fall last year, hitting historic lows — except for two neighborhoods: South of Market and Mission Bay, where overall crime rose from 2024 to 2025. Larceny, or theft, was the biggest driver behind the uptick in crime in those two neighborhoods. Larceny reports at Fourth and Mission surged 600% in 2025 over the previous year.

Unlike a normal workday, the police presence at Fourth and Mission during Super Bowl Week has been unavoidable. Traffic has been diverted, gates have been installed and groups of officers on foot patrols are everywhere you look, likely to protect against a potential terrorist attack more than a random pickpocket or purse snatcher. 

San Francisco police officers patrol the streets near Moscone Center South on Monday. Security measures are high for Super Bowl week activities.

Like many of the tourists in town for the Super Bowl festivities who are reading this, discovering........

© San Francisco Chronicle