By Gus Saltonstall
A petition was launched last week aimed at reactivating the community art space at the 96th Street Broadway median, which as West Side Rag reported on earlier this month, has become plagued by rat and pigeon swarms.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, the space in the median in front of the Broadway Malls storage building was rented from the city by the West Side Arts Coalition as a place to display public art.
“Currently, the structure is vacant, and the surrounding area is unkempt and unsanitary, attracting a proliferation of rats and pigeons,” reads the petition, which has received more than 500 signatures as of 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday. “By reactivating this space, we not only preserve a beautiful historic structure, but we also transform it into something that brings safety, cleanliness, and beauty to the heart of the Upper West Side.”
The petition goes on to call for the New York City Parks Department, which oversees the 96th Street Broadway median, to support the call for change and take action on bringing art back to the space.
A spokesperson from the Parks Department said that it had not received the petition from its organizers, but once the agency does, they will “review it and consider next steps.”
The petition was created by residents of the Columbia Condominium at 275 West 96th Street, other Upper West Side locals, and the West Side Arts Coalition, according to the appeal.
For months, the Rag has received emails and photos from UWSers about swarms of rats and pigeons at the 96th Street median, connected to people routinely scattering crumbs and seeds in the area, apparently meant for birds.
While the birds might be fed during the day, it is the rats that come out in the same area at night for the leftovers.
Since the Rag reported on the rat issue at the end of August, along with a letter from Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene about the subject, there has been some action taken to try to dissuade people from feeding the pigeons and other wildlife at the 96th Street median, including new barricades with the message — “Do Not Feed Animals.”
It is not illegal, though, for New Yorkers to feed birds.
Brewer is also calling on the city to renovate and repair the Broadway Malls storage building at the 96th Street median.
You can check out the petition to bring back the community art space to the 96th Street median — HERE.
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Let’s check our speciesism here. “Swarm” is a laden term, and here is used to make the groups of rats or pigeons seem menacing. There are far more humans who pass by that spot in 15 minutes in the morning than pigeons or rats, but we are not “swarming.”
That said, reviving the art gallery space would be great!
This is a whole ‘nother level of something. Ok, how about a “mischief” of rats if you want to be pedantic? I take it you have yet to “enjoy” the Hitchcockian flock of pigeons deciding to launch randomly while you’re standing waiting to cross the street, meanwhile I’ve seen fewer rats in Schlocky, B-movie horror shows than what is hanging around there at night.
We’ve been working so hard to clean up and properly store our trash, only to have someone dump literal pounds of seed in this spot. It may not be illegal to feed birds, but at a certain point it becomes “dumping”, which is illegal.
Do you take antibiotics? Speciesism! But I agree about reviving the art space. I signed the petition and added the $3.
Let’s say they put up a beautiful statue and the woman pictured above continues to scatter bird seed. Won’t we then have a bird poop covered statue and the exact same rat problem that exists today?
A beautiful statue of that woman feeding the pigeons would be lovely. Everyone who has been touched by animals in ways no one is touched by swarms of humans, and she, would gradually curtail the impulse to feed street animals, refrain from obsessively scrolling on our phones outdoors, and relate better with each other, the babies in strollers, and our dogs.
Bring on the art! And maybe some music, too;)
You are not supposed to feed the animals/
The arrival above says *It is not illegal, though, for New Yorkers to feed birds.*
The building is not taken up by rats but yes the Median outside is. Thank you for posting this article. I hope that through your wonderful reporting we can get traction with the Parks Department and soon we will have the Communty Art Space thriving again. This way we the residents of our neighborhood will also have an opportunity to keep the outside space tidy. Thank you. Maniza
do you really think the old hispanic women that are the primary offenders here are going to care a single bit about that being an art space?? be so for real.
Wow. How’s this no racist?
But in case it’s not, neither of the three people who I’ve seen feeding animals regularly around my house (one racoons, ones pigeons and one squirrels, so we have a nice sample size) Hispanic women, so probably best to keep the generalizations to you next time.
