By Gus Saltonstall
Leading New York City bird groups have come out strongly against the fake-bird drone show that is slated for Saturday night in Central Park over safety concerns amid migration season.
The performance, dubbed “Franchise Freedom” and created by the Dutch studio DRIFT, will feature 1,000 drones that fly over Central Park with movements that mimic 10 years of starling flight behavior data.
“This is a VERY BAD IDEA, light pollution during peak bird migration, which by the way is happening right now, poses a hazard for the millions of birds traveling over NYC on their migrations,” NYC Audubon, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats in New York City, wrote on X (formerly twitter) Friday morning. “COULD WE MOVE THIS to after fall migration.”
The shows are currently slated for three 10-minute windows at 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m. within the iconic Manhattan green space.
NYC Audubon wasn’t the only bird organization to make a squawk on Friday morning about the drone show.
“It is mystifying that the makers of this bird-centric show and everyone involved in approving this do not seem to understand or care about bird migration and the importance of Central Park to migratory birds in fall,” Wild Bird Fund, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation and education center, wrote in response to NYC’s Audubon’s post.
DRIFT did not immediately respond to West Side Rag’s request for comment, but a Parks Department spokesperson told Patch, which was the first publication to report the pushback against the drone show, that the show’s organizers have “been in close contact” with Parks.
Additionally, DRIFT has updated its website Saturday morning with the message: “ALL PERFORMANCES HAVE BEEN CLEARED AND WILL PROCEED AS SCHEDULED.”
Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer also joined the calls to cancel the drone show.
“I agree with NYC Audubon that drones in Central Park on Saturday night should be canceled; it is peak migration seasons and birds could be killed,” Brewer wrote in a comment on NYC Audubon’s post. “I have conveyed my opposition to the Parks Department and the Mayor’s Office. I am not opposed to drones. But not in Central Park at the height of bird migration.”
NYC Audubon previously estimated that close to 250,000 birds are killed each year due to light pollution attracting and disorienting birds as they migrate in the evening.
“Everything about this is puzzling and infuriating,” NYC Audubon wrote.
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Brewer really picks her battles, huh
If this is sarcastic it shouldn’t be! It’s a fine battle to pick!
Please, listen to the experts. Cancel this.
I’m sure it looks really cool. But is it worth the killing of many birds?
Can people find things to amuse them that don’t lead to the loss of wildlife?
It’s mind-boggling that the organizers of an art exhibit that was inspired by the flight of starlings would have so little care for killing thousands of actual birds in flight
Killing Thousands of birds??? This is a brief light show, I’d be shocked if a single bird is affected. It is fair to have some concern, but no need to sensationalize this, we aren’t Napalming the great lawn!…it actually sounds like a really cool thing I think a lot of people were looking forward to…..
who is looking forward to this? tourists? another garbage event in Central Park that ruins green spaces, leaves piles of garbage behind and disturbs people living around
I’m looking forward to it and I’m a lifelong New Yorker. That said if this is peak migration season I get the concern.
Wild Bird Fund takes in up to a hundred injured birds daily during migration season, and that’s without flying light drones..
We found an injured bird in our tree garden recently and immediately took it to the Wild Bird Fund. Painstakingly the bird died shortly thereafter; the WBF determined it had been severely injured from having flown into a building due to light pollution. It was heartbreaking and an eye opening experience.
No they aren’t napalming the Great Lawn, Frank. That was already ruined by another irresponsible public event. At a minimum they should postpone the show to another season when birds are not in migration.
I’m with the bird advocates. There’s no reason the show needs to happen during peak migration. It should be rescheduled. Furthermore, the fact that the West Side Rag is referring to other individuals and groups advocating on behalf of birds as “squawking” is extremely disappointing not to mention unnecessarily demeaning to them and other nature lovers. This site regularly posts news about amazing, beautiful bird sightings around the park and neighborhood. You should do better than mock those trying to ensure their health and safety.
Some of us thought the squawking was humorous. Not worth ruffling feathers over!
Deeply wrongheaded. Art does not need to kill wildlife to be enjoyable. Really hope they postpone.
Where were these cyphers during global citizen?
My opinion: cancel these potentially harmful “shows,” and take them elsewhere. Someone is profiting by this ill-timed exhibition, and using Central Park for imprimatur. Sorry not to accept this exhibition at face value; I’m suspicious of motives. Is it a purely aesthetic display of natural behavior mimicked by technology? Is it a benevolent gift of animated art? Do the sponsors hope to persuade us that we should become accustomed to the presence of eventually-thousands of drones? Drones have their legitimate uses; however….
