photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK
12/31/04 -- Rare Owl in Central Park
A Boreal Owl, extremely rare for the area and never before seen in Central Park, was first sighted by birdwatcher Jim Demes during the Christmas Bird Count on December 19, 2004. It was perched in an evergreen just to the south of the entrance to the Tavern on the Green restaurant, a major tourist attraction.
He reported it as a Saw-whet Owl. [The Boreal and the Saw-whet are not dissimilar. They are both in the Aegolius family, though the Boreal is a bit bigger, and has a paler bill and some black outlining on its facial mask]. A bit later Peter Post, a highly accomplished birder, thought he'd go and photograph that little saw-whet. I can't quote here the expletive he emitted when he took a look at the owl and realized it was a Boreal. The Birders' Grapevine was activated, [Birders carry cell phones these days] and within minutes there were 25 people at the spot.
Since then the bird has moved to a Norway Spruce not far from that first location, but a little to the north [Birders' etiquette requires me to be vague about the exact location. People are protective of roosting owls. Daytime is their sleeping time, and they are vulnerable to disturbance. Being forced to fly in the daytime is highly dangerous to a small owl like a Boreal, which is only 10 inches tall.]
Ever since its discovery, the Boreal Owl has been attracting great crowds of visitors, for many of whom it is a Life Bird -- one they've never seen before. On December 20th, my first of many visits to this beautiful creature, I ran into Steve Quinn of the American Museum of Natural History. He is one of the best birders I know -- I often sign up for his Spring Migration bird walks -- and it was a Life Bird for him too! Needless to say it was for me too.
There is an article in this morning's Daily News about the owl, and it includes the same wonderful photograph by Lloyd Spitalnik you see to the left. You can probably find it on line, though I don't have a link yet.
MY NEW YEAR'S HOMILY
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! ENJOY NATURE IN ALL ITS VARIETY IN THE COMING YEAR: HAWKS, OF COURSE, BUT ALSO WARBLERS AND GRASSHOPPERS AND MICE AND MUSHROOMS AND LICHEN AND SPARROWS AND HORSESHOE CRABS AND DOGWOODS, CRANESBILL GERANIUMS AND LARGE-MOUTHED BASS, GARTER SNAKES AND UNDERWING MOTHS. SHARE THESE INTERESTS WITH AS MANY CHILDREN AS YOU CAN MUSTER. JOIN CONSERVATION EFFORTS. [Good grief, it's a sermon.] ANYHOW, HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL.
12/30/04 -- 12:45 P.M. LAST MESSAGE FROM THE BATTLEFRONT [I hope!]
FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS THERE HAS BEEN SOME SCAFFOLDING ON 927 FIFTH AVE. THIS HAS CAUSED A GREAT DEAL OF ANXIETY AND SUSPICIOUSNESS AS TO THE BUILDING'S MOTIVES. WERE THEY PURPOSELY HARRASSING THE HAWKS? SEVERAL DEVOTED HAWKWATCHERS GAVE UP MUCH OF THEIR TIME MONITORING THIS ACTIVITY, FIELDING ANXIOUS CALLS, AND HAVING MEETINGS WITH THE COMPANY HIRED TO DO THE WORK--PREFERRED RESTORATION. THE NYC AUDUBON ALSO HAD MEETINGS WITH THE COMPANY. i JUST RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE FROM JO MILLER, ONE OF THE DEVOTED HAWKWATCHERS MENTIONED ABOVE:
The scaffolding is down. Georgie is loading up the truck now. The engineer checked the work and approved it. Preferred does NOT need to go back to the building ANY MORE. The hawks are free to nest undisturbed, and now that the repair work on the roof has been done, there is no danger that they will be bothered by scaffolding during nesting season.
12/ 27/04
THE WINDOW-WASHER PLATFORM [officially known as a swing stage] IS STILL UP AT 927 FIFTH AVE AS OF THIS MORNING. THE WORKMEN ARRIVED AT 7:30 TO TAKE IT DOWN AT LAST BUT WERE REFUSED ENTRY BY THE SUPER, HUGO NAVARETTE. APPARENTLY ONE LAST INSPECTION MUST BE MADE.
Over the weekend a large white sign put up by the Preferred Restoration Co [obviously to use this opportunity to advertise] came loose and was flapping over the nest site. There was much anxiety among the faithful hawkwatchers, who saw Lola and Pale Male try to land on their new digs in order to inspect the strange new contraption that had been put up a few days ago. Now the huge white sheet deterred them. They hovered and then flew back to the park.
Tom Berry of the Champion Metal and =Glass Co, the foreman of the crew that installed the new nest structure and a hero in my estimation [I wrote about him and his company below] made a special trip to the building on Sunday, from his home on Long Island, to try to do something about the white sheet that his company hadn't even put up! I don't know what exactly he did but the situation improved. The sheet is tucked in somehow.
Now it is Monday. Everybody wants that platform down, to make the nest site finally available to Pale Male and Lola. So it's getting a little tense around here. Calls are being made to the NYC Audubon, to Preferred Restorations, to the Parks Commissioner, the Architect, the Mayor. People are unclear on what this last inspection signifies and who has required it. The building? The city?
Please be sure that MANY people are on the case. Even Mary Tyler Moore, with whom I spoke this morning. She'll see what she can find out.
In the meanwhile, here's the most important news: PALE MALE AND LOLA ARE NEARBY. THEY'VE WAITED THIS LONG AND THEY'LL WAIT A LITTLE BIT LONGER.
So please don't worry quite as much. I'm getting many worried letters, and I'm sorry about your anxiety. I personally think we'll have a happy ending to this terrible-wonderful story!
IN THE MEANWHILE, HERE'S THE BEST ANTIDOTE FOR ANXIETY: READ JOHN BLAKEMAN'S LETTERS. HE REALLY KNOWS RED-TAILED HAWKS, AND HE GIVES THEM PLENTY OF TIME TO START REBUILDING. THEY MAY NOT BEGIN BRINGING TWIGS UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY.
12/25/04
A CHRISTMAS THANK YOU
Two days ago, on the glorious Thursday when the spikes were finally restored to Pale Male and Lola's nest site I spent four or so hours on the roof with a crew of workers, or I should say craftsmen, from Champion Glass and Metal Inc, the company that had signed on to actually construct the newly designed two part contraption. .
It was the company's owner, Ali Ghahremani, who was called on Friday, December 17th to see if he would take on the job. He made a quick decision: to drop everything else his company was doing and throw Champion's energies into helping Pale Male and Lola get their nest back. It was a brave decision, for the task was enormous, and the deadline was stringent.
The job: to take the plans [brilliant plans, I'd say] designed by architect Dan Ionescu and already passed by all the powers-that be from Audubon, the City, the Park, the Landmarks Commission, and to construct the structure out of stainless steel. Then it would be their job to bolt the 300 lb "Cradle" to the building wall and finally to attach on top of that the boat-shaped structure onto which the old spikes had been affixed.
[Mystery: After heartlessly removing the nest and spikes of Pale Male's 11-year home on December 7, why did the building management not throw away those spikes?
One possible answer: perhaps they hoped that once the hawks had resettled in some new home far far away from their unwelcoming building, the building would restore the old spikes back to their former place on top of the sad-angel ornament. Once again they would deter pigeons from desecrating it, [though surely not as well as the hawks had done.] Very rich people are often known to be thrifty, you know. How else did they get to be so rich?]
I am busy writing a new chapter for a new edition of Red-Tails in Love that will come out next April. It will tell of all the events of those sixteen days between the nest-removal and the final, triumphant nest-restoration. It will also describe in more detail the delightful hours I spent on the roof of 927 Fifth Avenue that rainy Thursday. I hope you will all have a chance to see it then.
But in the meanwhile, I want to wish a specially Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those great guys who welcomed me into their work lives and impressed me with their skill, integrity, kindness to each other, and also, their joy at being included in this particular job. They had all heard about Pale Male and Lola. Now they knew they would be telling their grandchildren about their part in the drama some day in the far-off future. [Most of them were very young.]
So thanks to Tom Berry, the splendid leader of the crew [Project coordinator is his official title]. And thanks to 4 people who weren't on the roof that day but whose names Tom wanted me to include since they were just as important to the job as those men who were there: Ed Siolos, Vice President of operations for Champion, and the three men who turned the architect's design into a real thing at the Champion workshop in Deer Park: John Coahila, Fernando Garcia Gonzalez and Felida Diaz.
Thanks and Merry Christmas to Steve Goellner and Dave Townsend, who were down on the hanging platform hammering in the bolts, applying the epoxy, etc. for all the hours of the job. And remember, it was raining. I only saw them at the very end, when the scaffold finally was drawn up at the very end of the job and they climbed off it and onto the roof.
Thanks to Michael Aquilino, a glazier, who was perched on the roof's ledge just above where Steve and Dave were working, making sure they had everything they needed.
Thanks and Christmas cheer to Terrence Ripp and Jeff Crain, carpenters, who scurried around getting tools and equipment when needed and making sure everything was ready to be installed.
From another company, Preferred Restoration, present on the roof was Jimmy Kirwan from County Wexford --- he even told an Irish joke. Have a great holiday, Jimmy. It was fun shooting the breeze with you. Also there from Preferred, Justo Zumba.
Another contributor to the Pale Male & Lola Project was Felix Chavez, an artist and a specialist in art restoration. I never met him, but I saw the fruits of his labor: the fine paint job he did on the "Cradle" and especially on the spikes and their supporting structure. The paint covered up the stainless steel every part of the creation was made of. Somehow or other this artist made it look like it was made of basketry or wood.
And now my final thanks and admiration to John Flicker of the National Audubon Society who had played an important role in the crucial negotiations with the building management. And a loud, resounding Huzzah to E.J. McAdams , the young Executive Director of the New York City Audubon. E.J. donned an outfit of workmen's coveralls and a bright yellow safety harness. Then he climbed over the edge of the roof and descended to the waiting platform below.
He had with him a black plastic bag with the "starter twigs" for Pale Male and Lola, fresh twigs just gathered from a variety of trees in Central Park. They were all 12-14 inches long, the length redtails prefer.
Also included in the twig collection: two twigs from Pale Male's old 1993 nest that I had salvaged back in 1993 when the building removed the nest for the first time. A sentimental gesture.
