The homeless are using a major San Francisco mall elevator as a bathroom as dozens of retailers pull out of the city amid crime concerns, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Feces in public places is so common in San Francisco that someone started mapping it. Now, the homeless are using a new destination to relieve themselves — Westfield mall elevators, the San Francisco Standard reported.
“It’s like twice a week now. It used to be once a month,” said the manager of the Westfield San Francisco Centre janitors, Abimael Garcia. Westfield mall is in the Union Square area of San Francisco and just had one of its largest retailers, Nordstrom, announce plans to close due to crime concerns.
People are using the lifts in an iconic San Francisco shopping mall as toilets, and it’s getting worse, according to staff. https://t.co/Vowbblwau7
— The San Francisco Standard (@sfstandard) May 16, 2023
San Francisco residents have long complained about the influx of feces in their public areas and the lack of public bathrooms, but the price tag for implementation has brought pause among political leaders. Recently, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom put the brakes on a much needed public toilet due to the staggering cost for a single commode — $1.7 million.
“A single, small bathroom should not cost $1.7 million,” said the governor’s communications director, Erin Mellon. “The state will hold funding until San Francisco delivers a plan to use this public money more efficiently.” The bathroom was later reduced to $300,000 and donated by the Public Restroom Company. (RELATED: Almost Two Dozen Major Retailers Have Fled Downtown San Francisco Amid Skyrocketing Crime)
The other public bathrooms in the mall are often closed due to sanitation issues or drug use, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Julio Tating, an employee for Bloomingdale’s who paces the floors to prevent shoplifters, said he recently encountered feces in the elevator. It “looked like a breakfast sausage,” he said.
Tating said he slipped in poop before while on duty, according to the San Francisco Standard.
The city’s 311 response data, from the agency that helps with non-emergencies, indicates that there have been 33 complaints of human waste around the Westfield Mall in the past six months. In 2022, there were close to 700 complaints of animal or human waste near the mall, according to the data.
“I’ve worked at Jack London Square [and] here in Downtown, so I just think, ‘I got to get this done,’” Garcia said. “If you think too much, you’ll never do it.”
The Westfield San Francisco Centre did not immediately respond to Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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