So all the people who engage in feeding pigeons (and thereby feeding rats) are old, Hispanic and female? I’m wondering how you could tell the age and ethnicity of woman caught in the act in the picture above. Is it the blue dress? The hairdo? The shoes? The bag? Feel free to criticize the action but keep your racist bias to yourself, please.
Of course not. But why should a few people who are feeding birds & rats have the right to impose that on everyone else?
At the very least this should be made into a public park with benches, some grass, trees, flowers.
It has a beautiful building which used to be a community art space. Easy to start this again. That is what we the residents at The Columbia building next door are proposing to do in our petition and our proposal. Would benches work on this median? Have a look at what’s happening outside the subway at 96th where there are benches.
The Park Department as usual will plead that it is underfunded and can’t take on such a meaningful project of exterminating the rats and displaying art.
“Taken over” = “eating food strewn on the ground by people”
Yep.
Pigeons are not cute nor will they die of starvation if like woman in the photo feeding them stops doing so
THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO BE EDUCATED . There needs to be public BLAST – notices and flyers about the problem from the department of health with the correct information
Scattering bird feed just adds to the problem or human food like bread and scraps,
can cause pigeon flocks to overpopulate.resulting in unsanitary conditions leading to more rapid disease transmission among the birds.
Not to mention nuisance and property damage: flocks can be noisy and leave behind significant amounts of droppings and is corrosive to buildings and can block drains
and can carry harmful bacteria and fungi.
The population needs to be EDUCATED The best thing for humans and pigeons alike is NOT to feed them !!!!!
Right. — like dog pee/poop.
Sounds like you need the love of a warm puppy.
Why is a dog the solution to every perceived problem. I connect with human beings. I don’t need dogs.
I don’t know who you are, but if you are the rare human who makes eye contact and smiles, good on you:)
Why is it not illegal to feed non domestic pigeons and rats? It’s illegal to keep all sorts of pets in the home, but we can’t outlaw keeping pets outside of the home?
Two suggestions:
1 (probably not possible): Declare that it is illegal to drop food or anything else in this specific area. Ideally this would be a city-wide rule but let’s start hyper-local.
2. Station a Doe Fund person or someone else there with a dustbuster, leaf blower, or just a broom. Anytime someone tries to feed birds, this person immediately gets rid of it. At first make sure there is a police officer nearby in case the feeder gets belligerent.
It is really sad that an obsessive compulsive crazy person is making life worse for so many of us. Can’t we find another way for them to get their jollies? If they are so concerned with feeding, I know a number of soup kitchens that could use help.
Pour a bleach solution over the feeding area. Many animals are also put off by the smell of peppermint. Make the rat restaurants unpalatable. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Your two suggestions are very constructive proposals. Perhaps the two people trying to put together a BID for this area (as recently reported in The Rag) could approach the Doe Fund people to develop the relationship you suggest.
While I agree that the legislation you suggest is unlikely to happen, the mere fact of it being proposed in the Council might give traction to other solutions (such as your brilliant Doe Fund idea). Perhaps Councilmember Brewer might get that ball rolling for us?
Thank you, Carlos, for proposing concrete solutions to a slippery problem!
Yes! Belligerent — like when you tell people to put their dogs on leashes because they’re breaking the law!
And use tree/flower beds as litter boxes.
Even easier than that, there must be a water hook up in the building, just have someone hose the seeds and crumbs down the sewer as soon as they are scattered.
Besides this 96th St. area, once again I post about a very Nasty-Mouthed old “lady” that feeds pigeons walking (also walks 2 dogs simultaneous) severalX/day W.73 between Amst.&Col. Swarms of pigeons follow her; yet no one does anything to stop her & Gale Brewer knows about her. She lives in Sr. Hamilton House. There was another WORSE anti-semetic old nasty-mouthed”lady” that fed them for YEARS in front of Hargrave Sr. House on W71, who threw food at me, hit me, swore at me: everytime I saw the swarms pigeons I SHOOED them away, & then she DIED. Today, the nastymouthed one on W73 swore at me. They flew around in circles 4 yrs. like birds in Alfred Hitchcock movie, landing on airconditioners & windowsills, causing my dog unnecessary panic.