I had given a bunch of them to Charles Kennedy, a Central Park Regular who was beloved by all. He was one of the main heroes of my book, and a hero in real life as well. The world knows him even better as a memorable figure in Frederic Lilien's documentary Pale Male that has been shown on the public television program Nature several times in recent weeks. Charles died of lymphoma just a few months ago.
His friend Lee Stinchcomb found the little packet of twigs in Charles' apartment after his death, and she gave EJ two of them to add to the starter twig collection. [My own twigs had vanished years ago.]
EJ climbed down to the newly installed Cradle and spike platform, deposited the twigs in just the way the various scientists had suggested, at random, with no effort at shaping into a cup shape. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw EJ disappear over the roof's ledge and I couldn't help hugging him with joy and relief when he hopped back to the roof in one piece.
I hope I haven't skipped anyone. But if I have, here's my excuse: It was raining so hard for all those hours that the ink on my notes ran and many of the pages stuck together. Some pages ended up looking like one big smudge.
So please forgive.
And to everyone who helped this story have a happy ending: Thanks. See you at the Hawk Bench next spring.
12/24/04--
When I received John Blakeman's last letter about his conversation with Tess Parent, the Audubon scientist, I assumed he had been sent the plans. But just to be sure I sent him a link to a site where they had been posted. Here is his wonderful, comforting, optimistic response.
Marie,
My wife and I were en route to Louisville when we were diverted by the extreme snowstorm that hit Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky two days ago. We were confined to a motel, with no access to the outside world. We escaped today, and I'm writing from my daughter's in Ft Wayne, Indiana. Thank you for getting the nest structure plans to me. This is the first that I've seen them.
In short, they are probably perfect, as good as could be designed. I'm very pleased with what I see. There will be no structural problems of any sort. The nest bowl can be effectively formed by the birds, and flights to and from the new nest will be completely un-hindered. It looks very acceptable.
Here's what I predict. If the pair chooses -- and I believe they should -- nesting should resume. I can envision the birds extending the sticks right to the outer edge of the new structure, which is now 26.5 inches from the building wall at the back of the nest. The birds will like this. Formerly, the nest was parked on a rather narrow ledge. Obviously, it worked. But from ledge nests I've studied in Nevada and Idaho, and from typical Eastern nest dimensions (up to 30 inches in diameter), the pair will delightfully extend the outer rim of the nest onto the new angled rods that point away from the building. And as hoped for, these rods will firmly support the nest, keeping it from falling over the front.
This is a very fine design. It will work. If the birds don't nest there this year, it's not because of this new structure. It will be for some other, unrelated reason.
I'm very pleased with both the materials and the design. For this site, for this pair, this should work.
But this should not be necessarily regarded as a model for any future nest structure for any other NYC or other urban red-tail nest. Pale Male selected this site for unknown reasons. As those who study Western red-tail ledge nests know, this nest site is much too high above the ground, and it is also on a rounded surface that slopes off precipitously on both sides. The narrowness of the "ledge" is not favorable. The new structure obviates that a bit.
But red-tails being red-tails, they frequently don't conform to the pronouncements of "experts" like me. That makes studying them so delightful. The birds so frequently come up with new and unique behaviors that allow them to succeed in ways never seen before. Red-tails seldom capture pigeons, but this pair has learned the feat well. Once, I found a red-tail that built a nest just 20 ft off the ground, with numerous more "perfect" nest trees nearby. The pair raised and fledged a pair of eyasses. So, red-tails are capable of many things not so commonly observed. Pale Male and his mates have shown that repeatedly. They should be happy with what they see when they now soar past 927 Fifth Avenue.
I will follow their nesting developments from afar, knowing that everyone has done all that could and should have been done. It's all now in Nature's Hands once again.
I thank you for your allowing me as a distant outsider to post my observations. My best wishes, once again, to all.
Sincerely,
John A. Blakeman
12/23/04 THE LAST SCENE OF THE NEST-CRISIS DRAMA
ON THE ROOF: PUTTING THE SPIKES BACK
Below, a hawk story with a happy ending. Let's hope ours has one too. This article was sent to me via e-mail. I'm not sure whether it appeared in today's paper, or only in the on-line version. In any case, it makes reference to the Fifth Avenue Hawks.
December 22, 2004
A Happy Tale for the Birds: Wings Wide, Pierre Is Free
By COREY KILGANNON
Not every red-tailed hawk is a celebrity.
Sure, there was quite an uproar in recent weeks when Pale Male and Lola, the beloved residents of a cornice on a luxury Fifth Avenue co-op building on the Upper East Side, were evicted.
But scant attention was paid last week when, about 100 blocks downtown at a decidedly less elegant location - above the chilly waters of the East River - a young red-tailed hawk was apparently attacked by a flock of seagulls and nearly drowned.
The hawk was rescued by police officers with the department's scuba team and taken to a Manhattan animal hospital, officials said. The officers named the bird Pierre because it was rescued near Pier 11.
A news conference was held yesterday morning in Forest Park, Queens, where the hawk was released back into the wild. Officers Charles Schnetzer, 29, and James Conroy, 40, both from Queens, were there to describe the rescue.
Around noon on Dec. 14, a group of seagulls attacked Pierre, leaving him fighting for his life in the river, the police said. He was spotted flapping in the water by officers patrolling the river by boat.
"We saw an odd-colored object in the water," Officer Schnetzer said. "We're used to seeing geese and seagulls, but this didn't look anything like that. I've never seen a hawk in the water. I didn't know about hawks until the whole Pale Male thing. Its wings were outstretched and it was flapping, trying to get out."
Officer Conroy added, "Someone came out of a building and said the bird was being attacked by the seagulls."
Several officers lowered an inflatable motorboat and used it to approach the hawk and throw a blanket over him to scoop him out of the water.
The hawk would probably have drowned if not rescued, said Christopher A. Nadareski, a research scientist for the city's Department of Environmental Protection, who was also at yesterday's ceremony.
"The gulls were either trying to get his food or just anxious because the hawk was in their territory," he said. "It was lucky the right people were nearby at the right time." Pierre was kept for a week of examination, he said.
"No obvious injuries were found," he said. "It was probably just in shock."
Mr. Nadareski said Pierre could not be released in the same area he was rescued because of the danger from the many Peregrine falcons that nest and roost on the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
"With a young, inexperienced bird like this, there is a high probability it would have been attacked almost immediately," he said.
Forest Park was chosen because "we have 543 acres in the park and it's the largest stand of woodland in Queens," said Dorothy Lewandowski, the Queens borough park commissioner.
"We're hoping he stays in Queens," Ms. Lewandowski added.
Mr. Nadareski said he is an adviser to the architects hired by the East Side co-op building where Pale Male and Lola lived to design a support for a new nest for the two birds. (After the protests and media attention, the building's board met and decided to allow the hawks a chance to return and rebuild a nest there.)
Yesterday, Mr. Nadareski carried Pierre in a case with its air vents mostly closed off with duct tape so that the nervous hawk would not be ruffled by the camera crews, photographers and reporters hustling alongside of it.
"It's a stressful day," Mr. Nadareski said, as he carried the case to a snowy infield in the park, with a dozen cameras trained on him. "Not for me, for the bird."
Pierre was taken out of the case and Mr. Nadareski held him up and explained that the eyes and feathers indicated that he was probably hatched around April. He said he could not tell if the hawk was from New York City or would remain here, or even if it could be an offspring of Pale Male and Lola, for that matter.
He held the hawk up and said, "Sometimes they fall right back on the ground, but our hope is that he'll take off."
To help the photographers time their shots, he chanted "Three, two, one," and heaved Pierre toward the cold winter sky.
The hawk fluttered momentarily and then, revealing its majestic four-foot wingspan, flew off, dipping at first perilously low to the ground and then ascending high to a limb of a nearby tree.
Shutters snapped, shouts went up and a city official observed, "It's a big time for hawks in New York."
12/22/04 --- 2:20 pm
Please note that the vigils are continuing,4:30-7:30pm although no longer under the aegis of NYCA. They will continue until the spikes are up.
Here is yesterday's [12/21] Bulletin from NYC Audubon [EJ McAdams]:
Pale Male and Lola: The Wait is Almost Over
On Monday, December 20th, the project moved forward. The architect received
the final approvals and permits, and fabrication of the structure began.
Depending on the weather, the structure should be up on Wednesday or Thursday - just
in time for Pale Male and Lola to come home for the holidays.
When the safeguard structure goes up, it will have the spikes from the
original nest. In addition, biologists have advised NYC Audubon that twigs from
Central Park should be laid on top of the spikes to attract Pale Male and Lola,
and give them something with which to begin work, if they want.
This past Saturday marked the last of 12 NYC Audubon-lead vigils for Pale
Male and Lola. Thank you to the hundreds of members and supporters who stood out
in the cold and chanted "Bring Back The Nest," and to the thousands who sent
letters and emails, and signed the petition. Your overwhelming support of these
birds is directly responsible for the current progress on the project.
12/21/04 -- AND NOW FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
People have been asking me to explain why there's been such a powerful reaction to the removal of Pale Male's nest on December 7. People have also been expressing strong and violent opinions about the man most of us hold responsible for the terrible act, Richard Cohen, the chairman of the Board of Directors of 927 Fifth Ave.
Below is an article from this morning's NY Times that suggests an answer to the first question, and also points to the possibility of redemption when considering the perpetrator of the act. I hope Richard Cohen reads it. He probably doesn't look at this website, but like all New Yorkers he probably reads the NY Times at breakfast every morning:
December 21, 2004
ESSAY
The Strongest Force? Any Parent Can Tell You
By DENNIS OVERBYE
What's the strongest force in the universe?
Some people will say gravity. But that would be wrong. Gravity, physicists say, is intrinsically puny and gets its overwhelming oomph only from the fact that everything, even energy, contributes to it. Which isn't much consolation, admittedly, when you drop, say, your trusty college edition of the complete annotated works of William Shakespeare on your foot.
An astronomer quoted in this newspaper a few years back said that jealousy was the strongest force in the universe.
Now we're getting closer.
I'd like to convince you, at the possible cost of my reputation as a cold-eyed observer of cosmic affairs, that it is love.
