Mayor Bloomberg, Breed A Rat
The criminal known as Mayor Bloomberg thinks he can sidestep the people and buy himself a third term. He hates pigeons because they would tell on him in a New York Minute. The logic that Scumberg presents that by feeding pigeons will only bring on rats is flawed. Rats don't need pigeon food to find sustenance. Don't feed the mayor and his one man political machine. It's time for a real change in New York City. It's time to end his reign of arrogance.
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Friday, August 8, 2008
More Pigeon-Nappings in New York City
New York Times article:
First, a confession. I am not a fan of pigeons. I have even eaten a pigeon, while on vacation in Egypt – more for the culinary adventure than revenge, but whatever the reason, I ate the bird and felt not a twinge of guilt.
Still, I was left rocked back on my heels this afternoon when I witnessed – for the first and hopefully only time – a pigeon-napping.
The curious incident happened in Columbus Park, a small oasis tucked behind the State Supreme Court complex on Centre Street, on the border of Chinatown.
The park itself is one of the more intriguing gathering spots in Manhattan. All day, elderly Chinese men play a Chinese version of chess as crowds gather to watch. There are other clusters of Chinese women playing card games. Little English is spoken. The lawyers and government functionaries who work nearby also swing through the small, unkempt grounds, but it is largely a Chinese crowd.
They sit not only on the benches and at the tables, but on rocks and the small slivers of earth surrounding the largely paved area.
In the western corner of the park, some men had hung cages with lovely songbirds in them, listening to their chirping as they sprawled out in the shade of the trees.
It was among this crowd that a burly white man in a blue shirt sat down.
He threw some crumbs on the ground in front of him and almost immediately, a flock of pigeons was at his feet.
Then, with a quick thrust of his right arm, he seized one of the birds. As the other pigeons scattered, he stuffed his captured prey into a large white box. We made brief eye contact. Then he bolted, thrusting his box with the rustling bird on his shoulder and disappearing into the crowded alley ways of Chinatown. I was mystified.
Was he capturing dinner? Taking the bird to his own flock to be raced or trained? Getting food for some voracious pet?
He was gone before I could ask, but a quick search on bird-napping revealed that it is topic that has come up in the past in the city.
The New Yorker reported last summer that residents in some neighborhoods were reporting a wave of pigeon robbers. A writer for the magazine was contacted by someone from “Bird Operations Busted, a self-styled pigeon-liberation outfit.” The man, who was not named in the story, said that generally, there were two kinds of birdnappers: “netters and hoopers,” referencing the tools used to capture pigeons.
There were enough incidents in Greenwich Village for The Villager, a community newspaper, to warn residents: “Someone is scooping up Village pigeons and no one knows why.”
But the man in Columbus Park was neither a netter nor a hooper, but rather a hand-scooper, and a deft one at that.
It calls to mind another man who captured pigeons in a public park to sustain himself during a particularly lean season: Ernest Hemingway.
In “A Moveable Feast,” Hemingway describes how he would wait for the gendarme at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris to wander off for a break or a glass of wine and then seize a pigeon, dispatching quickly with a swift twist of the neck before taking it home to prepare to eat.
In New York City, it seems, there is no need to fear the law when it comes to pigeon hunting.
My estimable colleague Al Baker, who covers the Police Department, made a quick inquiry about the incident and was told there was no indication a crime had been committed.
Asked if a man grabbing a pigeon, stuffing it in a box and running was a crime of some sort, a straight-faced police spokesman said, “No, not really.” “There’s no real crime,” the spokesman said, adding that more facts would be needed. “Maybe he’s trying to save the pigeon’s life. You cannot say it is a crime, because there is nothing to conclude it is a crime.”
First, a confession. I am not a fan of pigeons. I have even eaten a pigeon, while on vacation in Egypt – more for the culinary adventure than revenge, but whatever the reason, I ate the bird and felt not a twinge of guilt.
Still, I was left rocked back on my heels this afternoon when I witnessed – for the first and hopefully only time – a pigeon-napping.
The curious incident happened in Columbus Park, a small oasis tucked behind the State Supreme Court complex on Centre Street, on the border of Chinatown.
The park itself is one of the more intriguing gathering spots in Manhattan. All day, elderly Chinese men play a Chinese version of chess as crowds gather to watch. There are other clusters of Chinese women playing card games. Little English is spoken. The lawyers and government functionaries who work nearby also swing through the small, unkempt grounds, but it is largely a Chinese crowd.
They sit not only on the benches and at the tables, but on rocks and the small slivers of earth surrounding the largely paved area.
In the western corner of the park, some men had hung cages with lovely songbirds in them, listening to their chirping as they sprawled out in the shade of the trees.
It was among this crowd that a burly white man in a blue shirt sat down.
He threw some crumbs on the ground in front of him and almost immediately, a flock of pigeons was at his feet.
Then, with a quick thrust of his right arm, he seized one of the birds. As the other pigeons scattered, he stuffed his captured prey into a large white box. We made brief eye contact. Then he bolted, thrusting his box with the rustling bird on his shoulder and disappearing into the crowded alley ways of Chinatown. I was mystified.
Was he capturing dinner? Taking the bird to his own flock to be raced or trained? Getting food for some voracious pet?
He was gone before I could ask, but a quick search on bird-napping revealed that it is topic that has come up in the past in the city.
