— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Awwww shit.
According to the newshounds at the SF Chronicle, 16th and Mission smells like a urinal:
The B in BART doesn't stand for “bathroom,” but it smells like it could at the 16th Street Mission Station.
Commuters wrinkle their noses as they walk across either of the two street-level plazas at 16th and Mission streets, where loiterers have few qualms about using the plazas as an open-air restroom, neighbors and officials say.
“The elevator becomes an easy-access urinal or worse,” said Tony Sustak, a Richmond resident who commutes to the station daily. “The real dregs take a dump in public. They're not discouraged by the crowds passing by.”
…The plazas are power washed nightly, but the washers are often forced to wash around a group of several dozen people who sleep on the plaza, Allison said.
BART retrofitted and redesigned the plazas in 2003 and 2006 to make them more aesthetically pleasing. The hope was the community would take ownership of the plazas and crime would drop. But, after a brief honeymoon period of cleanliness, the old crowd and habits came back, BART board member Tom Radulovich said.
Sustak called the plaza improvements “a waste of money.”
“They just spent $4 million to make a fancier urinal,” he said.
Shocking!
[SFgate]
Comments (9)
Clearly this is the first time a Chronicle employee has ever been to 16th & Mission.
Hey Tony Sustak, Richmond resident- by all means try stopping that crazy person from taking a dump on the sidewalk. I’m sure he will politely grant your request.
In it’s current state, the 16th st Bart is by far one of the most disgusting place I’ve encountered (certain areas of Central America are a close second).
If they removed the benches and steps and made it harder to lounge about, or perhaps if the city enforced the no sit/lie law, the situation might be different.
Short of finding a new place for these folks to smoke crack and shoot up, the least we could do is get the Bart janitors to clean that disgusting elevator.
While we’re at it, I think it’s time to remove the robo-toilet. It’s usually broken, it stinks, and even the hobos refuse to use it – that last part alone should be a sign that it’s gotta go.
Except BART never really involved the community in the process. Back in 2007 when BART was advertising for PLAZA vendors, I applied and was put on a waiting list. Throughout 2008, I wrote several letters to Paul Voix Senior Real Estate Officer at BART. It went nowhere.
My feeling at that time was that a small community of food carts and vendors in the plaza could attract people (including police) who would monitor, clean, and protect the plaza and the intersection.
Hi, Cafeydonas.
I’m sorry to hear about your previous experience, but I’d like to talk to you about your interest in opening a coffee cart on the Plaza. If this message finds you, please call me at 415.206.1936.
Thanks!
Organize a cleaning brigade already.
Wrote this for the above article about the lack of trash cans in the city, and it obviously applies here as well:
The solution to this problem is ridiculously obvious.
Until Ed Lee and the DPW make the effort to supply more trash cans, NO ONE should be complaining about this.
Same Goes for the ridiculous lack of public bathrooms and the constant outraged bleatings about public urination.
We pay millions of dollars for these services. Where are they?
To be fair, the pee smell has been noticeably worse in the past few weeks. Not sure why, but enough that it’s the first time I’ve felt the need to mention it to others.