I learned this from a squirrel, some years ago, when I was living up in the Hudson Valley. An Eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, to be precise, since this is the science section. She was sitting on the corner of the roof in the rain, bedraggled and sopping wet, staring at me with holy fire in her little dark brown eyes.
This was on the third day of a siege of what had started as a nuisance and was now terror.
It had begun with an occasional scratching sound in the bedroom ceiling. Our first thought was mice in the crawl space running under the peak of the roof. But the only access was through vents at either end. Sure enough, when we went outside and looked up there was a hole in the vent. Some animal had chewed its way in.
It was the home of my girlfriend Catherine. She had built it only a few years before, slaving through the summers and weekends to do all the finish work with her own hands. She rightly felt violated.
We sent an S O S to her brother, who is a builder, and he came over with a 25-foot ladder, climbed up and announced that there was a nest of ripped-up fiberglass inside.
He nailed a new vent into place and went home.
And so we woke up the next day to the sound of chewing. The vent was just over the window and there was a squirrel spitting splinters as she tried to get in. We had nailed her babies inside.
We went out and threw stones at her. She retreated to a nearby tree and sat there squawking at us.
Maybe she will give up, we told ourselves, in a moment I'm still ashamed of.
She didn't. I went outside and stood in the rain looking up at the roof. The squirrel glared back down accusingly. I didn't have the heart to throw another stone at her.
"She's eating my house," Catherine said, giving me a look not unlike the squirrel's.
I slunk off and found a listing for animal trappers in the yellow pages. A tall guy I immediately nicknamed Daniel Boone showed up the next morning in a fur hat and knee-length boots. He climbed up the house with a long-handled net and quickly emerged with six baby squirrels. He set them in a trap in the woods near the house. They were spitting and growling.
He said, "Don't put your hand in," and went off for coffee.
As soon as he was gone the mother emerged from the woods. She scurried up the ladder into the house and then back out even faster, and ran through the woods up and down trees looking for her babies, winding up in the trap amid a renewed chorus of squawking.
Daniel Boone came back and took them away, he said, to new home in the woods on the other side of the Hudson. I have no reason to doubt his word.
We had to replace some clapboards and nail wire over the vent to prevent a recurrence of the invasion, and that was the end of it, sort of.
That squirrel's glare still haunts me. Especially now that I'm a parent myself.
In October, David Gross, a newly minted Nobel Prize physicist, wondered if science would one day be able to measure the onset of consciousness in an infant.
He likened that shift to what physicists call a "phase change," a microscopic adjustment that makes a macroscopic difference, as when water freezes to ice, or the atoms in a magnet line up.
But I wonder if we could measure the onset of love. Surely that is a phase change, too, a physical shifting of the internal firmament.
Now you might say I have some nerve imputing feelings as ethereal and high-flown as love to a toothy spitting pile of fur and bone with a brain the size of walnut - rats with a bushy tails, as squirrels are often called out in the unromantic countryside. Surely this is just another example of the kind of egregious anthropomorphizing that makes us identify emotionally with animals, robots, the Mars rovers, our cars.
But tell me you've never been taken in by a smile. Human love, biochemists say, is a sort of oxytocin drunk, an addiction to the hormones our partners, real or desired, release in us.
We anthropomorphize ourselves, in other words. Why not a squirrel?
As far as I know, we are both testimony to the marvelous possibilities inherent in the assembly of myriads of atoms. Richard Feynman, the iconoclastic Caltech physicist, once said that if he could pass one piece of knowledge on to future generations it would be that everything is made of atoms. He meant not to diminish "everything," but rather to ennoble and make us appreciate the talents of atoms.
In another twist on the subject of love and physics, three-quarters of a century ago, in 1925 to be exact, Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian physicist, went off to a Swiss resort with a mysterious woman friend, and came back with an equation that describes matter as a wave spreading throughout all space. Schrödinger's equation is now the basis of quantum mechanics, which is the foundation of modern physics.
In principle, physicists like to say, Schrödinger's equation explains all of chemistry and thus all of life, including squirrels.
But when they say it, they mean it as a joke. The equation hasn't been solved except by numerical approximations for anything more complicated than a hydrogen atom - one proton and one electron. As for life, Joel Cohen, a population biologist at Rockefeller University, wrote in an essay in the online journal Public Library of Science Biology that entirely new realms of mathematics would be needed to cope with the complexity of the living world, but I think he's being optimistic.
As a glance at any morning's headlines will tell you, we understand next to nothing.
Or as the refrain to "Albert Einstein Dreams" by Naked to the World put it:
Just because I'm Albert Einstein doesn't mean I understand
The ever-expanding universe between a woman and a man.
If I knew, or had half a clue, I'd be much more famous than I am.
So I'm willing to believe in squirrel love. As for human love, I used to wonder if I had it in me to chew down a house. Until my wife, Nancy, and I adopted our daughter, Mira.
A baby sitter, whom we did not know well, disappeared with her for a few hours, and I rampaged through every store and playground on the Upper West Side only to have them show up back at the apartment on time wondering what the fuss was about.
So now I know.
A report from the Monday Rally and some important addresses and phone numbers: [From Aimee Van Dyne]
To all Pale Male Supporters,
Thanks to all the die-hards who came out in the cold Monday night to continue our support for Pale Male. We had so many people honking horns and making noise--I think the drivers in the cars wanted to give us their support when they saw how COLD we were!
We will continue our Rally for Pale Male on Tuesday, December 21, from 4:30-7:30 P.M. @ the corner or 74th street and 5th Avenue. The schedule for the rest of the week is:
Tuesday-Friday, 4:30-7:30 P.M. @ the corner of 74th Street and 5th Avenue
If we see that no work has been done by Wednesday, we are going to be furious! At that point, we may need to schedule rallies into the weekend. Please continue to show your support for Pale Male by contacting these people:
Mayor Bloomberg 311
Richard Cohen (Co-op Board President) 212-980-0090
Paula Zahn 212-275-8161
212-275-7800
paula.zahn@cnn.com
Jack Cafferty @ CNN: www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?2
New York 1 News 212-691-6397
CBS News 212-975-5867
NBC News 212-664-4444
ABC News 212-456-3173
Jonathan Klein, President CNN 212-275-7800
Princell Harr, Sr. Programming, CNN 212-275-7800
12/20/04-- I JUST RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING COMMUNICATION FROM JOHN BLAKEMAN, WHO HAS BEEN SHARING HIS EXPERTISE ABOUT REDTAILED HAWKS WITH ME AND THE NEW YORK CITY AUDUBON SINCE DAY 2 OF THIS CRISIS:
Marie,
I just had a very useful discussion with Dr. Tess Present, Acting Director of Science, Senior Scientist, Ecology & Conservation Science, of Audubon regarding what steps should be taken when the new nest-supporting device is installed. (I did not ask when this would happen, but apparently it will go up soon.)
First, the nest-supporting structure will not extend above the finished nest rim. That was a major concern of mine. The birds will now be able to land and take off unhindered by any structural contrivance. This is very, very good news.
The other question was what should be placed in the center of the new structure, if anything, to lure the birds back. All of the Audubon consultants apparently agreed that it would be best to place typical red-tail sticks in the center. I concurred and stated that they should be about a centimeter in diameter (thickness of ones little finger) and about 16-inches long or so.
I also strongly recommended that no attempt should be made to “reconstruct” the former nest, that no nest sculpting should be done in an attempt to restore the former nest bowl. The better maneuver would be to randomly place a flat pile of sticks in the center of the structure about 4 inches deep. This loose pile of sticks should not be compressed or secured in any way. That's what the birds will want to do on their own.
The only purpose of the new stick pile is to let the birds know that sticks are now supported there. That's all that's required. No one has the furniture delivery men decide how the living room will be arranged. Likewise, humans in a scaffold many stories over Fifth Avenue shouldn't try to decide how the Pale Male pair will want their nest furniture arranged. Like all couples with a New York flat, Pale Male and Lola will decide for themselves exactly how the sticks, the furniture, should be arranged.
And I pointed out that no one should be concerned if the pair is seen throwing out the new sticks. Frankly, the pair may have a biological urge to select, gather, and return its own twig collection. If I were to see the pair tossing out the new sticks in January, I’d be very positive about what's going on. That would mean that the pair has absolutely reclaimed the nest site and they are getting ready for the real activities which begin in February and March.
There was a question as to what kind of sticks should be used in this initial stick “seeding.” The old sticks from the removed nest are apparently available. But I strongly urged that these not be used, for these reasons. The sticks at the bottom of the old nest have been in the weather for years and are partially rotted and weak. I've watched my research redtails build nests, and they become extremely frustrated when they have to use partially decomposed sticks that break when they try to plunge them into the expanding nest structure. Don't use any of the old sticks. Some might be acceptable, but many would not be. Let the pair select their own new furniture. They aren't hurting for nest material. They've got all of Central Park's trees to select from. We know that nest building is a sexual and pair-bonding activity, so even though the pair will have to work harder getting the nest prepared this year, the pair will only be stronger for it. To borrow a domestic phrase, ”It's a good thing.”
I made one point to Audubon that all nest watchers should be aware of. I will not be surprised at all if the pair actually abandons all nest activity in January. The pair might be seen sitting on some distant building or corner of Central Park, apparently oblivious to the new nest. It might appear that the pair has abandoned the 927 site.
But that's because January is the depth of winter. Biological nesting prompts are not yet very strong. In most wild rural redtails, we seldom see nesting activity of any kind in January at New York city's latitude (the same as mine in northern Ohio). But as the day's begin to discernibly lengthen in February, the pair's sex hormones will flow profusely, resulting in all the proper nest-building and breeding behaviors seen before. This is a successful, experienced pair. They know exactly what to do, and when to do it. Building a nest in December or January isn't biologically important to redtails. In February and March it is.
So we must be patient. The nest-holding device that will go up is very good. No concerns about that. A few proper sticks will be placed up there by humans, to let our famous pair know with certainty that another breeding effort at this site is possible. But the pair will do things in its own time frame, not ours. I see nothing else that could or should be done now.
Nest watchers may want to keep track of the pair's nest refurbishment. Rural birds rebuild frequently, and the speed with which they build the major nest structure is remarkable. The bare crotch of a big tree can be vacant one day in February, and in just two or three days a bushel-basket sized nest frame appears.
