Pale Male - I hope he doo doos on their heads

strandinthewind · #1 12-08-2004, 03:53 PM

The people have one of the most incredible things in their building and they destroy it

I mean I get that no one wants pidgeon carcasses on the sidewalk, but I can assure you that this building (one of the the most exclusive in Manhattan - I think you need $100 million in disposable assets to live there or something like that) cleans that sidewalk several times a day and NONE of the residents ever do it. As for the bird dropping, HELLO it is NYC - get over it. I hope the hawks are alright!!!

from www.nytimes.com

December 8, 2004
New York Celebrities Evicted on Fifth Ave., Feathers and All
By THOMAS J. LUECK

A nest constructed a decade ago by red-tailed hawks 12 stories above Central Park, creating an unlikely wildlife habitat that has delighted bird lovers from around the world, was removed yesterday, apparently by workers for its host co-op apartment building.

City officials and naturalists reacted with anger, even though there appeared to be little legal recourse for the nest's destruction.

Experts said that the fate of a family of uncommonly large and resilient birds, which have reproduced prolifically from the nest, had been thrown into doubt. So was that of the nest's most famous red-tailed resident, Pale Male, who arrived at the building in 1993 and, according to detailed records kept by several bird-watchers, has sired 23 youngsters.

"I am so outraged that they would do this without so much as a by your leave," said Mary Tyler Moore, who has lived for 15 years in the co-op at 927 Fifth Avenue, at 74th Street, where the nest was built in 1993 above a cornice in clear view of Central Park.

"These birds just kept coming back to the edge of the building, and people kept coming back to see them," said Ms. Moore, who recalled at first craning her neck outside one of her windows to look up at the bottom of the nest. In more recent years, she said, she has strolled frequently across Fifth Avenue to Central Park for a better view.

"This was something we like to talk about: a kinder, gentler world, and now it's gone," Ms. Moore said last night.

Exactly why the nest was destroyed was unclear. A man who answered a call to 927 Fifth Avenue's management office last night said no one was available for comment.

But Ms. Moore said other residents of the building had objected to large bird droppings and, occasionally, the carcasses of pigeons - which hawks prey upon - that landed on the sidewalk in front of their lobby. She said her husband had attended a recent co-op board meeting, and had been informed of its all-but-unanimous decision to remove the nest, even though he had objected to the move.

Adrian Benepe, the commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, said his staff was unable yesterday to determine whether removing the nest violated any state or federal wildlife-protection laws, and would explore the matter again today.

"Our domain doesn't extend to the tops of people's roofs," Mr. Benepe said. "Regardless of legality, I am concerned about whether this was ethical, or the right thing to do."

The story of Pale Male and his offspring has been well documented. Marie Winn, whose 1998 book on the subject, "Red-Tails in Love," was the basis of a PBS documentary called "Pale Male," said yesterday that the nest had been removed once before, in 1993, the year it was built.

She said the nest was built amid metal spikes that were placed on the 12th-floor cornice to discourage pigeons from roosting, and that the spikes had the unintended effect of providing a strong structure to brace a hawks' nest against the wind. After it was destroyed in 1993, Pale Male rebuilt, Ms. Winn said.

That experience, she said, might provide evidence that Pale Male will again rebuild.

But another of the bird's most ardent observers and proponents, Lincoln Karim, an engineer who has observed the nest for years with a telescope from Central Park, said he had seen workers take away the spikes yesterday.

Ms. Winn said the federal Fish and Wildlife Service ruled in the 1990's that the nest was covered by a treaty adopted in 1918 to protect migratory bird habitats and could not be destroyed.

But she said that more recent interpretations of the federal rules may allow people to interfere with migratory bird nests if they do so in the winter, when the nests are not used to raise offspring. Phone messages left for officials at the agency late yesterday were not answered.

The nesting season for Pale Male and his current mate, Lola, does not begin until January or later, and eggs are normally laid in the nest in March, Ms. Winn said.

But even now, Pale Male, Lola and other red-tailed hawks can be seen performing courtship rituals that involve flying in circles over Central Park.

Whether they will attempt to rebuild the nest at 927 Fifth Avenue remains in doubt, she said, particularly because its metal supports have been removed. Even if the nest is restored, she said, the experience of 1993 does not bode well for the prospect that more offspring would be hatched next year.

Ms. Winn said two years passed before Pale Male produced offspring after the last time the nest was destroyed.

Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.

GardenStateGirlie · #2 12-08-2004, 04:01 PM

What the hell is wrong with people?!? Seriously, do you know how many animals take huge ****s on peoples lawns everyday?! Are we going to go out there and kill them? Lame.

