December 8, 2004
Hawks' Nest Is Removed; Co-op Happy, Others Outraged
Yesterday, a construction company removed the 11 year-old nest of red-tailed hawks from a Fifth Avenue apartment building, upsetting both residents, bird lovers, and city officials. Mary Tyler Moore, a resident at 924 Fifth Avenue (at East 74th Street) where hawks had roosted, told the NY Times, "These birds just kept coming back to the edge of the building, and people kept coming back to see them. This was something we like to talk about: a kinder, gentler world, and now it's gone." Though the beloved male hawk, Pale Male, has been the center of fascination for many (he's the subject of a PBS documentary and he's sired 23 hawks!), Moore said that many residents were upset by the bird poop and carcasses of prey that would fall 12 stories above from the nest to the front of the building. Bird poop, carcasses - apparently, Fifth Avenue residents can't tough it out!
The Parks Department said they weren't sure if the nest's removal violated any laws, but Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said, "Our domain doesn't extend to the tops of people's roofs. Regardless of legality, I am concerned about whether this was ethical, or the right thing to do." The Pale Male website is telling people to email the Fish and Wildlife Services to say that the nest was active up until its removal.
Did you ever see Pale Male? Do you think it was right from the nest to be taken away? Gothamist feels that to some extent, the hawks had squatters' rights, and therefore, deserved to live there; however, we don't feel the same way about rats or roaches, so maybe we've painted ourselves into a corner.
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It is WRONG for them to remove the nest!!! Pale Male has been living there for 11 years now - he is an institution. He is a great example of how nature can survive, even in a bustling metropolis like New York City. He's a great father, protecting, feeding, and teaching his fledglings. I say, PUT THE NEST BACK!!
I thought that the City was embracing the comeback fo the great hawks/falcons in the past decade or so. Birdwatching groups had formed and the peregrine falcon numbers were way up. This really makes me sad. Couldn't they have simply constructed a canopy of sorts to cover the front landing? It would be chump change for those old bags living in there.
this story killed me. it seems there could have been many ways of addresing the issues people had with the bird's debris. it's amazing birds like that even nest in this city. we should consider it a blessing. MTM's quote says it all... "a kinder and gentler world and now it's gone". thanks for covering.
They can't deal with dead bodies and public poop? And they call themselves New Yorkers!
Seriously, I'm sure with all the money in that building some more humane way of dealing with this could have been arrived at. It seems that the residents of the building wanted to make a statement.
Well, they sure made one. We're selfish fools.
I hope Pale Male finds his way to a more hospitable Manhattan home.
removing the nest is bad news. and the Gothamist stance on rats - surely Pale Male was effective rodent population control. i've seen a hawk's nest in Sty Town this season, too. Hopefully, since it lives in the trees well enough will be left alone.
everyone please email the addy on the palemale.com site. this is a disgrace. he IS an institution and we are lucky he and his mates and offspring grace our sky.
Waaaaa!!!! The lost their bird ..... Waaaa!!! The hippies can't bird watch anymore, the rats will spiral out of control now and take over the city. waaaaa!!!
STFU
55... it's noon, time for the meds...
55, why bother posting if you're just spouting idiotic hate and making a fool of yourself? who's crying? who's a hippy? who's claiming the rats will spiral out of control? who are you to command others to stfu?
In related hawk news, one of them perched right outside my window on Saturday to devour a fresh kill. Pictures are here.
I'll bet every one of those jerks in the building voted for Kerry. New York and LA hypocrites are always in favor of liberal causes as long as they don't inconvenience them in any way.
The hawks created a great little community in the park with all the bird watchers and tourists coming together to follow Pale Male and his brood. Whenever there were chicks in the nest it was such a big deal to look through the telescopes set up in the park. So sad that a bunch of rich people had to exert their selfishness with no regard for others.
If they voted for Kerry, then they are the a-holes that every group has and tolerates. (Nola, your friends are whispering...)