Then, the birds will bring smaller leaves and twigs to line the nest. This is crucial, a process that young, inexperienced birds often fail at. The nest bottom must be tight and draft-free. First-year nests are often wide open, with winds easily blowing through the sticks and fatally cooling the eggs. But this pair will take great care in forming a tight nest bottom.
Lastly, watch for either of the pair (but the male most often) bringing a fresh green sprig of some evergreen to the nest. Virtually all redtails do this, even those in desert regions. We have no understanding of why. But don't be surprised to see Pale Male bringing a green twig of a Central Park evergreen to the nest during incubation and for a week or so after hatching. The only explanation is that the aromatic evergreen twigs tend to repel arthropod pests in the nest, but anyone who's ever been in a redtail's nest knows that this doesn't work. The evergreen sprigs are a mystery.
Altogether, I’m satisfied that all will go well, that the pair will resume successful breeding.
And even if it doesn't, I still wouldn't be overly concerned if they take a year off. Producing three eggs and feeding three eyasses to fledging requires an enormously draining effort. It is not uncommon for rural redtails to skip a breeding year every now and again, so don't lose heart of the pair decides to sit out this season. And a new male or female could show up in the following year. This happens frequently, too.
I commend everyone for their concerns and efforts in bringing all of this to the best possible resolution. You have focused the world's attention on your famous pair, which has brought recognition to red-tailed hawks across the continent. If redtails were as uncommon as peregrine falcons or bald eagles, many more would appreciate this regal and noble species. Sadly, out here in rural areas, where a redtail can be seen sitting on a utility pole every ten or twenty miles, the species is too often taken for granted, even dismissed. But New Yorkers, like they do to everything else so fine in the city, have regarded Pale Male and Lola as a special treasure. We commend all of you for the preservation of this nest site and wish everyone the best hawk-viewing possible. Your redtails now belong to all of us.
My best wishes to all, especially to Pale Male and Lola.
John A. Blakeman, falconer, raptor researcher
Northern Ohio
12/20 --- From Jo Miller:
I've just spoken with AP Television News. The man I spoke with said letters in support of Lincoln should go to:
AP Corporate Communications
450 West 33rd Street
New York, New York 10001-2603
He said that there were a number of people who would be reading them (including Laurie Morris, with whom I've spoken). I though I'd hand-deliver the ones we've received, so that I can see that they get into the right hands and can follow up with those individuals after a few days.
If people want to send their letters directly to that address, that's great. Copies should also go to Lincoln's attorney. (I have not spoken to him about this, but I assume these character references can only help the case. I left a message at his office, and if he calls back and says to do something else with the letters, I'll let you know.)
Dino J. Lombardi
52 Duane Street
7th Floor
New York, New York 10007
REMINDER: ANY LETTERS OF CHARACTER REFERENCE FOR LINCOLN KARIM SHOULD BE SENT TO:
Jo@JoMiller.com
or
Frederic@PaleMale.com
They will forward them to the appropriate authorities, and to Lincoln's lawyer.
12/18 FLASH!!!
YESTERDAY WE RECEIVED THIS ADVISORY - from Regina Alvarez of the Central Park Conservancy:
At approximately 8:45am this morning, a dead red-tailed hawk was found in Central Park near Pine Hill by a member of the public. The bird appears to have died of natural causes.
As per protocol, the bird was transported to a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) pathologist near Albany, NY. The pathologist will identify the gender of the bird and the cause of death.
TODAY WE HEAR FROM KENTAURIAN:
We have seen Pale Male and Lola since the dead hawk was found. He and she are well.
12/18/04 - IN DEFENSE OF lINCOLN
At yesterday's rally, as I was expressing an opinion contrary to that of the rally's organizers, [see item below] one of the people in the circle around me exclaimed angrily "Are you going to harrass seven-year old boys too!!"
I was indignant at this comment. I realized that she, and many others there, had bought into the media's outcry about Lincoln Karim as a "stalker" and a "Child Harrasser". I know Lincoln well, and so do most of the people who were at the rally. His error, as he readily admits, was excessive zeal, of going too far in his passion for the hawks and inadvertantly frightening two children. Perhaps he needs a course in anger management. The idea that this man is a stalker and a child harrasser is absurd.
It is possible that the resident of 927 Fifth Ave. whose children were frightened by Lincoln's shouting and who pressed charges of stalking and harrassing, did not know him and was genuinely frightened [though I often wonder if the reaction would have been the same if Lincoln were not a large, dark-skinned man], but my fellow protesters at last night's rally should have known better.
I'd like to reprint here a letter from a teacher at the Nightingale Bamford School, an exclusive private school for girls in Manhattan where many Fifth Avenue residents, perhaps even some in the "Hawk Building" send their daughters:
December 17, 2004
This letter is in support of Lincoln Karim. Rather than put forth a set of opinions, I will just tell the story of my experiences with Lincoln.
I am a lower school science teacher at an upper east side girls’ school. I have been in my current position for seventeen years and, in that role, have had the good fortune to meet expert naturalists from time to time.
This fall, one of my student’s families suggested that I call Lincoln Karim in connection with our on-going studies in Central Park. We spoke several times resulting in a scheduled bird-watching outing.
I have never worked with a more generous, patient or thoughtful naturalist. The children responded to his kindness and expertise. He met us at school and walked us into the Ramble. As we came upon various animals (squirrels, ducks, sparrows), Lincoln pulled from his pockets the perfect food for that wild animals and showed the students how to feed them. We were having such fun that time got away from us. We wound up needing to cab back to school. Lincoln refused a reimbursement, explaining that it was his pleasure to help the students learn about the animals of the park.
Beyond that, Lincoln is an expert nature photographer. He gave each student a packet of 23 photographs of the animals they had seen. He also took a class picture that we have posted in our classroom. The look on the students’ faces explains without words the wonderful learning experience we had thanks to Lincoln’s patience and kindness. He is a natural teacher. We all learned so much that morning.
It was our good fortune to know Lincoln Karim. The animals of Central Park are much more fortunate than we.
Thank you,
Karen Dressner
Nightingale-Bamford School
20 East 92nd Street
New York, New York 10128
12/17/04 -- 6:30 pm
While most New Yorkers bustled around doing their last-minute Christmas shopping, a small group of disheartened birdwatchers and Pale Male admirers gathered at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 74th St., across the street from the building where Pale Male's nest once reposed, to take part in the New York City Audubon's daily Vigil. Though the media have been announcing for days that the Building has capitulated, that the spikes will be restored, that the little guys have won over the Billionaires, ten days have gone by since the nest and spikes were brutally removed, and the nest site is still bare.
No, not really bare. A scaffold [like the kind window-washers use] that had been put up two days ago to "take measurements for the guard rails and to make a template" is now positioned precisely at the old nest site. Why is it there, I couldn't help wondering, and not down at street level where I observed it on December 15?
Well, it's good PR for 927 Fifth Ave: "See, we're going to fix everything up! We've got the scaffold in place." But in fact, the platform up there with its ropes and hydraulic devices can do nothing but keep the hawks from perching there during the day, and from retaining some sense of ownership of the old nest site. It should be brought down to street level and left there until the time it is needed to restore the nest.
Ten days have gone by since the nest was removed. The endless procedures the building is demanding, for what I consider spurious safety and health reasons, seem too time consuming. The nest had been up there since 1993, and during those years it caused not the smallest bit of harm. The idea that the nest might fall down and hurt someone is outlandish. It is not like a super-sized robin's nest that is held together by mud. This nest is [or was] just a collection of individual twigs, each of which, if it were to fall, would slowly parachute to the ground. There is only the mild inconvenience of whitewash [i.e. hawk poop] falling on the building's spanking-clean awning. Guard rails? A catchment net for the negligible pieces of prey debris that might fall during the brief period there are young in the nest? These birds do not leave carcasses anywhere near their nest. They have evolved over the centuries to carry such debris a good distance away, in order not to attract predators to their nest site. What the building is demanding [and getting] doesn't make sense.
Now there are engineers who must approve the plans the architects are designing. And various experts to consult on whether these plans are suitable for the hawks. And of course the Landmarks Commission to be applied to for approval, since the building is in a landmarked Historic District. None of this would be necessary if the spikes were to be replaced in exactly the place they had been before their removal. It's so simple. That could and should have been done days ago, when everybody proclaimed that Victory is Ours.
Tonight the Audubon leaders [both of them my friends] sadly reported that the spikes would not be up until next Monday or Tuesday at the earliest because the building is "repointing the arch" or something like that. I didn't quite make it out. I clearly understood that the work would not begin until Monday.
The leaders begged those gathered there with their signs and candles to tone it down, to put away their Honk 4 Hawks signs. People in adjoining buildings were complaining about the noise. Most of the protesters complied. I'm afraid I did not feel like toning it down. I wanted to make so much noise that the Board members of 927 Fifth Avenue, sitting down to their elegant dinners, could not help but be reminded of what they had done. I felt like weeping and had to go home.
Here is my favorite article so far, and from Business Week, no less! Interesting to com pare it with the article directly below, another of my favorites, from the World Socialist Web.
BUSINESS WEEK
DECEMBER 16, 2004
COMMENTARY
By Bruce Nussbaum
New Yorkers Hear the Call of the Wild
Let's hope the stormy saga of evicted Fifth Avenue hawk Pale Male reminds
city and country folk alike of nature's glories
Pale Male's New York saga appears to be coming to an end. The Fifth Avenue
co-op board that voted to remove the nest of this famous red-tailed hawk
from their building appears to have relented in the face of enormous public
pressure. It now says it will allow Pale Male and his mate, Lola, to
rebuild their digs.
I hope it isn't too late. The hawks have been desperately bringing twigs to
their cornice ledge for days, only to have the wind blow them away. The
building says it will replace the anti-pigeon spikes that anchored the
hawks' nest, and add a guardrail around the 12th floor window cornice to
prevent rat or bird carcasses from falling to the street. But after raising
23 chicks over 11 years at this fancy address, Pale Male may soon decide to
move on to more hospitable climes unless the building moves fast.
