Vandals smash new glass canopies at San Francisco Market Street BART station entrances
BART is adding up the costs and looking for culprits after a wave of vandalism targeted the new glass entryways to transit stations along San Francisco's Market Street.
Some time over the weekend, someone smashed at least a dozen glass panels at several BART's new canopy structures. Anyone who has been in and out of those stations knows they are hard to miss. Obviously, it's bad news for BART's new facilities, and it's also a hit for nearby businesses.
Over the past ten years, Tarek Saidi has seen a lot of change outside his Market Street Cafe, and the most recent addition was the new BART canopy right outside his front door
"I was surprised," Saidi said. "I mean, it's not even two months."
Barely a few months old, and now a shattered mess, with multiple glass panels smashed on each side of the street.
"There was a police officer yesterday who checked," Saidi explained. "I told him I think maybe it was a BB gun. But he said no, he doesn't think so. He thinks it was probably something heavy. A hammer or something, trying to break it."
And while the safety glass did its job and did not come crashing down onto the sidewalks and escalators below, the vandalism has left an eye catching trail of destruction. At multiple stops up and down Market Street. BART's brand new, gleaming entryways have been turned into a costly spectacle.
"Plus the work and everything," Saidi said of the repairs.
"The cost estimate is still being put together by BART staff," explained agency spokesperson Chris Filippi. "But we are anticipating that the overall replacement cost is going to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Which is another reason why this sort of vandalism is very frustrating for BART and our riders."
For BART, the frustration is amplified by the fact that so much of this is beyond their control. And it all starts with the reason for the new canopies, which are required, as part of the system's long awaited replacement of the old unreliable escalators.
"We are required by state law to install canopies to protect those new escalators from the elements, to ensure that they are viable for as long as possible," Filippi said.
Another set of safety rules requires that the structures be transparent at street level, for better visibility. So the options were glass or hard plastics, which can present other problems related to wear, and vandalism.
"in terms of real answers here, the issue, of course, is the vandalism." Filippi said. "The real solution here is to not have vandalism on the scale that damages not just BART property, but also the property of nearby businesses."
"And our neighbor too," Saidi said of a nearby business. "Their glass is broken too."
Saidi says the broken glass is exactly the kind of thing Downtown businesses don't need right now. And he's hoping the repairs come soon,
"People are coming back," Saidi said. "But you see stuff like that and it scares everyone you know?"
BART says this level of vandalism is actually rare, and that it appears to be the work of one person or group. BART Police are investigating, and the agency says it is determined to find those responsible and hold them accountable. No word yet on when repairs might start on the damaged stations.