If the voted for Bush, they would have just shot them.
leave it to nola to turn this into a political debate. and in typical form... based on blanket assumptions and inaccurate stereotypes.
the pale male site removed the contacts to write to. has anyone heard of other contacts we can write to about this?
I think the guy who runs Pale Male's website had to remove all the phone numbers and email addresses he had on the home page. Anyone know the name/phone number of the co-op board president of that building????
Here's a NY Observer article from 2001 that identifies the then board president and several other residents, including Paula Zahn of CNN and Kenneth Cole.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ICQ/is_2001_May_28/ai_81474517
Listen, I'm an MBA and a conservative Bush supporter. But I also support Pale Male and family. It was outrageous to dismantle the nest and the spikes. Pale Male is a TV star (that's how I learned of him) and a bonefide NYC tourist attraction. You know, that was one of the nicest NYC "stories" in recent times. Leave it to a greedy landlord and snobby tenents. Plus, wasn't it accomplished through false pretenses of an inactive nest? Too bad.
Yes I saved them here
Hopefully some nearby building with a more enlightened management may be able to intice Pale Male and Lola to re-locate to their building. I know that the authorities have sucessfully provided nesting opportunities underneath several of the NYC bridges and a few other taller buildings. Prehaps between the rapter-experts and a few bldg. managers a place can be found that balances location with "litter"-control.
Follow-up story, with a statement from Brown Harris, the managing agent of the building. Sounds like Pale Male and Lola aren't having too good a time...
http://nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/260120p-222776c.html
What I can't figure out is how were they able to put up with the "bird debris" for ELEVEN YEARS and only now they call in the goon squad to roust the birds.
Undoubtedly, some crusty old grandma started the ball rolling the day the first half-eaten starling landed on the sidewalk and it's taken until today to bust through the co-op bureacracy to have them removed.
I'd love to see this same level of outrage the next time a single mother is kicked out on the street to fend for her own in the homeless/shelter system.
It is annoying this happened, but I feel more concern for real humans who have no home than a bird that will find a new place a build a new next. Technically speaking, that bird has the ability to make it's own home. Others do not.
Seriously folks, the people who enjoy Pale Male aren't PETA here, if they were I would say roast the crazy bastards, but it's not so lighten the heck up and get over the whole people/animal debate, that isn't the point. Donate to the DOE Fund (like I do) and shut up.
Now, the point is some crazy co-op full of shriveled up old coots decided they would destroy putting a smile on the face of thousands for their own conceited benefit (even going against others within their own building) while simultaneously destroying a living creature's home unnecessarily for their own material gain (no bird poop sidewalk). Then they pulled an Ashlee Simpson and blamed it on a "building engineer".
A big F-U to that 74th and 5th co-op, we will be extra noisy when we jog by at 2AM, and we will NEVER deal with you, Brown Harris Stevens, you lying skeeving Enron of a company. May I recommend Corcoran, Halstead, or Douglas Elliman, much finer examples of brokers.
Kevin, the NYC Audubon has a list of numbers for legislators' offices if you want to call. The board president, according to the NY Observer and employees connected with the building, is real estate developer Richard Cohen, husband of Paula Zahn.
Google has cached the numbers Lincoln formerly had on palemale.com.
Captain O, it's asinine to assume that people who work to restore the hawks' nest are not also working for homeless people. Many of us are (et tu?). We can walk and chew gum at the same time too. It's really quite amazing, our multitasking ability.
PZC, don't forget Bellmarc and William B. May!
If you are coming to the vigil at 4:30, I recommend you bring:
I am so happy that for once things went an animals way, I am happy that those fools who tore the nest down has to replace it!!!!!!!!!!!!It's all over the news in VA. I volunteer at a Raptor Concervancy and I see the hard time these Raptors have just to survive day to day!!! The survival rate of fledgelings is at best 40%, so the last thing Pale-Male and Lola needed was for there home to be torn down.