The saddest part of this whole spectacle is that the owners of these
multimillion-dollar apartments still don't get it. They may be Masters of
the Universe, but they can't see the beauty of the world. Red-tails are
fierce, free hunters, with wings that span four feet, tails that blaze in a
clear sky, and cries that pierce the air. Like bald eagles, red-tails
embody much of the spirit of America. Pale Male's decision to make the
cliff-dwellings of the Big Apple his home in 1993 was an awesome complement
to New Yorkers. He gave them a chance to observe a slice of raw nature up
close.
CULTURE VULTURES. Many New Yorkers grew to love him. Birders, of course,
spotted Pale Male flying over Central Park, hunting for pigeons and other
small game. Children loved to line up at the many telescopes trained on the
nest to watch Pale Male and his mates raise their families year after year.
Watching small fledging hawks take that first jump and fly out of the nest
was awe-inspiring to these kids.
Yet for every wide-eyed child gaping in wonder at the hawks, many more
adults are blind to them. Urban Americans don't get nature. They see it as
messy, dirty, alien to them. City dwellers, historically, have been the
builders of high culture -- museums, symphony halls, libraries,
skyscrapers. They aren't taught very much about the wild in school, and
with the exception of summer camps, don't have much real contact with it.
But Eastern urbanites aren't alone in their ignorance of and even
antagonism toward nature. Go west to Texas and other states that have
frontier cultures and you find a similar desire to conquer the wild and
replace it with civilization. Westerners just put down ranches and farms
rather than put up skyscrapers.
You have energy people wanting to drill holes into every mesa, mountain
range, and canyon. You have loggers wanting to put roads into every
wilderness and cut down every big, old tree in every forest. And everywhere
developers are building on deserts or around lakes, on mountaintops and
wetlands.
RED, BLUE -- AND GREEN. The weird thing about the West is that, unlike
Eastern cities, it's full of hunters and people who love the outdoors. Yet
the urge to exploit nature rather than protect and enjoy it dominates
today's Western states. You could say that wanting to eradicate the wild is
one of the few things that blue- and red-state cultures have in common.
Yes, of course, this is an exaggeration. Plenty of birders, hunters, fisher
folks, hikers, skiers, runners, and others understand the majesty of
nature. Even in New York. The push-back against the titans of finance and
real estate who evicted Pale Male and Lola was surprisingly intense, and
perhaps successful.
I don't know if Goldman Sachs Chairman Hank Paulson, a birder on the board
of the Peregrine Fund, had a quiet word with Bruce Wasserstein, legendary
investment banker and resident of the Fifth Avenue building that took down
Pale Male's nest. But I hope he did. I do know that actress Mary Tyler
Moore and her doctor husband fought bravely against the eviction and led
the battle to get Pale Male and Lola back.
BIRD BY BIRD. Not much wilderness is left in America, not much of the
"wild" left to discover and enjoy. Easterners and Westerners alike are
destroying it. Pale Male reminds us all of what we're losing, what we'll
soon be missing. The fight for his nest is a battle worth having.
I've been birding in Central Park for a long time. I've seen Pale Male hunt
for game, court a mate, raise a brood, and dominate the sky on a cloudless
day. He is, in his way, a true Master of the Universe, and he should be
welcomed as one.
- - - - -
Bruce Nussbaum () is BusinessWeek's
editorial page editor .
ANOTHER FINE ARTICLE, this one from World Socialist Web
[This event may unite the most disparate groups! Both the Business Week article, and the WSW article see the event as a small part of larger social issues.
A New York City parable: Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk
By Clare Hurley
16 December 2004
In Aesop’s Fables and other parables, animal behavior serves as an instructive paradigm for human and social relations. The sly fox dies of thirst trying to reach the grapes, the overconfident hare loses out to the persistent tortoise, the shackled lion humbles himself to let the mouse gnaw through his ropes.
What lesson might be drawn from the story of Pale Male, the 10-year-old red-tailed hawk whose nest was removed last week from the façade of one of New York’s most fashionable Fifth Avenue addresses, touching off angry protests?
To the many hundreds of dedicated bird-lovers who come every year—not just from the local area, but from across the country and even around the world—to watch the hawk through their cameras and high-powered binoculars, Pale Male epitomizes the indomitable spirit of nature pitted against the urban environment.
They read human virtues into behavior that is for the most part instinctual—praising his unique personality, and exceptional parenting skills. One of Pale Male’s self-appointed guardians, Charles Kennedy, went as far as to say, “He is a good dad. He just is. He is the one we always wanted.”
The bird’s fans are undoubtedly moved by a wild animal’s mating and fledgling-raising rituals in the heart of the city, and they have made him famous. There is a best-selling novel about him, Red Tails in Love, by Marie Winn, under consideration to be made into a film by director Nora Ephron. Public television produced an award-winning documentary about him narrated by Joanne Woodward and based on Winn’s book. He even has own web site.
Whether they admit it or not, however, the subtext of Pale Male’s fame has as much to do with his audacious choice of an address as it does with his wildlife status. Apartments at 927 Fifth Avenue sell for as much as $18 million, and the building is home to some of New York’s richest and most famous. Among the select few residing there are actress Mary Tyler Moore (one of the hawk’s most ardent defenders), CNN newscaster Paula Zahn (who had a protester arrested for allegedly harassing her), and former Enron director Robert A. Belfer.
The bird lives there for free along with his mates and fledglings.
Or rather, lived, until the president of the co-op board and wealthy real estate developer Richard Cohen unilaterally ordered the nest removed last week. Residents had complained that the 8-by-3-foot nest overlooking the front entrance was too large, and that the hawks were swooping down on pigeons and rats, gobbling them up and hurling the remains on the sidewalk.
The irony seems lost upon most of these residents that what they find offensive in the hawks’ behavior bears a striking resemblance to their own social role. What about their oversized and well-feathered nests, which take up entire floors of the 5th Avenue building? As for unseemly predatory practices, the hawk doesn’t hold a candle to the likes of an Enron director or his fellow co-op owner Bruce Wasserstein, the Wall Street mergers-and-acquisitions mogul.
The hawks, at least, do their hunting to survive, whereas these multimillionaires carry out their socially destructive activities for the sole purpose of amassing ever-greater mountains of wealth.
Red-tailed hawks are rare enough to have been protected by a treaty signed in 1918 between several nations, including the US, Canada and Russia. A decade ago, an earlier attempt to evict the birds was blocked when their defenders invoked this international agreement.
Like the corporations that have been allowed to ride roughshod over environmental protection regulations in pursuit of profit, the multimillionaire co-op owners easily secured a “reinterpretation” of the treaty from the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency ruled that the nest could be removed as long as it contained no eggs or chicks, giving the co-op board the green light to finally get rid of what it saw as a long-standing nuisance.
Now protesters dressed as birds and waving placards saying “Honk 4 Hawks” have mounted a vigil across the street from the elegant building. In an attempt to broker a resolution to the conflict, a meeting was organized between government officials representing another multimillionaire, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, environmental groups such as the New York City Audubon Society, and members of the co-op board.
The birders are insisting that the nest be restored to its original spot, 12 stories above the canopied entrance. In an effort to appease them, the building management is offering to spend $100,000 to build a platform and relocate the nest on the roof.
There is something obscene in all of this brouhaha. It contrasts starkly with the prevailing social indifference toward 36,000 people sleeping in New York City homeless shelters every night—while thousands of others make their own rather pathetic nests of cardboard boxes on the sidewalks until they are rousted by the police. No treaty protects them, and there are no protests when they are thrown out of their homes for not being able to pay the rent.
Not just individuals, but whole neighborhoods can be summarily evicted to build multimillion-dollar sports complexes and other high-profit developments. In one instance among many, a new arena for the Nets of the National Basketball Association, proposed in a lower-income Brooklyn neighborhood by developer Bruce Ratner, will most likely be built despite the protest of residents, who face the destruction of their homes.
So while the birders may see in Pale Male a model parent or a defiant force of nature, the controversy over his eviction tells another story. It is one in which a powerful and rapacious elite preys mercilessly on the poor and defenseless, indifferently casting their remains away when they’ve extracted all they could. That is the true parable of Pale Male and New York City, the capital of capital.
See Also:
The Scott Peterson case: a new American tragedy
[11 December 2004]
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World Socialist Web Site
12/17 --AN APPEAL TO FRIENDS OF LINCOLN KARIM
In a message dated 12/16/2004 22:01:47, a loyal friend, Jo Miller [jo@jomiller.com] writes:
I spoke to Lincoln this evening. He's spending some time in quiet
reflection, he says, and is just as glad to be away from his job in
television for now (he's been suspended). He thanks everyone for
their continuing efforts on behalf of the hawks and for their well
wishes. He'll stay in touch but obviously can't be with us in person.
Anyone who knows Lincoln and wants to write a personal character
reference can send it to jo@jomiller.com or frederic@palemale.com.
With the press painting a distorted picture of Lincoln as some
deranged stalker, it will help for his employer (and his attorney) to
have firsthand accounts of what the real Lincoln Karim is like.
Illustrative stories are a plus. Thanks.
Once again, either of the following will forward your letters, pictures, stories etc to Lincoln's lawyer and to AP officials:
Jo@JoMiller.com
or
Frederic@PaleMale.com
************************************************************
12/16/04 -- Update On Lincoln and a personal note from me
Here's an item from this morning's New York Times, in a section called Metro Briefings
[This is a daily catchall of local news items in brief. The hawk story is no longer big time, now that they've announced a successful agreement that the spikes will be restored. Hmmm]:
MANHATTAN: HAWK PROTESTER IS RELEASED A man who was accused of harassing and stalking the television newscaster Paula Zahn and her family over her husband's role in the removal of a nest for two red-tailed hawks from an Upper East Side apartment house was released yesterday on order of a Manhattan Criminal Court judge. The man, Lincoln Karim, 43, was released on the condition that he not approach Ms. Zahn or her family and that he stay at least 1,000 feet away from their apartment house on Fifth Avenue. Richard Cohen, Ms. Zahn's husband, is the president of the building's co-op board, which decided to remove the nest, touching off a nationwide furor. Prosecutors said that Mr. Karim, a video engineer for The Associated Press who had made a documentary film about the hawks, apologized for yelling at Ms. Zahn and her children.
by Sabrina Tavernise (NYT)
Personal Note by MW: I spoke to Lincoln twice since his release. He is a bit subdued, but basically sounded philosophical. He said that throughout the ordeal he kept reminding himself that his lot was still better than that of the horses that pull carriages for tourists through Central Park.
