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Pols Wants Pigeons to Stop Procreating, Pooping
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 13, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 13, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Citing the unsightly damage that pigeon poop does to the city, City Council Member Simcha Felder announced a bill proposal to fine people $1000 for feeding pigeons. Some of Felder's key remarks and findings:
- "Stop feeding pigeons!"
- "If people like pigeons... feed [them] in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living room."
- A pigeon creates about 25 pounds of poop annually.
- "[The pigeons] may go elsewhere. Let them go to New Jersey."
Additionally, Felder suggests the city appoint a "pigeon czar" to help fight the "rats with wings." Given that Felder's proposed legislation to ban menus, fliers and other circulars from being distributed was partly prompted by his mother getting a ticket for a mess of fliers on her stoop, we bet that some pigeon recently pooped on a family member, colleague or even Felder himself!
Felder studied London's efforts to battle pigeons, which resulted in a pigeon-feeding ban in Trafalgar Square (courtesy London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who also helped inspired NYC's congestion pricing plans.) And even Mayor Bloomberg seems to support the idea, "We do have a lot of pigeons and they do tend to foul a lot of our areas, and people would be better off not feeding the pigeons."
Last month, City Council member James Oddo suggested birth control for pigeons that were fouling up the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George (you know, maggots - formed in rotting pigeon poop - falling from ceiling panels). OvoControl-P has been used in Hollywood and is approved by PETA and the Humane Society. However, some are concerned that negative attitudes about pigeons could lead to other problems. Some groups, like the NY Bird Club, believe that people have been netting NYC pigeons for shoots or food. And the Advance spoke to one pigeon lover Joanna Tierno who moderates a pigeon Internet group, "It's definitely going to kill pigeons by starvation. It's just a horrible idea just to kill off all these innocent animals, and for what reason? You can't help but remember the Holocaust. Jews were killed because people didn't want to look at them anymore."
Check out the Trafalgar Square Save the Pigeons website.
Photograph of a pigeon at the Staten Island Ferry by maria3bx on Flickr
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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