Nixxxed · #3 12-08-2004, 04:23 PM

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

I've seen the PBS documentary several times -- I just happen upon it, and I can't stop watching. Truly one of the most inspiring (and comforting) films I've ever seen.

Forget pooping on their heads -- I hope he flies down and scratches out some eyes and rips out some hair.

Rebuild, Pale Male, rebuild!!!

amber · #4 12-08-2004, 04:42 PM

How gross. it figures. humans are disgusting.

GODDESS6 · #5 12-08-2004, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

Forget pooping on their heads -- I hope he flies down and scratches out some eyes and rips out some hair.

Rebuild, Pale Male, rebuild!!!

i so agree w/ u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ how sad is that 2 mess w/ innocent animals!!!

strandinthewind · #6 12-08-2004, 08:38 PM

I mean yes the hawks are an inconvenience and yes people are staring at their building (which almost all Upper East Side New Yorker's HATE

) - but COME ON - these birds are like a National Treasure. They should be HONORED the brids are there instead of throwing them out.

I hope the city, state, or Feds. find a way to fine them MILLIONS of $$$$$

BASTARDS!!!!

strandinthewind · #7 12-08-2004, 09:45 PM

BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
___________________________________________________

Hawks Try to Return to N.Y. Building Nest

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

NEW YORK — They can't go home again, but on Wednesday two world-famous hawks evicted from their nest atop a posh Fifth Avenue building were trying to do just that.

"I heard the cry of a hawk, I looked up and I saw Lola, the female, soaring up Fifth Avenue," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, who visited the former site of the nest on a building where actress Mary Tyler Moore (search) is among the residents.

Across the avenue, Lola's mate, Pale Male, was sighted in a Central Park (search) tree.

"They were discombobulated, flying around in an agitated way," Benepe said. Lola was circling her former nest, carrying twigs to try to rebuild it. Later, her mate was seen perched in the tree with a pigeon he had caught.

The urban drama began to unfold Tuesday, in the rain, when workmen raised a scaffold to the top of the building and tore out the nest that lay over an arched cornice, anchored by spikes originally intended to keep pigeons from depositing their droppings. The workers removed the spikes too.

For the past nine years, thousands of bird lovers have come to see to the nest on the 12th-floor ledge that's been home to Pale Male, so named for his plumage. There, he fathered 25 chicks with a succession of mates — the last three fledglings in June.

The hawks gained fame through television specials and a book, "Red-Tails in Love."

The raptors are no strangers to city life though they normally nest in trees. There is no previous record of a pair taking up permanent residence on a high-rise building.

The birds are not merely a spectacle of nature, however, said Alex Matthiessen, executive director of the Riverkeeper environmental organization. They are natural predators, helping limit the rat population in Central Park.

Bird watchers and neighbors were angry and dismayed by the nest's destruction, which apparently was done on orders of the building's co-op board.

Brown Harris Stevens Property Management Services issued a statement Wednesday saying that they do not own the property and had acted "on behalf of the cooperative building owners in a management capacity. ... The building researched and carried out the removal of the nest during an inactive period as a safety precaution."

"What strikes me is the selfishness of a small group of residents who are scarcely affected, but have robbed thousands of people, including children, of the pleasure of these magnificent birds, right by Central Park," Matthiessen said. "These animals are a wonderful show of how nature can exist in the city. This was a violent, disruptive act."

But there was not much parks authorities or environmentalists could do: Unless a nest contains hatching eggs or small chicks, it is not illegal to remove it from private property.

Benepe said he hopes neighbors erect their own anti-pigeon spikes, perhaps luring Pale Male and Lola to build a new nest.

"Hopefully, there will be a more receptive welcoming board," Benepe said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,140947,00.html

amber · #8 12-08-2004, 11:29 PM

thanks for posting. That made me cry, of course. But i hope the neighbors build something...imagine coming home and someone took your house down...

½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ® · #9 12-09-2004, 02:12 AM

Mary Tyler Moore lives in that building. She was very upset about it. I hope the people in charge of having it removed get crabs on they’re nuts. No lobsters.

dissention · #10 12-09-2004, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

The people have one of the most incredible things in their building and they destroy it

I mean I get that no one wants pidgeon carcasses on the sidewalk, but I can assure you that this building (one of the the most exclusive in Manhattan - I think you need $100 million in disposable assets to live there or something like that) cleans that sidewalk several times a day and NONE of the residents ever do it. As for the bird dropping, HELLO it is NYC - get over it. I hope the hawks are alright!!!

Blame your buddy Paula Zahn's hubby, he's the culprit!!!!!!!