But his job is in jeopardy at the AP. For now he has been suspended. For those of you who have any friends high up at the AP, now is the time to write letters vouching for Lincoln's character and stating your opinion that he meant no harm. That is certainly my opinion.
Now AN APOLOGY: I've got a pretty stringent deadline for a new Afterward for a new edition of Red-tails in Love that is coming out in April. When this crisis began I scrapped the version I had almost completed. I plan to tell this story instead.
But I have to get to work and stop running around Fifth Avenue flapping my red wings as a "Red Hawk" nee Cardinal. I hope someone comes along to spearhead a letter-writing campaign for Lincoln. And perhaps someone will help organize a Legal Defense Fund.
Meanwhile I hope everyone keeps coming to the Vigils until we see the spikes in place. I am turning off my e-mail connection for most of the day, finding a red-hawk replacement and going back to my quiet life as a writer. [I'll check my e-mail at the end of each day. If you want to take charge of any initiative to help Lincoln, please e-mail me and put I VOLUNTEER in the subject line.]
I'll be back soon, and if something exciting happens, I'll post it immediately.
Warm regards to all supporters and thanks to the hundreds of you who have written me. I've tried to answer all mail, if only with a word or two.
Yours, Marie
PS Pale Male and Lola are still sighted in the park every day.
News Catch-up on the Nest-Removal crisis:
LINCOLN KARIM: Yesterday at about 4 pm, just a few minutes before I arrived at the rally to flap around in the red bird suit, two plain-clothes officer arrested a beloved member of our hawkwatcher community, Lincoln Karim. They handcuffed him and took him off in an unmarked black car.
Lincoln is the guy with the huge, the humongous black telescope with video-screen many of you have seen at the model-boat pond. For the last three years he has been following the comings and goings of Pale Male and his various true loves, taking fantastic photographs many of which appear on this website.
Lincoln gives out pictures of the hawks to children, and answers the endless questions people see fit to ask. [Why are you doing this? How much does this telescope cost?etc.] In fact, the answer to the first question is easy: Lincoln loves these birds, especially Pale Male. He considers the light hawk to be "the perfect creature on earth."
Lincoln takes groups of kids from local schools for walks in the park, pointing out birds and always keeping an eye out for Pale Male. He also protects the ducks and ducklings that live in the model-boat pond. If you saw a specially built platform in the south west part of the pond where the ducklings took refuge every day shortly after they hatched, that was built for them by Lincoln.
Lincoln was especially distressed by the destruction of Pale Male's nest on December 7 [a date that shall live in infamy]. He held every resident of the building [except Mary Tyler Moore, his friend and an indefatigable defender of the Fifth Ave. Hawks] responsible for the nest's removal Often he would shout "BRING BACK THE NEST" whenever he saw people emerge from 927 Fifth Ave. In fact, all of us shouted the same many many times. But Lincoln shouted louder, more angrily. And on several occasions came too close to one of the building's famous residents, Paula Zahn, as she was walking with one of her kids. The child was frightened by the angry tone of voice, something I know Lincoln never intended. He only wanted the nest restored. But a complaint was filed, leading to the arrest yesterday
I went down to the 19th Precinct stationhouse nearby [on 67th St bet. 3rd and Lex. with another very famous resident of the building, Mary Tyler Moore. I have come to know her over the years, thanks to the Fifth Avenue hawks. I once appealed to her in desperation when the nest was threatened, and she has always been an ally and a stauch defender of Pale Male.
She and I and her husband Robert Levine [a cardiologist] thought we could see Lincoln and let him know that his friends were supporting him. Unfortunately they didn't let us in to see him, but an officer, last name Lynch, promised to deliver Lincoln the message. I could see that many of the policemen clustering around recognized Mary Tyler Moore, and I hoped this would help Lincoln in some way.
He was photographed, fingerprinted, etc. at the 19th precinct, kept there for a few hours, and then sent down to 100 Centre Street, near City Hall, where he would be arraigned before a judge and then released on bail. That was supposed to happen at 10 am this morning. It was postponed until 2 pm.
Filmaker [Pale Male] Frederic Lilien, another friend of Lincoln's, is down there at this moment with bail money, He will help Lincoln get home. Lee Stinchcomb, and other friends are there too.It is now 2:30 pm and I know cell phones are not allowed in the courthouse. So I'm still waiting to hear. We hope this story has a happy outcome. In the meanwhile, there will be a LINCOLN KARIM DEFENSE FUND people can contribute to. This will be announced soon on this website.
NEWS ON THE NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT RESTORING THE SPIKES
An agreement was made yesterday between the building management and the various Audubon Societies assuring that the spikes will be restored. [LOUD CHEERS.]It is now a matter of time. We want to make sure that the spikes are restored WITHOUT DELAY. Indeed, ropes and a scaffold are already in place at the building, and it looks like action is imminent. However, the platform went up today for the purpose of measuring--it appears that the building insists that a guard rail and some catchment device for keeping debris from falling from the nest. [LOUD SIGHS-- VERY LITTLE DEBRIS FALLS FROM THE NEST]
Maybe the spikes will finally go up tomorrow, But until that moment, in spite of big headlines proclaiming victory for Pale Male and Lola, our vigils across the street from the Hawk Building will go on.
Keep tuned.
12/14/04 -- Below, today's story in the New York Times.
I'm a bit sorry I sounded so cynical when I was quoted. Yet I'm sincerely afraid that people who could do such a heartless and arrogant thing as take down an active hawk nest [Believe me, they knew it was active!]can't really be trusted to do what they say they'll do. But public pressure like the rallies might do the trick that reasonable negotiations will not:
Birds' Nest Will Be Saved, if Co-op Architect Says Yes
December 14, 2004
By THOMAS J. LUECK
A baronial Fifth Avenue co-op building at the center of an
uproar over its destruction of a red-tailed hawks' nest
last week agreed yesterday to try to help the hawks rebuild
in the same spot overlooking Central Park - if an architect
approves.
"We had a very constructive meeting," said John Flicker,
president of the National Audubon Society, who, along with
three Audubon colleagues and city and state officials, met
for 90 minutes with the president of the co-op's board, its
management agent and a building engineer.
"It's a much better situation today than it was yesterday,"
said Mary Tyler Moore, a resident of the co-op, at 927
Fifth Avenue, who has joined bird lovers and naturalists
from across the nation in protesting the hawks' eviction.
Still, the negotiations yesterday, part of which took place
on the roof of the 74th Street co-op as the most famous of
the Fifth Avenue hawks, Pale Male, circled overhead,
provided only a first step toward ending a conflict that
some say requires speedy resolution.
"Good progress doesn't sound good enough to me," said Marie
Winn, a Manhattan author whose 1998 book on Pale Male and
his offspring was the basis of a public television
documentary. (Channel 13 in Manhattan said yesterday that
it had scheduled a rebroadcast of the film tonight at 8.)
Ms. Winn was among more than 100 protesters who gathered
opposite the co-op building yesterday afternoon, as they
have for days - chanting, encouraging drivers to honk their
horns and creating a ruckus rarely seen along one of
Manhattan's most elegant residential streets.
"I have suspected all along that what the co-op wants is to
stall just long enough so the hawks will leave," she said.
"And that could happen any day."
The saga of Pale Male and his mate, Lola, who have fed
happily on pigeons and rats in Central Park, reproduced
prodigiously from their roost above a 12th-story cornice,
and ultimately captivated the attention of much of the
city, came amid unavoidable questions of what the hawks
themselves will choose to do.
"We haven't been able to talk to the hawks, and they may
have their own plans," said Adrian Benepe, the city's
commissioner of parks, who attended the meeting yesterday
at 927 Fifth Avenue. Nonetheless, he said the negotiations
had yielded "good progress from the point of view that the
building really isn't legally obligated to do anything."
Besides Ms. Moore, residents of the co-op include the
newscaster Paula Zahn, whose husband, Richard Cohen, is
president of the board; Bruce Wasserstein, the Wall Street
dealmaker; and several other executives at the highest
levels of finance.
Before the hawks' nest was taken down last Tuesday, some
residents had complained that the birds left the bloody
carcasses of their prey on the roof and sidewalk, and their
nest created a safety hazard as parts of it fell to the
sidewalk, threatening pedestrians.
The nest was built in 1993 by Pale Male, who foraged twigs
and small branches from Central Park and assembled them on
a network of metal spikes that had been placed on the
12th-floor cornice to discourage pigeons. The spikes, which
were also removed last week, had the unintended effect of
holding a red-tailed hawk nest measuring eight feet across
in place for a decade.
Mr. Flicker said a central question addressed at the
meeting yesterday was whether the spikes would be restored
so Pale Male and Lola could rebuild in the same place, or
whether a new platform or box would be constructed and
provide a sturdy base for a new nest on the co-op's roof.
The Audubon Society officials insisted that the spikes be
restored, and that anything else would be inadequate. Their
position on the arcane question of how to provide a safe
habitat for red-tailed hawks at the center of large city
was buttressed by experts.
The neoclassical 12th-floor cornice adopted by Pale Male,
despite its ornate acanthus leaf detailing, made it "a
classic red-tail cliff site," which resembled the hawks'
habitat in the Western states and was far more attractive
than tree limbs or a wood platform, said John A. Blakeman,
an Ohio biologist who has researched the habitats of hawks
and falcons.
"They will absolutely reject a box," he said.
According
to Mr. Benepe and Mr. Flicker, Mr. Cohen seemed agreeable
to returning the metal spikes to the cornice. They said
participants in the meeting saw clearly that the hawks were
trying to rebuild, since they had left several twigs and
branches on the cornice, even though the foraged material
would be blown away in a strong wind.
But they said Mr. Cohen insisted on consulting the co-op's
architect before making any commitment. No deadline was
set, and no follow-up meeting was scheduled.
"This needs to be done promptly," Mr. Flicker said. "The
longer you wait, the longer the risk to the birds."
