The Presidio Landmark: Occupied by the 1%

p Is this place haunted?nbsp; I was asked this question a thousand times.nbsp;nbsp;I was thenbsp;doorman and the curious would walknbsp;in andnbsp;look around inquisitively.nbsp;nbsp;It was a typical westernnbsp;lens--a former hospital where noisesnbsp;are heard inside and out.nbsp; Is it haunted? they#39;d ask again.nbsp;nbsp;Only by the living I#39;dnbsp;answer then go back to my doorman duties knowing that thenbsp;building was alive with thenbsp;spirits ofnbsp;ancestors.nbsp;nbsp;The callnbsp;of the ravens outside echonbsp;the cries ofnbsp;indigenousnbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="5"Ohlone/spannbsp;peoples,nbsp;Filipinos,nbsp;merchant seamennbsp;and many spiritsnbsp;from all over the worldnbsp;whose desecrated gravesnbsp;cry out for justice./p p nbsp;/p p The edifice I refer to is the Presidio Landmark Apartments, located in the cityrsquo;s Presidio onnbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Wedemeyer" data-scaytid="3"Wedemeyer/span St. near 14supth/sup Ave.nbsp; I was working at this insular, hermetically sealed, self-aggrandizing, pseudo palacemdash;home to CEOrsquo;s and hedge fundersmdash;in the capacity of door attendant.nbsp; My brown face was the first yoursquo;d see when walking through the Frenchnbsp;doors.nbsp;nbsp;There I would sit, donning a somewhat comical habiliment of tan dockers, innocuous (save fornbsp;the itching) cotton candy blue shirt, bottomed off with clunky Timberland shoes.nbsp; The Presidio Landmarkmdash;an ideal locale for one of those obnoxious Lexus Christmas commercialsmdash;home to some of the cityrsquo;s highest rents--nearlynbsp;$3000nbsp;a month for a ldquo;juniorrdquo; one bedroom,nbsp;$3200-3800 for a one-bedroom,nbsp;upwards of $4000-5000 for a 2 bedroom, and $7000+ for a multi-floor townhome located in the periphery.nbsp; The building casts an ominous presence when approached.nbsp; It is situated on a grassy slope, adorned with foliage including succulents, native plants, African varietiesmdash;underneath canopy-like palm trees, impassive and pale, stripped of their natural skin.nbsp; Onenbsp;gets the impression when approaching this fortress-like structure that something is terribly wrong.nbsp; This home of the upwardly mobile, the hedge funders,nbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gentrifiers" data-scaytid="1"gentrifiers/span of neighborhoodsmdash;this colonized place sits on the ancestral home of Native people.nbsp; It isnbsp;the structure that was once known as the Merchant Marine and Public Health Service Hospitals.nbsp; It was a placenbsp;that provided free care to native people, including native Hawaiians, people with leprosy,nbsp;merchant marines and people who didnrsquo;t have access to decentnbsp;healthcare.nbsp; It is part of the 42 acre Public Health Service District.nbsp; It is the place that was abandoned in the mid 80rsquo;s when it was decommissioned by the Reagan administration.nbsp; It is a place whose cries can be heard, a place where ancestral spirits cry out for justice against land grabbing developers like Forest City, who, with the Presidio Trust, took the sacrednbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="7"Ohlone/span land to satisfy its voracious corporate hunger.nbsp; The Presidio Landmark: home to the 1%./p p nbsp;/p p The Presidio Landmark marketing propaganda boasts that it is ideally situated in a national park, yet accessible to the city via thenbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Presidigo" data-scaytid="17"Presidigo/span Shuttlenbsp;and various span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Muni" data-scaytid="19"Muni/span lines.nbsp; Upon walking inside, one is taken by the antiseptic environment, accentuated by chemically concocted aromas that are hatched in some lab and delivered via UPS.nbsp; The simulated odors are birch, pinenbsp;and various flowersmdash;imitations of the natural smells that emanate from the trees and plant life a few feet outside. This aerosol-like goodnessnbsp;is transmitted via a black box the size of a toaster./p p nbsp;/p p Directly behind the property is the long-forgotten graves of more than 600 merchant seaman/sailors whose remains were covered over by landfill in its use as a dump site.nbsp; The cemetery goes back somenbsp;135 years.nbsp; The Presidio powers that be use words such as ldquo;revitalizationrdquo; and ldquo;restorationrdquo;nbsp;yet there is no memorial marking the presence of the remains.nbsp; The cemetery was known as ldquo;Landfill 8rdquo;, where the remains of mariners from 43 countries were interred, who died of TB, scurvy, malaria, syphilis and leprosy.nbsp; In 1952 the hospital was expanded and the remains were declared to have been moved but that was not the case.nbsp; The remains of mariners who had worked in harsh conditions and died of various diseases were covered with hazardous wastes from the military and othernbsp;sources.nbsp; In 1989, in the process of the Presidio being transferred to the National Parknbsp;Service, archeologists discovered that coffins had not been removed from landfill 8.nbsp; The ominous shadow cast by the Presidio Landmark over the desecrated remains of working class people highlights the sharp class divisions that have always existed in this country.