The New Yorker reported last summer that residents in some neighborhoods were reporting a wave of pigeon robbers. A writer for the magazine was contacted by someone from “Bird Operations Busted, a self-styled pigeon-liberation outfit.” The man, who was not named in the story, said that generally, there were two kinds of birdnappers: “netters and hoopers,” referencing the tools used to capture pigeons.
There were enough incidents in Greenwich Village for The Villager, a community newspaper, to warn residents: “Someone is scooping up Village pigeons and no one knows why.”
But the man in Columbus Park was neither a netter nor a hooper, but rather a hand-scooper, and a deft one at that.
It calls to mind another man who captured pigeons in a public park to sustain himself during a particularly lean season: Ernest Hemingway.
In “A Moveable Feast,” Hemingway describes how he would wait for the gendarme at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris to wander off for a break or a glass of wine and then seize a pigeon, dispatching quickly with a swift twist of the neck before taking it home to prepare to eat.
In New York City, it seems, there is no need to fear the law when it comes to pigeon hunting.
My estimable colleague Al Baker, who covers the Police Department, made a quick inquiry about the incident and was told there was no indication a crime had been committed.
Asked if a man grabbing a pigeon, stuffing it in a box and running was a crime of some sort, a straight-faced police spokesman said, “No, not really.” “There’s no real crime,” the spokesman said, adding that more facts would be needed. “Maybe he’s trying to save the pigeon’s life. You cannot say it is a crime, because there is nothing to conclude it is a crime.”
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
New York City Considers Designated Feeding Areas for Pigeons
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/dont-feed-the-pigeons-here-but-over-there-ok/
“Safe pigeon-feeding zones” may be designated around the city as part of the negotiations between animal rights groups and the Brooklyn city councilman who has proposed fining pigeon feeders as much as $1,000 as strategy to control New York’s pigeon population.
Fines, which had been used successfully in Basel, Switzerland, to limit pigeon proliferation, were the most concrete proposal in a pigeon report issued by Councilman Simcha Felder’s office in November. Other ideas in the report included pigeon birth control and a pigeon czar.
But the report and the proposed fines brought out a number of pigeon proponents who defended the urban birds’ rights to co-exist with humans in New York’s sprawl. Since November, Mr. Felder’s office has been meeting with a number of groups over the fine-for-feeding legislation. In December, at one of those meetings, the Humane Society brought up the idea of safe pigeon-feeding zones with Mr. Felder’s office.
“If our idea was, there are too many pigeons around where people are walking, waiting for the subway, sitting in parks, etc.,” said Eric Kuo, a spokesman for Mr. Felder. “Someone brought up, if there are areas where people are not around, what’s the harm of allowing feeding there?”
The pigeon-friendly zones could include less-densely trafficked areas in Central Park and Prospect Park, Mr. Kuo said. The City Council’s lawyers who draft legislation have been asked to see if such a plan is feasible.
“Safe pigeon-feeding zones” may be designated around the city as part of the negotiations between animal rights groups and the Brooklyn city councilman who has proposed fining pigeon feeders as much as $1,000 as strategy to control New York’s pigeon population.
Fines, which had been used successfully in Basel, Switzerland, to limit pigeon proliferation, were the most concrete proposal in a pigeon report issued by Councilman Simcha Felder’s office in November. Other ideas in the report included pigeon birth control and a pigeon czar.
But the report and the proposed fines brought out a number of pigeon proponents who defended the urban birds’ rights to co-exist with humans in New York’s sprawl. Since November, Mr. Felder’s office has been meeting with a number of groups over the fine-for-feeding legislation. In December, at one of those meetings, the Humane Society brought up the idea of safe pigeon-feeding zones with Mr. Felder’s office.
“If our idea was, there are too many pigeons around where people are walking, waiting for the subway, sitting in parks, etc.,” said Eric Kuo, a spokesman for Mr. Felder. “Someone brought up, if there are areas where people are not around, what’s the harm of allowing feeding there?”
The pigeon-friendly zones could include less-densely trafficked areas in Central Park and Prospect Park, Mr. Kuo said. The City Council’s lawyers who draft legislation have been asked to see if such a plan is feasible.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden Responds to Pigeon Nettings
The New York Bird Club has received the following correspondence from Council Member Tony Avella (District 19) after he contacted the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene concerning the matter of illegal pigeon nettings occuring in the New York City area.
December 14, 2007
Honorable Tony Avella
Council Member, District 19
38-50 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, NY 11361
Re: Capturing of Pigeons
Dear Council Member Avella:
This correspondence is in response to your constituent, Anna Dove of the New York Bird Club, who is concerned about the capturing of pigeons, by people armed with nets on our streets. We apologize for our delay in response.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Police Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the American Society for the Protection and Care of Animals are coordinating our resources in an attempt to address this illegal activity.
At this time, any citizen observing the illegal netting of pigeons can report details of this act by dialing 311.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.
Commissioner
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Office of the Commissioner
December 14, 2007
Honorable Tony Avella
Council Member, District 19
38-50 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, NY 11361
Re: Capturing of Pigeons
Dear Council Member Avella:
This correspondence is in response to your constituent, Anna Dove of the New York Bird Club, who is concerned about the capturing of pigeons, by people armed with nets on our streets. We apologize for our delay in response.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Police Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the American Society for the Protection and Care of Animals are coordinating our resources in an attempt to address this illegal activity.
At this time, any citizen observing the illegal netting of pigeons can report details of this act by dialing 311.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.
Commissioner
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Office of the Commissioner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