"We wanted them to say the spikes will go up," Mr. Flicker
said, adding that he hoped hear the co-op's decision in the
matter today.
Yesterday, Pale Male and Lola were a clear presence over
the east side of Central Park, circling above the co-op and
the park's picturesque model-boat pond and, in Lola's case,
casually devouring a pigeon on a tree limb as dozens of
bird enthusiasts looked on.
Ms. Moore, who has shed the retinue of agents, public
relations specialists and others who normally surround
celebrities in proclaiming her support for the hawks,
emerged from 927 Fifth Avenue to answer questions from
reporters.
"I just want to make sure that they take into consideration
what the birds' instincts are going to be," she said.
"I don't object to anything," Ms. Moore added. "I don't
care if they hang a nest from my living room window, that's
fine."
"I just want those hawks to be back in their natural
habitat and be peaceful."
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
---------------------------------
Photo by ARDITH BONDI
This photo was taken at the Noon-5 Rally across the street from the Hawk Building on Dec 11th.
I'm the red "hawk" on the left in front. [OK, OK, I know it's a cardinal but that's all the costume shop had for rent.] And introducing a new character to my website, Allan Miller, my husband. He's holding up the big HONK 4 HAWKS sign behind the other bird, my friend Rebekah Creshkoff. [She's appears in Red-tails in Love too. Look her up in the index].
You can get an idea of the extent of Saturday's [12/11] rally here. I'd say there were 300 people there.
Here's today's [12/11/04 story from the front page of the Daily News:
A word before reading the article because the situation is more complicated than it seems. Most of us are opposed to the idea of putting up a nesting box on the roof. For one thing, the building's super, Hugo Navarette, lives in a small penthouse on the roof, and having the hawks coexit on the same level with a human is dangerous for both, but especially the human.
We believe there is absolutely no advantage, either to the hawks or the building, to provide any other nesting site than the one they originally chose, the one above the middle 12th floor window, and under the great cornice protecting the nest from storms coming from the northeast --the prevailing storms that hit New York City.
The nest in its former location has posed no hazard whatsoever to passerbys below. That is an obfuscation -- a smoke-screen sent up by the building management. No one has ever been hit by sticks falling from the nest --- sticks dont really fall out of the nest; they are tightly wedged in. They have long wanted to get rid of the nest --we know this from Mary Tyler Moore and other building sources.
According to a conversation a few hours ago with E.J. McAdams, president of New York City Audubon Society [NYCAS], he now agrees that the restoration of spikes to the original nest site is the only plan NYCAS will support. If the spikes are restored, we are confident the hawks will rebuild.
There is a meeting planned tomorrow between various Audubon Society officers, park officials, a representative of the Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] and the management of 927 Fifth Avenue. There is talk that Richard Cohen, head of the building's Board of Directors, will also attend. This meeting is what the News article mentions. We are more than eager to hear the outcome of that meeting. If the building is merely stalling for time, hoping that if the process takes long enough the hawks will relocate, that should become quickly apparent.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Wing and a prayer
BY AUSTIN FENNER and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Saturday, December 11th, 2004
Pale Male soon could be flying home on the wings of victory.
A deal is in the works to return the red-tailed hawk and his mate to their posh perch overlooking Central Park, the Daily News has learned.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other bird protectors expect to meet with the managers of 927 Fifth Ave. next week to discuss building a sturdy rooftop roost for the hawks.
The co-op board tore down Pale Male and galpal Lola's nest from a 12th-floor cornice on Tuesday, claiming it posed a safety hazard.
But now building bigwigs admit they may have mishandled the eviction of the longtime tenants.
"We did not fully appreciate the importance of these birds to the people in the city," said co-op board president Richard Cohen, a developer married to CNN newswoman Paula Zahn.
The decision to dismantle the nest was made at the building's annual meeting - which Zahn did not attend - after an engineer reported it had gotten too large and could fall.
Managers got permission from the feds to take down the aerie, since there were no hatchlings in it, but feathers still flew over the avian eviction.
Bird watchers have been holding nightly protests in front of the building, and actress Mary Tyler Moore, who owns an apartment there, has pledged her support.
Meanwhile, Cohen, Zahn and other residents are feeling the heat.
"There have been death threats," Cohen complained. "I have a 7-year-old son, and people were running up to him and threatening him and yelling at him, 'Bring back the nest!'
"There's enough angry, mean people out there who are making it miserable," he added.
Cohen said he's open to letting the celebrated birds take up residence at the building again, as long as it does not compromise safety.
The city's bird experts believe they have a solution: a rooftop tower, set back from the edge of the building so there's no danger of falling debris.
But they need to act fast.
"You need to do it early enough in the winter to allow them time to attach to the nest before courtship and nesting," said Chris Nadareski, a research scientist with the city Department of Environmental Protection.
Even if a rooftop enclosure is built, there's no guarantee Pale Male and Lola will flock to it, but their fans are hopeful.
"He's very territorial," New York City Audubon Society Director E.J. McAdams said yesterday. "He's going to stay in this area."
That was certainly the case yesterday, when Pale Male roosted on the 12th floor of 920 Fifth Ave. and Lola settled in atop 930 Fifth Ave.
Those who have heard about the homeless hawks' plight stopped by Central Park to peer through binoculars at the city's most famous birds.
"It's really sad," said Sylvia LeBlancq, a consultant who lives in lower Manhattan. "I wish Pale Male would move by us. Any building should be proud to have him as a resident."
LOLA LEAVING THE FIFTH AVENUE NEST [a few months before its destruction]
Photo by Lincoln Karim
\----------------------------------------------------------/
12/11/04-TODAY'S FRONT PAGE ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
No Fighting the Co-op Board, Even With Talons
December 11, 2004
By THOMAS J. LUECK and JENNIFER 8. LEE
They gathered on Oct. 19 for a ritual known to thousands of
New York co-op owners, the annual meeting. The board
president, Richard Cohen, and his wife, the newscaster
Paula Zahn, threw open their second-floor apartment
overlooking Central Park for the occasion. Quickly, the
discussion focused on a huge and untidy red-tailed hawk,
known famously as Pale Male, which had been nesting on the
building's facade for a decade.
The building, 927 Fifth Avenue, is among the city's most
sumptuous - apartments behind the neo-Italian renaissance
facade occupy entire floors, or two, and are worth well
over $10 million. The roughly 10 people at the meeting
included Robert A. Belfer, the founder of Belco Oil & Gas
and a former director of the Enron Corporation; Dr. Robert
Schwager, a plastic surgeon with offices on the ground
floor; and Dr. Robert Levine, a Manhattan cardiologist who
is married to Mary Tyler Moore.
Some shareholders had long complained about Pale Male and
his mate, Lola, whose nest of twigs and small branches had
grown to eight feet across a cornice outside the building's
12th floor.
The hawks were hardly hygienic, preying on pigeons and
rats, sometimes dropping bloody carcasses on the roof or
sidewalk. And bird watchers were constantly looking up with
their cameras and high-powered binoculars.
The nest, board members said, had to go. There would be no
vote among shareholders. Several people familiar with the
discussions said it was Mr. Cohen who had headed the
effort, even though his wife had once proclaimed her
affection for the birds on television.
The building's management company, Brown Harris Stevens
Property Management, had warned of a public backlash. "We
told Richard it would be extremely controversial," said
Noreen McKenna, a Brown Harris Stevens agent who serves as
secretary to the board.
The story of Pale Male, how he came to live at one of
Manhattan's most exclusive addresses and then was sent
away, is one of wealth and fame meeting nature and
instinct, of an obscure international treaty researched and
clarified, and of anger among those who live in an elegant
building where, Ms. Moore now says, relations have become
frosty.
Pale Male had adopted Central Park as his home and feeding
ground, had prospered for 11 years, siring 23 hawks, and no
one knows whether he will rebuild a nest and stay, or
simply fly away.
At the very least, his predicament serves as a reminder of
an immutable force, perhaps peculiar to New York City: the
power of a co-op board.
At the meeting, Dr. Levine stood up to object, but not on
his own behalf.
"Dr. Levine was vocal," recalled Dr. Schwager, who
described the Oct. 19 meeting. Neither he nor Dr. Levine is
on the board. "He said, 'I can tell you categorically that
Mary Tyler Moore is opposed to this.' "
Dr. Schwager joined in: "I said 'This will cause a major
commotion in New York if you do this.' "
Both doctors were right.
Since workers removed the nest
on Tuesday, dangling on a window-washing platform and
shoving Pale Male's carefully foraged twigs into garbage
bags, the building has been the focus of searing anger from
those around the city and nation who saw the hawk as an
emblem of raw nature and perseverance in a densely
populated urban setting. Bird lovers have camped outside,
held vigils and chanted in anger, occasionally joined by
Ms. Moore.
Both Pale Male and Lola have been observed circling their
cornice, and landing with bits of twigs and tree branches
in what appeared to experts on the ground as a futile
attempt to rebuild. Their nest-building may be stymied
because metal spikes that held their previous nest in place
have also been removed.
Mr. Cohen, a real estate developer, spoke publicly about
the matter for the first time yesterday and defended the
co-op, on the corner of East 74th Street. "Every year this
became more problematic," he said of the nest, calling the
decision the result of a consensus and flatly denying he
had railroaded it through.
He called the eviction a "last resort" and said that board
members believed the birds would thrive elsewhere, and
quickly. "It takes a week to 10 days to rebuild a nest.
Trees fall in nature. They lose nests. They are resilient
animals."
Also yesterday, Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman for the state
Department of Environmental Conservation, said the agency
was working with the New York City Audubon Society to
protect the hawks and determining whether any state laws
had been violated.
The Audubon Society said that the co-op board has agreed to
meet with it on Monday to discuss options. Possibilities
include replacement of the spikes on the ledge or the
construction of a platform elsewhere on the building's
exterior.
Last night, about 40 hawk supporters gathered in the rain
bearing photographs of the hawks and a placard that read
"Honk 4 Hawks." Ms. Moore, whose apartment is for sale for
$18.5 million, was skeptical about the prospects for an
amicable resolution. "These are not reversible type
people," she said of her fellow apartment owners. "They
just don't want the birds here."
Said Dr. Schwager, "This building is unbelievably
conservative and reserved. I think, should we all buy
lottery tickets, there is a better chance we would win."