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p Itrsquo;s in the lobby area of the Presidio Landmark that yoursquo;ll find the working class.nbsp; The lobby desk is staffed by a door attendant and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="afterhours" data-scaytid="9"afterhours/span security guards.nbsp; The door staff works in a controlled environment that radiates a nurse Ratchet feel, under the supervision of an Experience Manager--basically a glorified concierge--whose mission is to ensure that tenants (Management refers to them as residents) have anbsp;seamless experience in their domiciles and community spaces.nbsp; ldquo;New York style door attendantrdquo; is the phrase used to describe the person whose job it is to watch the doormdash;which is what I didmdash;although I donrsquo;t see why a emNew York /emstyle door attendant should be coveted any more than a San Francisco style door attendantmdash;after all, San Francisco is birthplace to me and most of the othernbsp;door staff as well as some of the maintenance staff.nbsp; But this is not surprising since the majority of tenants are not actually from San Franciscomdash;but not to fret, they occasionally morph into locals upon stumbling into a neighborhood Chinese bakery for anbsp;pork bun.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The desk is made of marble that is painfully and incessantly buffed and polished.nbsp; Much attention is paid to the marblemdash;the leasing agents opine about the building having its ldquo;originalrdquo;nbsp;marble walls, stairs and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="misc" data-scaytid="13"misc/span. span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="accoutrements" data-scaytid="15"accoutrements/span.nbsp; Nothing, if anything, is mentioned of the former occupants of thisnbsp;converted hospital, the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="11"Ohlone/span people or the cemetery located in the rear of the property.nbsp; In fact, management instructs all staff not to breach those subjects.nbsp; The closest you come to any historical lens is when new tenants move in.nbsp; They are given a set of gifts, including a small box of chocolate, referenced by span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Junipero" data-scaytid="29"Junipero/span Serrarsquo;s notorious sweet tooth,nbsp;having sent a request to Mexico for chocolate (as well as small blanket with the property logomdash;a cluster of acornsmdash;stitched in).nbsp; The gift of chocolate is in homage to Serra, a sort of Whitmanrsquo;s sampler for the colonizer at heart.nbsp; In typical corporate fashion, the history of indigenous people is erased, doesnrsquo;t existmdash;which is metaphorically illustrated by the compulsive cleaning of the place.nbsp; Management was bent out of shape when it was observed that security officers had left behind ldquo;dropletsrdquo; on the bathroom floor after voiding and so-called marks on the porcelain.nbsp; The toilets are of the water-savingnbsp;variety and residual marks can sometimes take up to 6 flushes to remove.nbsp;It reached a level ofnbsp;absurdity when the maintenance supervisor camenbsp;up with the fatuousnbsp;suggestion that people takenbsp;a toilet brush and swish a little after using.nbsp; A memo was circulated.nbsp; Itrsquo;s as though the past must be exorcized with every wipe of marble or tile. Irsquo;d sit, tightlipped as the residentsmdash;Executive Directors, CEOrsquo;s, pharmaceutical salespeople, lawyersmdash;would drop by, engaging me in a dose ofnbsp;obligatory chitnbsp;chatnbsp;prior to their jogmdash;at which time theyrsquo;d drop me their home and BMW keysmdash;to hold for safekeeping./p p nbsp;/p p In the lobby was where I first encountered ldquo;Jrdquo;, an Iraq war veteran whorsquo;d served in the air force.nbsp; There was an opening for a door attendant and ldquo;Jrdquo; was one of the first applicants.nbsp;nbsp; He arrived 30 minutes before his interview, portend of his strict vigilance to the clock.nbsp; He walked in, rail thin, protruding ears, wire-rimmed glasses accentuated by a bow tie that seemed to bloom in the reflective light.nbsp; He was hyper self-conscious, asking me several times if he looked presentable.nbsp; During our interaction, he said ldquo;yes sirrdquo; many times.nbsp; I insisted he call me Tony.nbsp; ldquo;Yes sirrdquo; he responded.nbsp; He was from the deep-south, and, like the rest of us, struggling to make it, living with a roommate in an SRO hotel downtown.nbsp; The doorman job provided part time hours, which, in the depths of a recession, was the only employment he could find.nbsp; Prior to his interview, he showed me meticulous and copious notes he taken about the propertymdash;the number of units, the square footage, the corporate headquarters of the developer, its green features etc.nbsp; I was a bit ashamed since I didnrsquo;t take time to research the data and ended up the fulltime door attendant.nbsp; ldquo;Jrdquo; was predictably hired.nbsp; We shared the front desk with the security guards and other door staff under the ubiquitous corporate dictum of Forest City in far off Cleveland.