Elon Musk installed a giant X on Twitter HQ. The city is investigating
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection is investigating Elon Musk’s recently rebranded Twitter for installing a large X sign on the Market Street headquarters roof without permission.
Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the department, said that approval from the planning commission and a building permit are required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely.
The X, made from a thin black metal resembling scaffolding, looked small on the historic building’s roof. A piece of fabric filling the thicker side of the X flapped in the wind on Friday afternoon.
The sign was not at all visible from the south side of Market Street, where the building stands. Passersby on the north side of the street, from which the new sign was visible, hardly noticed it, some only glancing up upon noticing a news camera trained on the sign.
Far more visible were the remains of the original Twitter sign on the side of the building. On one side, the letters were removed, leaving a gray outline behind made of the metal used to hold them up. On the side facing Market Street, only the r was removed, and the third side was still intact.
X leases office space in the building from Shorenstein and JPMorgan Chase, which own the property.
Workers stopped removing the sign last week when building management called police saying they weren’t informed about the sign change. While a permit from the city is not required to remove the letters, Hannan said, one would be needed to change the letters.
Twitter’s lease also requires permission from the landlord to change the sign, and it is unclear whether the company has gotten it.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
