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15,000-17,000 Bees Upset South Street Seaport Restaurant Owner
By
Jen Chung
Published May 27, 2012
Modified May 27, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 27, 2012
Modified May 27, 2012
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With tourists flocking to the city, it's usually a good time for popular areas like Times Square and the South Street Seaport. But one Seaport restaurant owner was upset yesterday because over 15,000 bees were hanging out on a fire hydrant right outside his eatery. William Miller, owner of Red Restaurant, lamented, "It's Memorial Day Weekend and normally we're always busy. And look at the next restaurant, they're packed. And I'm so empty."
The bees were at Fulton and Front Streets, and the restaurant had called police around 11 a.m. NYPD specialist, Anthony Planakis, arrived hours later—because he was dealing with other bee issues! As one person observed:
Stay away from Fulton & Front Street; there are several thousand bees on a fire hydrant. There's police tape. That'll help.
— Evan Coyne Maloney (@BrainTerminal) May 26, 2012
Planakis declared, "You're looking at 15,000 to 17,000 bees approximately." He found the bees' queen, too, and vacuumed them away (bee vacuums are help remove bees easily). Restaurant manager Ridgely Trufant told NY1, "We were getting the holiday weekend started and he said, there's a swarm of bees the restaurant, we can't sit outside, we can't sit outsid. What do you do? It's a new adventure. It never happened before so man years living here. It's very strange, something different. You see people here around looking amazing. I've never actually seen a bee before here like Manhattan and stuff. I only see them in like mountain places."
Tagged
bee specialist
bees
honey
red restaurant
south street seaport
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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