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The Presidio has a long his/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="herstory" data-scaytid="33"herstory/span of land theft and genocide against native people.nbsp; The land was home to thousands of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Muwekma" data-scaytid="35"Muwekma/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="23"Ohlone/span people.nbsp; During the 1700rsquo;s the Presidio was colonized with its original inhabitants enslaved and sequestered in missions by the Spanish.nbsp; It was thought that the numbers of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="25"Ohlone/span were irrelevantmdash;resulting in their being dropped from the registry of officially recognized Indian nations.nbsp; The land was under controlnbsp;of Spain, followed by Mexico, then by the US in 1848.nbsp; It was a US army base until its closure in 1994 as part of the congressional military reduction program.nbsp; The span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="27"Ohlone/span fought tonbsp;reclaim this land that was now excess federal land that,nbsp;in accordance with federal law,nbsp;should benbsp;turned overnbsp;to the original inhabitants.nbsp;nbsp;Thenbsp;US Army, however, did notnbsp;thinknbsp;this applied to their case.nbsp;In 1996 congress created the Presidio Trust to oversee and manage the land (80%) and coastal areas (20%).nbsp; The trust was mandated to make the Presidio financially self-sufficient by 2013.nbsp;nbsp;The Presidio was the launching area of US military engagements in the Pacific.nbsp; Thenbsp;colonization of my own peoplemdash;Filipinosmdash;by the US was launched from the Presidio in the Spanish-American War, the precursor to the Philippine American War where thousands of Filipinos were tortured and slaughteredmdash;ending up in mass graves.nbsp; The Presidio is now home to variousnbsp;non-profit and for profitnbsp;organizations: the Walt Disney Museum, Lucas Films and the newly renovated Merchant Marine Hospital now known as the Presidio Landmarknbsp;Apartments.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p ldquo;Donrsquo;t ever drop the flagrdquo; a voice warns as I hold the tightly folded American flag at the base of the pole.nbsp;nbsp;The janitor and I perform the flag raising ritual, looking out for the maintenancenbsp;supervisormdash;an orbicular army veterannbsp;whose life seems to revolve around the work orders that are constantly generatedmdash;problems with appliances and plumbing, fire alarms and the ever popular sauna.nbsp; We are keenly aware of the matrix of cameras strategically situated about the property.nbsp; We string the flag up and watch it rise in the wind.nbsp; I walk the lobby fluffing thenbsp;pillows, wiping the windows for the thousandth time while the guests file in.nbsp; In the lobby are leather chairs with pincushion-like pillows.nbsp; A fireplace blares all day regardless of weather.nbsp; Fresh copies of thenbsp;New York Times and Wall Street Journal sit on the coffee table daily.nbsp;nbsp;Near the windownbsp;a protruding rack displays that literary cornerstone of local culturemdash;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="7x7" data-scaytid="37"7x7/span Magazine.nbsp; I once, in an attempt to vary the journalistic offering, put a copy of the Baynbsp;View Newspaper on the coffee table, which was promptly snatched by another desk attendantmdash;a man of color.nbsp; Much affection is bestowed upon this individual, who I will refer to as Tom.nbsp;nbsp;Tom was alwaysnbsp;able to avail himself to any request.nbsp; Somewhat stout in stature but muscular in smile, he seemed to be in a perpetual hurry to refill the coffee canisters and restock the creamers (affectionately known as mini-moorsquo;s) in the complimentary gourmetnbsp;coffeenbsp;station.nbsp; He wouldnbsp;move around admirably in a shuffle/hobble motion that could be described as anbsp;emspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="shlobble" data-scaytid="39"shlobble/span/em.nbsp; That,nbsp;coupled with hisnbsp;endearing and perpetualnbsp;head bobbingnbsp;could be further described as a emspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="schlobobble" data-scaytid="31"schlobobble/span/em.nbsp;nbsp;He covered much ground.