Drop Dead from Pigeon Poop
For all the hot air that's been wasted by Scott Wiener and MUMC in the 22-months since the rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza was put on the Castro's agenda and their concerns for the entire plaza, you might think some of it would have been about the health menace of the pigeon poop in close proximity to people with AIDS.
In August, through photos and complaints to the Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Works and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, I waged a campaign to rid the plaza of roosting spots for disease-carrying pigeons. That history is here.
Wiener and his staffers, same as MUMC leaders, were alerted to my posts about the serious threat to the immune systems of people with HIV/AIDS and other health-compromised persons, yet he made no transparent moves to address this issue.
Now, two-months after the city applied anti-bird gel to the Muni and utility cables over the empty and useless news racks cluttering up the corner of Market and Castro at the lip of the subway entrance, the birds and their crap are back.
Just what the heck is it gonna take for Wiener and MUMC to address the disease-carrying pigeon poop, which is also a hell of lot more nasty to look at than any of the nudists in the gayborhood I might add and is the sight that first greets visitors as they exit the Muni station?
At the same time, let's not absolve AIDS Inc from their responsibility to address this poop problem. MUMC and AIDS Inc groups are sponsoring their second annual World AIDS Day effort to increase profits for merchants and pass along some dough to the six-figure executive directors running multimillion dollars organizations.
The effort is called "Paint the Castro Red" and what they really mean is "Paint the Castro Green" with AIDS dollars. How do AIDS Inc and MUMC want you to respond when remembering our dead and those living with AIDS today? By spending money shopping, drinking and eating.
How important is World AIDS Day to making money for MUMC businesses? It's so crucial that MUMC will fly a red ribbon banner just like on the days when they hoist the leather and bear pride flags because they want dollars from consumers. Fine, whatever guys, just please get rid of the damn roosting spots for pigeons in the heart of the community.
Do any of these civic and nonprofit leaders ever walk past Castro and Market? How can they be blind to this health threat?
If that gross-out video I shot this afternoon doesn't spur Wiener, MUMC, AIDS Inc and the city, to action, nothing will.
No comments:
Post a Comment