When Portsmouth Square closed June 11 for its $73 million renovation, the seniors who gather there daily didn't go home — they moved to the alleyway next door, and drew as many as 50 people to sidewalk poker games by Friday. Merchants say the new arrangement is untenable. The city doesn't have a plan.

On Walter U Lum Place — the narrow alleyway that runs along the west side of Portsmouth Square — there are poker games going on. The players sit on white plastic buckets, each one painted with a red line down the middle. On Friday, according to sources who spoke with Mission Local, as many as 50 people crowded the sidewalk to play or watch.

The games started Wednesday. That's when the green construction fencing went up around Portsmouth Square, closing the 1.3-acre park for a $73 million renovation expected to last at least two years. The seniors who had been using the square — to play cards, practice tai chi, work out, talk — didn't leave. They set up on the sidewalk outside the fence and kept going. By the afternoon, Walter U Lum Place had become the new gathering spot. By nightfall, it still was.

The square has long been the informal center of daily life for Asian seniors, including many who come from across the city and live in nearby SROs. The city put up posters before the closure directing regulars to other parks. Lily Lo, founder of BeChinatown, told Mission Local it wasn't enough: the seniors are creatures of habit, don't know how to navigate to those other destinations, and now their friends are on Walter U Lum Place anyway.

The improvised arrangement has created immediate friction with merchants on the alley. Edward Siu, president of the Chinatown Merchants United Association, has fielded complaints that the card games are blocking storefronts and that players' constant smoking is deterring customers. Siu told Mission Local he suspects the same small-time entrepreneur who organized low-stakes gambling tables at Portsmouth Square is behind the new sidewalk setup. He has already messaged city contacts demanding action and plans to raise it with Mayor Daniel Lurie next week. "Why is the city not doing anything?" Siu told Mission Local. "They should not wait for me to complain."

Chinatown has 204 open 311 requests in the past seven days and 8 eviction notices filed in the past 90 days — the backdrop of a neighborhood under sustained pressure. The sidewalk card games are a small and particular addition to that picture, but they've moved fast: Central Station officers visited Friday afternoon and spoke with players. One table relocated to Wentworth Place at Washington Street, one block away. David Ho, a longtime Chinatown organizer and political consultant, told Mission Local he was calling the mayor Friday.

Tomorrow on Walter U Lum Place, the buckets will probably be back.