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p I sit at the desk and the potential renters file in.nbsp; They are easy to spotmdash;mostly young, professional, with an air of comfort and privilege that is disconcerting.nbsp; One such person walked in and beheld the surroundings as if hersquo;d stepped through the pearly gates.nbsp; ldquo;Itrsquo;s sonbsp;beautifulrdquo; he says, his soft face betraying his middle age.nbsp; ldquo;Yeah, a real span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Taj" data-scaytid="45"Taj/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Mahal”" data-scaytid="41"Mahalrdquo;/span I say, sarcastically.nbsp; ldquo;Oh, itrsquo;s more beautiful than thatrdquo; he replied.nbsp; I leave him to breathe the synthetic cypress aroma.nbsp; Butnbsp;there is trouble in the palace.nbsp; ldquo;Jrdquo; is still coming to work energized by a working-poor manrsquo;s diet of coffee, candy bars and cigarettes.nbsp; I get word that his roommate has moved out of his SRO Hotel, leaving him with rent he cannot afford.nbsp; This, coupled with his unspoken-about war experience, job demands and good natured need for approbation leave him jumpy and irritable.nbsp; He is well-liked, the most polite person I have ever met.nbsp; But I get the feeling that he is beginning to tire of being so polite.nbsp; I often wonder how he feels to have to greet and offer pleasantries to residents who saunter by with paychecks of $10,000 a month complaining that the water in the sauna is too cold or that the coffee is weaker since the switch from span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Peets" data-scaytid="43"Peets/span to another micro beanery.nbsp; I wonder how he feels not to earn enough to survive on after risking his life in the military that only the rich have profited from.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The Presidio Landmark is made up of 154 units and it is filling up. There are occasional lulls at the front desk and I think about the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="47"houseless/span people that lived in this place prior to its evisceration.nbsp; Much was made of the buildingrsquo;s condition during its abandonmentmdash;graffiti strewn with the innards that made up a medical facilitymdash;beds, machines, medicalnbsp;devices of all types.nbsp; Visitors would walk in and remark that the renovated building is a vast improvement to the homeless and drug infested emeyesore/em that stood on the grassy hill with its unsightly wings.nbsp; They are taken by the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="décor" data-scaytid="49"deacute;cor/span and halcyon span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="façade" data-scaytid="51"faccedil;ade/span.nbsp; I walk the lower level, site of the former hospital morgue.nbsp; The developer, with astounding span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="incogitance" data-scaytid="53"incogitance/span and morbidity, has converted this space into a dining area/wine cellar,nbsp;fitness center, replete with weights, exercise balls, treadmills and, of course, flat screen TVrsquo;s.nbsp; A short walk from the fitness room, still within the former morgue, is the management office where the property manager and leasingnbsp;agents do the corporate bidding to the backdrop of hits supplied by that radio station of the revolution, 96.5 (no argument here) span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="KOIT" data-scaytid="57"KOIT/span.nbsp; I recall an office birthday party in the management office with expensive Italian cake and conversation of substance.nbsp; One of the leasing agentsmdash;a young African American womanmdash;was being transferred to another Forest City property in Oakland, to deal with section 8 applicants (a coincidence!).nbsp; As she ate her cake, she declared that section 8 folks have an unpleasant smell (To say they ldquo;Stankrdquo; would have been too crude).nbsp; Laughter ensued as cake was stuffed into faces in this place where rents are strategically setnbsp;just abovenbsp;market rate--to exclude thenbsp;section 8 program.nbsp;nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p strongThe ldquo;Mrdquo; Word/strong/p p ldquo;Jrdquo; is still working at the property but he has been reprimanded for mentioning the word ldquo;moldrdquo;.nbsp; A resident reported finding what he or she thought was mold in their unit.nbsp; ldquo;Jrdquo; wrote a work request as such but was told to never mention the word ldquo;Moldrdquo;.nbsp; All work orders arenbsp;seen under the ubiquitous eye of the corporate office, with response times and outcomes under heavy scrutiny.nbsp; Mold, if reported, involves an expensive process to confirm and abate.nbsp; Policy is not to mention the ldquo;Mrdquo; word at all. nbsp;The resultingnbsp;vituperation hasnbsp;put ldquo;Jrdquo; more on edge, every misstep