I understand its not illegal, it certainly of course should be, & if you’all want a clean City, pls. figure out a way to fine & stop these mentally unstable ridiculous people from causing rat vermin, etc. etc. etc & if you can, keep their nastymouth shut. THANKU.
I guess the pigeon feeders are competing with dog people for nastiness!
The number of pigeon feeders under I see every morning when I walk my dog is astounding. And of course those are also places where I regularly see rats. W. 73 St. W 74 St. The mosque across from the Eleanor Roosevelt Statue. Numerous places along Riverside Park. Verdi Square.
The people doing the feeding are just bad neighbors.
A dog person — maybe tell people to keep their dogs on leashes. Sympathies to seniors who don’t appreciate the bad behavior.
Umm, I always have my dog on a leash. Sorry you don’t like anyone who is a “dog person”. I wonder if there are other groups of people whom you dismiss full-scale.
I don’t see where I wrote that I don’t like dog people. I was just suggesting that a dog person speak to people who allow their dogs to be off leashes.
I don’t have special sway with dog people. I am also a white person but that doesn’t give me some special responsibility to tell other white people how to behave.
I’ll bet a snuggly little puppy with a wet nose would bring a smile to your face.
A wet nose? Eww. Lucy never liked it when Snoopy slobbered on her. /s Heh heh.
All the pigeons are there at the same time, all the rats are there at the same time, what a perfect opportunity it is to sprinkle poison, or some other abatement measure, and get them all in one fell swoop. They are literally right there, just poison them and they can’t come back. And for the “oh what about the dogs”, just put up signs that tell everyone what’s going on, inasmuch as people think that fluffy understands English, it can’t read!
Poison is a problem because once it’s in the ecosystem it can create hazards for other birds.
Correct. Also imagine the stench of the dozens of rats and pigeons that crawl into some hole to die.
I will point out that the new Moynihan Train Station has signs on their stairs facing 8th Avenue – “Do not feed birds” – and also “Do not sit on stairs” and naturally there are many people hunkered down there.
And yes the bird feeders are another defensive NYC group – I dared to ask a male putting down seeds on the sidewalk to stop – mentioned the negative effects – and was met with angry retorts. You just have to shake your head over these folks – most of our neighbors don’t do this kind of thing – but I think it is reprehensible that we have to endure this disgusting situation due to misguided idiots & supposed do – gooders!
There — my rant is done now.
Well, not letting people sit on the stairs in the Moynihan Train Station, which has no place to sit if you haven’t bought a ticket, is pretty unrealistic. But that’s a quite different issue.
It is a waste of time trying to reason with ‘these’ people. They are not going to listen or understand. Without some type of governmental nforcement there is really nothing to do. I’ve intervened twice over the years nd was met with abuse. This is life in nyc in 2005-tens of thousands of crazies roaming streets and subways. When buses have to flash ‘fare required’ you kinds know societal norms ain’t what they used to be.
Solution: follow the Istanbul model. That city solved its rat problem with cats. They are revered because of how they keep the city clean. If you find a stray cat that is sick or injured, you can take the cat to a veterinarian who will treat the cat without charge.
We don’t need a city full of stray cats. That’s not a solution.
How do you know???? They could at least make a dent. Cats are wonderful in such a myriad of ways–as pets, as protectors, and much more.
What does Istanbul do about off leash dogs?
Tigers
Can anyone share the psychology of someone who feeds the birds (and therefore rats) by throwing birdseed and bread on the ground? I see people doing this every single day in Riverside Park and it is inexplicable to me!
I grew up in the 60s and went to Riverside Park so often after school, and on weekends. I even walked my dog there in the evenings! Now I never go near Riverside park. The vermin and the crazies terrify me.
Hard to generalize. Some people may have diminished faculties, and some may have suffered a genuinely traumatic event, and others may a psychological disorder. Any of those could lead a person to believe that pigeons need or want food, companionship, etc.
