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Permission granted by author for anyone to distribute this
writing free of charge (including translation into any
language)...under condition that no profit is made therefrom,
and that it remain intact and complete, including title and 
credit to the original author.

Ezekiel J. Krahlin
http://www.gay-bible.org
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CHEESY BISTRO INVADES THE CASTRO
(A True Tale From The Castro. Eat your heart out, Armistead!)

© 1997 by Ezekiel J. Krahlin
(Jehovah's Queer Witness)



DESCRIPTION OF GRIEVANCES AGAINST PASTA POOPADORO

July 15, 1996

     The late night crowd gathered below us continues to
disturb numerous residents living above the restaurant.  The
considerable pile of trash Poopadoro places on the sidewalk
every night attracts street people who rummage through the
garbage at all times of the night...disturbing myself and
others.  Often, when one rummager finally departs, another
pounces upon the heap to renew the street noise.  While these
vagrants may not be your responsibility, this problem did not
exist until you opened Pasta Poopadoro. In the last few
months, vagrants now mess with the pile of trash throughout
the entire night.

     Before Poopadoro's opening, the only bothersome night
noise was the Retro Bar closing around 3 a.m.  Now, we must
also deal with your restaurant's additional noise before this
time!  To top it off, your early morning (dawn) delivery
trucks are very noisy, and use aluminum ramps which add to the
racket.

     Poopadoro has never replaced the noisy fan in the light
well with a quiet one...this, according to several residents
whose windows face that area. The incredibly strong garlic and
other pungent odors emanating from that shaft are also an
irritation to many who live around that well.  The stench of
garlic permeates our building all day and night long,
now...and some of us, who hate garlic, suffer nausea and lack
of appetite almost constantly.  We wonder if placement of a
ventilator in a semi-enclosed area on the second floor is even
legal. So, those folks subject to the rackety noise of your
fan lose valuable sleep, and evening relaxation or studies.

     Since your establishment opened, everyone experiences a
drastic drop in the water pressure through large parts of the
day, evening, and night. Sometimes the cold water is only a
trickle...sometimes the hot.  Often, when a resident takes a
shower now, s/he must frequently adjust the faucets because
the cold or hot water goes up and down in pressure quite
suddenly. Not only does this double one's time needed to
shower, but puts residents at risk of serious skin burns, or
slipping, if not attentive at every moment. Poopadoro's
statement in their letter of April 15, that "we have not
experienced any low water pressure" is dimwitted.  Of course
they don't suffer any loss in pressure...they're on the
bottommost floor, sucking all the water from the upper
(residential) levels!

     We bring to your attention another grievance:  exposing
second-floor residents to seven weeks of horrendous jack
hammering immediately below them.  Some of us suffered severe
headaches, nausea, and nervous stress during that time.  Also,
some residents work at home, for several clients. Your noise
violations forced residents to leave their apartments for
large parts of the day, for many days.  This intruded on their
ability to earn a living...setting some back in their business
by approximately seven weeks.

     There are also numerous people who live here with HIV
illnesses. We're sure they did not appreciate one whit, the
stress of this jack hammering, that continued day after day
(for weeks), and which probably contributed to, or even led
to, the detriment of what good health they have left. Your
restaurant's horrible jack hammering, and other intrusions,
were detrimental to anyone--ill or otherwise--who lives above
Pasta Poopadoro.

     The previous restaurants in your location never had such
high customer volume or other features extreme enough to
impose on the residents living above.  Nor do we see any
necessity for your business to have exposed us to two months
of horrible jack hammering. It seems you could have performed
an excellent renovation with surface remodeling and nothing
more.  After all, you are just a pasta shop, not some vital
community organ.

     Nobody was warned about this jack hammer noise, nor
provided with a temporary residence away from the sound
pollution while it occurred.  No one moved in here to pay high
San Francisco rent, with the expectation of losing their water
pressure, their sleep, and their peace of mind. In the long
run, good residents will move out, thanks to the intrusion of
your spaghetti invasion.

     On weekends, the restaurant is so busy all day and night,
that residents living directly above get no respite, and
little sleep, from the noise generated by Pasta Poopadoro.
During the weekdays, from around five to seven p.m., the
restaurant traffic is so congested, it is difficult to enter
and leave our residence. Well after closing--often beyond
midnight--many of us are kept awake by the clatter of dishes
and pans being washed, garbage dumping, and talkative
employees.

     Some residents are coerced to reschedule part of their
sleep to the afternoon, and work later at night...due to your
restaurant's intrusion. Those who are self employed are
fortunate to have this flexibility. Others here are not so
lucky.  While you may have not heard too many complaints about
continued annoyances (yet), many in this building are
grumbling.

     The success of a business should not be at the cost of
other people's misery.  We each have a constitutional right to
pursue our own happiness. However:  by Pasta Poopadoro
pursuing theirs in such an intrusive and inconsiderate manner,
they obstruct others (in this building) from pursuing their
own happiness.

     Poopadoro doesn't care to respect the fact that this
street is mixed business and residential.  Therefore, a
business must have regard for those human beings who actually
call this place "home".  We are unhappily all too used to shop
owners who live in better areas, and leave us residents with
the duty of calling 911 whenever their burglar security goes
off...and lose sleep (and frazzle our nerves) over these loud
sirens (usually false alarms, anyway).

     Pasta Poopadoro, likewise, expects dozens of residents to
lower their quality of life in order to make a hefty profit
for itself.  If for no other reason, their subjecting us to
prolonged jack hammering has earned some residents' eternal
enmity towards an establishment that is:  invasive, unwelcome,
and a health hazard.




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