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City Fines Man for Feeding Pigeons in His Backyard
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 20, 2008
Modified Mar 20, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 20, 2008
Modified Mar 20, 2008
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A Queens man is suing the city for harassment after receiving $500 in fines for being “a public nuisance” by feeding pigeons in his back yard. 65-year-old Cecil Pitts lives off Social Security in the South Ozone Park house where he was raised as a boy. Now, since the death of his mother, his only companions are two elderly dogs and whatever pigeons descend for his twice-daily feedings. Got a box of tissues ready? Pitts tells the Times, “They are my whole life, because all my relatives are gone.”
But after an anonymous neighbor called 311 to complain about pigeon shit landing on their property, a Health Inspector came and issued the fines, observing over 150 pigeons gathered in the backyard. The inspector also threw in a bonus citation for “failing to show proof that one of his dogs had been vaccinated for rabies.” When Pitts appeared in court in October, a clerk told him he’d be jailed if he refused to pay up. So Pitts decided to sue the city and defend himself: “It hit me very, very hard. I didn’t intend to pay the fine. And if I was incarcerated, my dogs would die.”
The judge has put the fines on hold until Pitts returns to court in April, noting that feeding pigeons is not actually against the law. The city’s lawyer says:
Generally, at times, a nuisance is something that is legal but taken to excess. Clearly, people have bird feeders in their backyard. And that’s not a nuisance. However, when you start feeding in excess, so there’s a level of bird droppings that’s unhealthy, it rises to the level of nuisance.
And the city has had to pay millions of dollars in damages after a man slipped on pigeon feces. However the case turns out, Pitt can expect an invitation to the first National Pigeon Day event in June, sponsored by the New York Bird Club, a group that is demanding Woody Allen apologize for his “racial slur” against pigeons the 1980 film Stardust Memories. (His character called them "rats with wings.") And if you want to get involved in pigeon protection, there’s a Yahoo group for you.
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new york city
pigeons
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queens
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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