Mobsters and Pornography in SF

After the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, writer Henry Fielding wrote this:

If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over-frisky,Why did he burn the churches down and spare Hotaling's Whiskey?

This was penned about the fact that the city's largest distillery escaped without any damage. I was reminded of this poem (shared with me by my high school APUSH teacher) in lecture the other day and I think it raises some interesting points about the incredibly varying cultures that thrive in San Francisco that are regarded as in need of divine correction. Something that has always interested me are the ways in which these cultures are and aren't visible to a layman. My visits into a city with people more familiar than I am had us strolling by men crowded around cafe tables talking in low voices (Soprano-esque is what I'm getting at here). I'm not saying Mobsters (or whatever that looks like in modern culture), but I am heavily implying it. Shadowy business done in broad daylight? Not my place to say. But it's a visible manifestation of the diversity that becomes apparent crossing from one neighborhood to the next.

Other sub-culture dealings are exemplified by the Kink.com acquisition of the historical San Francisco Armory -- Kink.com being an internet fetish company. The company claimed that they would be discrete and non-disruptive, but a women's shelter relocated after the purchase, citing discomfort with the company's presence. Additionally, the armory has been known to fly pride flags of various subculture, such as the leather pride flag below:

My point is this -- the different bubbling-ups of the subterranean subculture of SF are visible markers of the subversion and diversity the city is both prized and targeted for.