Gale Brewer has a valid concern about the bird migration. You know what else is a valid concern? The population of migrants living on the upper west side who own unlicensed scooters and who are working and living rent free. My block is overrun with scooters and alarms that go off night and day. Calling good old Gale’s office gets you nowhere. But, hey….glad she’s concerned about the birds.
I can’t believe the Central Park *Conservancy* approved this “performance”! It’s an outrage and should be canceled immediately.
This is a Parks Department thing. Not CPC. Certain things the city overrides.
Sadly, the CPC has sold out to corporate interests. AMEX is one their main sponsors.
They will do whatever their corporate leaders tell them.
They no longer represent the park and the people.
This is a fantastic point, Amy. Perhaps rather than trying to appeal to the artists, the target should be the Central Park stewards. One could argue that they have a fiduciary duty to protect the thousands migratory birds that migrate through the park as well as heed the concern of the thousands of bird watchers that come to see them in the park every year. I wonder if the Westside Rag has talked to the conservancy to understand their decision?
What can we do to STOP /CANCEL this show now?!
There’s a petition requesting that this event be canceled or postponed due to the detrimental environmental impact – please sign it. Thank you.
Can you please provide a link to the petition? I would like to sign. Thank you.
https://chng.it/s5vdhY7y9V
https://www.change.org/p/stop-drift-franchise-freedom-drone-show-over-central-park-10-21-23
Link to petition on Change.org requesting this event be postponed to after migration or canceled. Please sign it.
Three, 10 minute shows are going to do what exactly?
Let’s stop doing anything because someone will object and someone will be upset.
Unbelievable.
Good.
The fake bird swarm should never have been approved. And yes, the City had to approve it.
Drone shows are not new. They have been held in different parts of the world, including urban park settings, without any adverse effects on the bird population. There’s simply no data presented to support this outcry.
Just to add political salt, the organizer is using NOVA Sky Stories, who is owned none other by Musk’s brother. If those that haven’t seen a drone show, say 400 units isn’t going to be different from normal NYC light pollution. Also if NOVA/Intel is smart, you will not see all 1000 units lit up: it’s story telling and typically half will be dark cause they are “staging”. As for noise pollution, they’d be as loud as an airport sound deterrents, which will steer migrations away for 10 min but likely within a soccer field area, so the risk is altering their paths permanently should be low. Just saying, but I heard everyone’s concerns. Yeah, it would be optimal to do the show after migratory season, but schedules are what they are: time and money.
Heck if winds are higher than 10mph, they’ll postpone the show anyway. Nature may as well settle this situation.
It is outrageous that our Mayor has turned his back on this issue as has the Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare, which is nowhere to be found on this matter. The Wild Bird Fund and Audubon are the experts on this – and still, the Dutch design firm plans to continue. It’s not just birds who are at risk but other wildlife who might be scared to death – literally. And if they don’t succeed with the first “show” – they plan to do two more.
In addition, the use of drones at a time when the Middle East is on fire , is highly questionable.
This is simply a hedonistic, insensitive, and cruel project. I hope it rains!
It’s bird migration season. Audubon Society says this is ill advised. They are not political. They protect birds. Listen to them.
Thanks for posting this; I have decided not to go!
It is another day with another kvetch in the Upper West Side.. the kvetch capital of the world . Please excuse ne now I am headed out the door to go see and to enjoy the show.
Charles, I watched the 7:00 pm “performance” from the roof of my apartment building with about 15 of my neighbors. Not one of us was impressed by what we saw. Three (maybe four?) minutes of bobbing and drifting drones? I know what murmuration looks like and this didn’t look anything like it. A visual non-event. But tonight’s moon is beautiful!
Agreed. 8 PM show was “for the birds”.
So was the 9PM show. Maybe it was impressive if you were directly beneath it, but who wants to be beneath a thousand drifting drones? From my roof it was an unbirdlike bore.
Show just started I’m betting zero birds killed or injured
Did not seem well thought out to schedule this during migration season in the first place.
On the practical side, the park was jammed and it was dark and poorly organized. There was some effort to coral and keep people off the grass which backfired.
The trees are still in full foliage, so it was impossible to get much of a view from the ground.
With all of the available space it would have worked so much better if timed when the trees were bare so folks could spread out and enjoy.
City agencies don’t think they need to be accountable to the citizens. Who’s making money from this drone thing? We need a new administration!
Drones are not allowed in our city parks! Why is this nonsense being allowed????
Once again human beings give little regard to other creatures that they share a planet with. I had planned to attend until I heard how it would affect migrating birds. Of course, they didn’t listen and went ahead with it. I love New York but I cannot abide that the Central Park Conservatory has agreed to this. Let’s not forget the desecration of the Great Lawn.
Same