Also worth noting that this feeding takes many forms; a worker at Fischer Bros & Leslie on 72nd has been feeding pigeons by tossing big handfuls of rice on the sidewalk for many years. It’s a little frustrating, but the shop usually sweeps or hoses off the sidewalk, so it’s never caused a major rat issue afaik.
Kinda feels like it should be illegal to do something that creates a public health hazard.
Yes yes yes, it would be great to have that art space back! I’m all for it, happy to help with organizing. Especially now that the art space on 107th and Broadway has been placed with a paying tenant.
If someone involved leaves me a reply here, hopefully we can figure out a way to contact each other?
oops, I mean that the place on 107th has been “REplaced” with a paying tenant! I’m too old to type on a phone, really I am! ;-)))
Looks like only bird feeders should be allowed by law. Perhaps installing a container for bread crumbs might alleviate the problem. I agree that allowing people to feed birds is contributing to the problem.
The City should scatter poisoned grain, under supervision. That’s been done successfully in other cities to control pigeon populations. After all, they’re just flying rats.
Fine the people feeding them. That will reduce the amount of vermin somewhat.
I’ve tried to sign the petition several times but keep getting an error message though all my information is correct. I wonder if there is an issue with the system. Anyone else have trouble signing it?
I found it works on the computer but not on my phone.
I signed it, didn’t get an error message.
I’ve been waiting to see the word” Littering” in this chain. It’s against the law. It’s an enforceable offense, and could be an effective argument to present to the police and other city officials in the effort to end the threat and nuisance caused by anyone who throws pounds of seeds, nuts, bread and refuse onto public sidewalks. Ms Brewer, Mr Abreu, where are you?
How about hosing down the area every few hours to wash away the seeds and perhaps discourage the well-intentioned but disastrous spreading of rat nourishing morsels.
This is a very serious problem and the City Council. DOT and Mayor should address it in a strategic and citywide manner:
1. To protect public health, change the law to prohibit the feeding of animals .
2. When ongoing, serious problems occur; the police and other responsible officials should immediately step in to address it.
I know this is wishful thinking but no one should have to live with the consequences of what’s taking place on the 96th Street meridian and elsewhere in the city. It’s disgusting, unhealthy and a blight on the neighborhood.
I love birds, even pigeons, but I hate what’s happening at this spot. It’s disgusting and I really wish people could be persuaded to stop putting out food for these birds.
Another reason to move to the burbs!
Please everyone–can you sign our petition?
I found it only works on a computer, not on a phone. You might want to look into that.
How disgusting is this problem. Where iis the RAT CZAR. I used to live on 94ty btn Bway and Amsterdam. Sorry to read what these poor New Yorkers are dealing with.
May I suggest do what I do…every time I see the same old man feeding pigeons around Broadway in the 100’s I curse him out.
I prefer my ‘suburban’ country home in western Massachusetts next to a large state park.
As an ex New Yorker, I have only to contend with marauding black bears trashing my bird feeders from mid March to June. RE Taxes are a paltry $1,400 a quarter.
If your situation allows it, rethink your life choices and downsize.
Why not return the structure to its original function – Public Rest Rooms! The building already has engraved Men and Women tablets above the doors, and I’m sure the local businesses would appreciate the facility as much as anxious passing Upper West Siders.
That’ll never happen. We really are not that civilized.
Shaun Abreu is literally in the sanitation committee … where is he? Absolutely 0 involvement from his office, at least Brewer is following up.
Citycatsman was right! Littering is against the law and can be stopped.
The sign on the barricade says, “Do Not Feed Animals.” That’s a joke. Like the signs in Central Park saying not to ride bikes or scooters on paths. People ride right by those signs. Marsilio of Padua said, a law does not have the force of law if it is not enforced. Ditto rules, regulations … Why does Whole Foods have a sign saying No Pets, service animals allowed. Every little dog scampering around inside WFM is a service animal? When rules and laws about quality of life aren’t enforced, then we have a worse quality of life.