turning into a federal casemdash;each scrutiny edging him to a greater degree of impuissance.nbsp; He is then requested to clean the guest kitchen areamdash;for moneymdash;by a resident who had had a dinner party and, for some reason, couldnrsquo;t clean up after herself.nbsp; He did a thorough job and was paid by the resident.nbsp; The management office got wind and called ldquo;Jrdquo; into the office.nbsp; ldquo;Jrsquo;srdquo; meeting with management ended up with his firing.nbsp; Apparently, there is some kind of rule against taking gratuities from residents.nbsp; But ldquo;Jrdquo; confided to management his personal challenges in securing housing in San Francisco, expressing the need for more work hours.nbsp; At this, he was fired.nbsp; We were told to call the police if he set foot on the property.nbsp; I remember seeing his items that he had left behindmdash;a certificate from the armed forces and his degree in agricultural science from the University of Arkansas that he carried around. nbsp;He also left behind some candy--chocolate covered pecans that his mother had sent him for the holidays.nbsp; After he was fired, those pieces were eaten in the management office kitchen.nbsp; ldquo;Jrdquo; is now homeless, often seen at the Montgomery Street Bart station./p p nbsp;/p p strongAbe Lincoln/strong/p p nbsp;/p p The best people I met in the place were working folk.nbsp; I canrsquo;t forget the cleaning ladies thatnbsp;would come inmdash;Chinese and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raza" data-scaytid="55"Raza/spanmdash;they were hard workingnbsp;low-wage workers.nbsp; I remember one of them remarking that the CEO, whose unit she cleaned, never tipped.nbsp; The door attendant was to not get too close with the outside ldquo;helprdquo;.nbsp; But I would offer coffee and water or words or laughtermdash;anything that would resemble a bit of realness in the din of that lobby.nbsp; And sometimes folks would return, folks who had worked in the place when it was a hospital.nbsp; Those folks had memories to treasure and I would never tire hearing them.nbsp; But my connection to the working class landed me in a bit of trouble when, during the Labor Day weekend, I posted a quotenbsp;bynbsp;Abe Lincoln regarding Labor onnbsp;the community website:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;ldquo;Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.nbsp;/p p nbsp;nbsp;Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have/p p nbsp;nbsp;existed if labor had not first existed.nbsp; Labor is the superior/p p nbsp;nbsp;Capital, and deserves the much higher considerationrdquo;/p p nbsp;/p p I was taken aside by my co-door attendant (Also a man of colorhellip;emTom/em) and informed that there were complaints about the quote by a few residents and that I should keep my personal opinions about this subject to myself.nbsp;nbsp;There was one resident who liked thenbsp;quote and thought it was appropriate--a nicenbsp;older man who was always respectful ofnbsp;me.nbsp; However,nbsp; I didnrsquo;t know that Abe Lincoln would cause such a fuss in a place that raises the flag daily and insists that one never drops it.nbsp; But it all begs the question of ldquo;Jrdquo;.nbsp; Where was the patriotism when he was fired, or when he brought up the subject of his homelessness?nbsp; Where was the flag then?nbsp; We are told not to drop the flag but where was the altruistic patriotism when ldquo;Jrdquo; got dropped, fired at will?/p p nbsp;/p p As for my own case, I was terminated for accepting a gratuity from a taxi driver for a pick up to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="SFO" data-scaytid="61"SFO/span.nbsp; Funny thing was that I was not present when the driver arrived.nbsp; I left an envelope for him to leave the few bucks for memdash;which I had instructed ldquo;Tomrdquo; to accept.nbsp; In typical Tom fashion, he reported it to the property manager.nbsp; I was called in for a ldquo;meetingrdquo;.nbsp; But prior to that meeting, a member of the maintenance department (the building manager#39;snbsp;personal buddy from Seattle)nbsp;was off site, maybe eatingnbsp;lunch, and called the manager who I heard say, ldquo;Okhellip;donrsquo;t worry, Irsquo;ll clock you inrdquo;.nbsp; This is, of course, prohibited via company rules and regulationsmdash;of which there are hundreds if not thousands, and are unequallynbsp;applied between management and staff.nbsp; I witnessed his violationnbsp;emin span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="flagrante" data-scaytid="63"flagrante/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="delicto" data-scaytid="65"delicto/span (innbsp;the act). /emI was fired for taking a gratuity that i never received.nbsp; As for the property manager, he is still there, comfortably and gainfully employednbsp;by the Landmark, occupiednbsp;by the 1%, anbsp;placenbsp;hauntednbsp;by the living.nbsp;nbsp;/p