Around the plaza outside of the San Francisco Federal Building at 7th and Mission, the neighbors are getting pissed. After the government suits head home at 5 p.m, the plaza that was originally intended for wholesome community uses becomes a ghost town haunted by dealers and defecators. Or as Nina Gruen, a resident of the SoMa Grand residences next door (who also happens to be an urban-development consultant) put it to the AP: "I've seen many things that I wish I hadn't... It's a very depressing walk."
The neighbors, who have apparently be trying to get a word in with federal officials for months now aren't sitting on their urination complaints. Armed with a petition signed by 170 of their fellow residents in the SoMA Grand building (which boasts amenities like biweekly housekeeping services, certified dog training and "fresh flower and plant care", among other things), the Gruens' have pressured the agency in charge of the building's upkeep to add additional security for the off hours. According to a spokesperson for the General Services Administration, the plaza will be monitored from the building's central security center by Federal Protective Services. So, the Feds from the Department of Homeland Security have been brought in to spook the neighborhood vagrants, basically.
But Gary Buckner, the president of the SoMa Grand resident's association, worries it might be too late for the plaza where he often sees "24/7" drinking and public urination. Buckner, whose group meets for monthly wine tastings, explained to the Chronicle that residents understood the "transitional" nature of the neighborhood when they moved in, "but that doesn't mean it is OK for us to see people urinating and defecating when we walk out our door."
