COMMONspace

Paraformance [02]: Kite Day

On September 29th, paraformers visited this POPOS with kites. Why kites? To fly them, of course! Unfortunately, there wasn't much wind, but we tried our best:

It was a matter of minutes before security came up to greet us.

We explained that we'd heard about the public space and were excited to use it to catch some good air currents. The guy in the dark suit was working the front desk that day. I think he was actually trying not to laugh, but he was firm: no flying kites from the roof. He offered to fetch the chief building engineer, who came up. He's the fellow in the blue shirt seen here calling the building management on a cel phone.

After a few minutes of chatting he agreed to put me on the phone with the woman from the management office. She agreed that our endeavor sounded fun, but said that she was worried about people on the street below possibly getting nailed by an out-of-control kite. At this point, if the wind had been blowing any more slowly it would have been going backwards, but we agreed that it wouldn't do to have anyone hit by a kite. No one wants that. After we got off the phone, the building engineer said to us: "you know how things are now, since 9/11."

The woman from the management office hadn't really said we couldn't fly the kites, though. She just said that she preferred we didn't. Besides, she also said that she didn't really know who had jurisdiction up on the POPOS roof terrace. To her credit, she even offered to call the SF Parks Department and ask.

So after the engineer and the guard (who, by the way, should both be commended for performing their jobs professionally and with remarkable openness, even if they didn't want to be the ones to sanction a potentially out-of-control-kite situation) left the scene, we tried, once again, to loft the kites:

Patting ourselves on the back for truly flying the heck out our kites, we gathered up the group and headed to the next stop on our kite-flying expedition: 343 Sansome.

posted by COMMONspace
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Dance fever!

The SOOI/Rebar "paraformance jam tour" of 6/27 made a stop here as well. Alex got things started with a little solo dancing, which spread contagiously--at least, to the other members of Rebar. With four of us randomly grooving out, by ourselves, in separate areas of the roof terrace, folks in the offices above began to take notice, even giving a little applause towards the end. We couldn't hear them through the non-operable windows, of course, but we appreciated the support.

I did a little rocking out here next to a woman who was having an involved cel phone conversation about Chinese food. She conspicuously ignored my white-hot moves and made no mention of the situation to her friend on the phone.

Considering the mostly positive audience response and the great view, it seemed like this would be a great place to come back for some more dancing.

posted by spaceCadet
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		Getting there This garden terrace is located on the northeast corner of California and Front Street. After entering the main doors, head to the elevators on the right side and go to the 6th floor. Finally, turn right and exit through the glass doors.

		Surveillance & Gatekeepers If security does not seem to recognize you or if you are not in business attire, be prepared to be confronted with the security guard every time you decide to visit this public area. Chances are heâll say, âThatâs all I needed to know.â after you tell him your intentions on being there. There is only one surveillance camera on site but the environment has a way of making you feel as if you are under watchful eyes.

		Local Dress & Behavior This garden terrace is more of a private business plaza that seems to be used mainly by employees of the building. Business attire is acceptable in this space but anything less might get a second look by the regulars.

		Notes Owned by Emporis Buildings, who also own 505 Montgomery.


	150 California Street		< 235 Second \| Map \| 200 California >
	MC'ed by spaceCadet [6th floor ] [Afternoon sun ] [8 tables, 4 seats plus seatwalls] [60' x 90'] [9 AM-6PM, Mon-Fri] [Restaurants on ground floor nearby]