03/14/2025
Photo by / When the pandemic temporarily shuttered the Musée Méchanique, a coin-operated arcade in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, owner Dan Zelinksy continued to maintain over 300 machines. He uses roller skates to zip around the space that houses the collection his father started in 1933. With no income for over a year, a GoFundMe campaign helped with the rent until the arcade could reopen on June 15, when restrictions were lifted in the state. “This place brings out the best of people,” he says. “They'll see a machine that they grew up with, you know, 50, 60, 70, 80 years ago, and they lose it completely. They're just so happy to be able to play with it again. This is what makes it all worthwhile.”
Supported by ’s Emergency Fund for Journalists, I've been working on a project on the Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood, San Francisco’s main tourist destination, to document the economic impact of the pandemic in communities that rely on tourism. For more from this story, follow along .