The eviction of Pale Male was long in coming, and had been
tried once before. The hawk's longevity in his co-op nest
was due primarily to a federal environmental treaty, signed
by the United States, Canada, Russia, and other nations in
1918, that was intended to protect the habitats of several
species of migratory birds, including red-tailed hawks,
from poachers who sought birds for food or for their
feathers.
The treaty, administered by the federal Fish and Wildlife
Service, was invoked in 1993 when the board of 927 Fifth
Avenue removed Pale Male's nest for the first time. The
removal came only months after the hawk had built the nest
on his 12th-floor cornice, and his mate at the time had
tried unsuccessfully to hatch eggs.
Marie Winn, a bird watcher and author, whose 1998 book
about Pale Male and his offspring, "Red-Tails in Love,"
became the basis for a public television documentary, was
one of those who jumped to the hawks' defense in 1993.
"They put up a scaffolding and took the nest down in a
plastic bag," she said. "I got the workers to hand it over
to me. I put in my bicycle basket, and took it to a secret
place in the park."
Then, she said, she contacted officials of the Fish and
Wildlife Service, who concluded that removing the nest
violated the 1918 treaty.
The federal agency "put fear and trembling into their
hearts" at 927 Fifth Avenue, Ms. Winn said. Board members
at the co-op "promised to never remove it again, although
they have always wanted to," she said.
Their opportunity arrived in April 2003, when the federal
agency issued what it called a "clarification" to the
migratory bird treaty. Instead of a complete ban on the
removal or destruction of nests, it said the nests were
protected only when they were being used to hatch or raise
offspring.
The law "does not contain any prohibitions that applies to
the destruction of a migratory bird nest alone (without
birds or eggs)," said a memorandum spelling out the rule.
Federal officials said this week that the clarification was
intended to ensure that different species are treated
uniformly, and some of the birds, like robins, simply
abandon their nests after their chicks are raised.
On Dec. 9, 2003, Ms. McKenna submitted an application, with
photographs, to the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove
Pale Male's nest. "The nest has caused deterioration of the
building's canopy from bird droppings," she wrote. "In
addition, the hawks bring live prey to the nest where it is
killed and torn for feeding." She said the result was a
danger of contamination, Lyme disease and West Nile virus.
The application included a report by James E. McCosker, a
building engineer who inspected the building. He described
the nest as "massive," and said it posed a danger to
pedestrians because it was directly above the building's
entrance.
"This ain't a regular nest," Mr. McCosker said in an
interview. "How would you like to have a bird's nest 8 feet
long and 3 feet wide overhanging the edge of the building
by a foot?"
On April 30, Fish and Wildlife Service officials responding
in writing, saying that no permit was needed to remove the
nest.
"We had no knowledge that this was a famous pair of birds,"
said Diane Pence, the chief of the agency's division of
migratory birds for the northeastern states, in an
interview on Thursday.
"It was just an address in New York City to us," she said,
but added that the position of the agency would not have
been different if the nest was in a less prominent
location.
Then came the October meeting, and finally, on Tuesday,
workers came to take the nest down.
Lincoln Karim, a 43-year-old engineer who has been among
the most diligent bird watchers in tracking Pale Male and
his offspring (at the Web site www.palemale.com), said he
saw it happen at 2:30 p.m.
After workers hung a window-washing style rigging from the
roof of 927 Fifth Avenue, "I thought maybe they were
checking masonry." he said. "Then I saw they were taking
the nest down and putting it into garbage bags."
He added, "I thought, 'I'm going to climb up ropes. I'm
going to stop them.' But I looked up and saw the nest was
gone. It was just gone."
Other than Ms. Moore and Dr. Schwager, residents of the 11
apartments in the building have declined to be interviewed,
among them Bruce Wasserstein, the Wall Street deal maker,
and Ms. Zahn, who had referred to Pale Male in a 2001
segment of "The Edge with Paula Zahn," on Fox News Channel.
She was interviewing two naturalists, one of whom commented
on the problems associated with people feeding wild
animals, and Ms. Zahn seemed eager to offer a glimpse of
her personal life. "Well, guess what lives on my building,
you two, a red-tailed hawk," she said. "It eats rats and
pigeons on our block."
"I like the hawk," she said. "I am just not going to feed
it."
But these days Pale Male is a sore subject among the
residents of 927 Fifth Avenue. Mr. Cohen said Ms. Moore had
not even mentioned the hawk when they had a friendly
conversation at a recent party. She said she had been too
upset to talk about it. The topic is largely off-limits
when residents cross paths, she said. "We are playing the
game of the elephant in the middle of the living room."
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
HERE'S ONE THING TO DO
[NOTE: MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENT IS PASSIONATE, BUT POLITE. BEING ANGRY OR ABUSIVE MIGHT BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.]
The following url [YOU CAN'T CLICK ON IT. PLEASE COPY AND PASTE}is available to anyone wishing to send comments to Paula Zahn at CNN. Those reading newspaper stories regarding the
destruction of the Pale Male nest will recall that Zahn's husband,
Richard Cohen, is the head of the co-op board at 927 Fifth Avenue.
Mary Tyler Moore has been quoted to blame Cohen primarily for the
removal of the nest.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?19
12/10/04 -- A great article and Summary of articles from former NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stern
[Note: The links did not come through here, somehow. But you can easily find the articles by going to each newspaper's or magazine's website.]
The following is Henry Stern's newsletter:
The Arrogance of Wealth:
5 Ave Coop Evicts Hawks
After 11 Years on Ledge;
Pres. Cohen Won't Talk
By Henry J. Stern
December 10, 2004
Most of you know by now of the destruction of the nest of the red-tailed hawk,
Pale Male, and his mate, Lola.
For eleven years, the hawks had nested on a ledge on the 12th floor of 927
Fifth Avenue (near 74th Street). They raised their offspring there, bringing
food to their chicks until the young ones were able to go out on their own.
The hawks became popular figures. The idea of wild birds surviving in a most
urban environment captured the imagination of adults and children all over
the world. Books and articles were written about the hawks, a film, "Pale
Male," was made, and another movie is on the way. Sightseers traveled long
distances to get a glimpse of the striking birds and their unusual habitat.
A few days ago, all this was destroyed by a contractor at the order of the co-op
board. The pigeon-repelling spikes that had secured the nest were removed.
After finding their home gone, the two adult hawks circled the wreckage,
bringing twigs to try to rebuild it. But without the protective spikes, the twigs
were blown away.
To put it mildly, the public and the press were distressed. A New York
Times editorial sums up the case for the red-tails in persuasive prose. We cite
its closing lines: "The hawks have gone out of their way to learn to live with us.
The least the wealthy residents of 927 Fifth Avenue could have done was
learn to live with the hawks."
The Daily News' editorial (scroll to third editorial) came in the form of a letter
from Pale Male. Link to it to get a bird's eye view of the problem.
"We have heard all sorts of explanations as to why we were forced into the
ranks of the homeless. We suspect it was simply that our snooty neighbors on
Fifth Ave. were offended by our bodily functions and the occasional pigeon
tartare that would fall to the sidewalks."
Here are links to this week's stories, editorials and columns about the birds'
plight. It is interesting that everyone who has written on the subject appears to
be on the side of the red-tails. No one stuck up for the board's action.
* Times: "New York Celebrities Evicted on Fifth Ave., Feathers and All," by
Thomas J. Lueck, 12/8, ppB1, 3; "Newly Homeless Above 5th Ave., Hawks
Have Little to Build On," by Thomas J. Lueck, 12/9, ppB1, 11; "Squatting
Rights," editorial (cited above), 12/9, pA40
* Post: "5th Ave. roost roust," by Gersh Kuntzman, Braden Keil and Letitia
Rowlands, 12/9, p2; "Poultry 'in motion'," by Mark Bulliet, Braden Keil and
Heidi Singer, 12/10, p10; "Pale Male dealt a nesty blow," by Dr. Keith L.
Bildstein, 12/10, p11; "Flip the bird to Paula and the rest of those hoity-toity
residents," column by Andrea Peyser, 12/10, p11. Her column is exquisite; far
more pointed than what we have written.
* News: "Homeless hawks: Booted from 5th Ave. nest," by Austin Fenner and
Tracy Connor, 12/9, p3; "Beyond the pale," editorial (cited above - scroll to
third editorial), 12/9, p54; "Suite Revenge," by Austin Fenner and Tracy
Connor 12/10, p6
* Sun: "Fifth Avenue Hawk Loses Nest," New York Desk, 12/8, p5; "Bird
Lovers Chant For the Return Of Hawks' Nest," by Richard Pyle (AP), 12/10, p2
* Newsday: "City Hawks evicted from Fifth Avenue nest," by Richard Pyle
(AP), 12/7, not published, on website; "NYC Hawks Seek Nest Workers Took
Down," by Verena Dobnik (AP), 12/8, not published, on website
Our feelings on this matter are strong. The people who live in this luxurious
co-operative are among the most privileged in the city. They should thank
God for their wealth and good fortune. They should not destroy the home of a
living family of another species.
A sad aspect of this case is the absence of any sense of shame by the co-op
residents or board. Their chairman, Richard Cohen, refuses to speak to the
media. Even though his wife, Paula Zahn, is a television reporter, he holds
himself above the press, and feels no need to explain his board's action. His
distinguished surname, Cohen, signifies descent from a priestly caste. He
does not live up to that fine name by his apparent disregard for living
creatures. Fortunately there is still time to correct the problem, and we
urgently hope for peace for both the hawks and the tenants.
The co-op's lawyer, Aaron Schmulewitz, said that the co-op's engineers found
the nest was "a hazard that probably violated city regulations." No city agency,
however, appears to have complained about it.
The charge against the hawks is that, after they finish eating, they drop pigeon
carcasses on Fifth Avenue (heaven forbid). The building is well-staffed with
doormen — can't they remove the dead pigeons?
Technically, the building's action is within the law. It would have been against
federal law if it had been taken while the chicks or eggs were within the nest.
But late fall is not the season for reproduction, so there was a window of
opportunity for the unscrupulous board to destroy the nest.
Nonetheless, it is against a moral law — that we should care for less fortunate
c |
