
By Gus Saltonstall
It has happened again.
For the third time in a little over a year, a pair of dead chickens has been found on a Broadway median within the same Upper West Side stretch of blocks.
On Tuesday morning, two dead chickens were discovered on the median at 91st Street and Broadway.
Here is the pattern that has emerged.
- September 23, 2025: 2 dead chickens found on the median at 91st Street and Broadway
- May 24, 2025: 2 dead chickens found on the median at 89th Street and Broadway
- June 25, 2024: 2 dead chickens found on the median at 92nd Street and Broadway
In all three cases, the chickens bear a striking resemblance to one and other, and the animals are laid out in the exact same way as before: on the outer ring of the street medians.

The Rag has not been able to come up with answers so far in this mystery, but will continue to investigate the matter.
Read More:
- Pair of Dead Chickens Found in the Middle of the Road for 2nd Time in 3 Block UWS Stretch
- 2 Dead Chickens Found in the Middle of UWS Road
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Diversity is wonderful in all it’s manifestations. Embrace it.
Sorry, can’t embrace torturing or murdering animals for fun. Find a new ritual.
Sarcasm, obviously.
What?
Are you a vegetarian or vegan, perchance?
Agree. Criticizing voodoo is racist, or something….
Mystery? It’s not a mystery. Just some wahoo bringing their “culture” to the road median on the UWS.
sorry…what’s a wahoo?
Possibly “yahoo”?
A fish or a UVa alumni
Oh…as opposed to some wahoo who airs his nasty assumptions in the WSR.
I’m so sorry. Didn’t mean to offend you. I forgot that in the WSR we’re supposed to only air our praise for slaughtering chickens and leaving them on the side of the road – the pinnacle of human achievement and civilization.
In early Christianity a dead chicken symbolized the sacrifice of Christ. So much for “their” culture.
I bet it’s some spoiled kids trying to get media attention.
Or the Jewish ritual of Kaporos. During Yom Kippur Eve a live chicken is swung over one’s head before slaughter as atonement.
But none of these showed up at Yom Kippur.
And those get eaten (or given to the poor), not discarded on the side of the road.
No cultural relativism to see here. Oh well.
Next?
A horrible ritual:” let’s slaughter an innocent animal to atone for OUR sins.” Likewise the idea that “a dead chicken symbolized the sacrifice of Christ.” (I presume they killed the chicken in that one as well). How about more loving compassion for other living creatures (sounds more Christ-like to me).
Those chickens are available as food (but not kosher) so how does that differ from other slaughter for food? If you are a vegetarian advocate then yes equally abhorrent but not more so.
Sounds like an outmoded ritual. Is there a movement that forbids such a practice?
The street chicken corpses sound more like voudoun, which is cruel to animals; or bizarre pranksters.
Queens visits the UWS!
That is a terrible photo. One can’t tell where they are st all unlesss one looks at the full version of it in last article.
I think you mean the rag will continue to report on this not investigate.
Was RFK Jr. around? 😄
Kind of begs the question why DIDN’T the chickens cross the road…
It’s a message from Don Barzini– Luca Brasi sleeps with the chickens.
Chicken Rapture
Very bad news about where your chicken dinner comes from for anyone clutching their pearls over this. I think there are more racists than vegans among the outraged.
More conclusion jumping.
Cue satanic panic in…
Geschlagt kapora?
There’s Tylenol for that.
Sounds like Brujería to me.
Timeline matches up on 2 out of 3. (june, sept).
Looks as though RFK Jr. has been stalking the hens in Central Park and the UWS again!
Our beloved park coyote couple, Romeo and Juliet, probably would enjoy some hens left near the Delacorte Theater.
The chickens are now for sale at Barzini’s.
Very creepy. Thought I saw something like this on a median on Broadway in the 70s.
The ‘70s were crazy.
With all the security cameras around it shouldn’t be hard to identify who is dropping off dead chickens.
Could be a Santeria ritual.
Maybe a chicken Hawk is dropping them there
Completely off topic but where can I get a good Sufganiyah in Manhattan? Are they made for today’s holiday?
Off topic and wrong holiday. It’s like asking for Easter eggs for Christmas.
SANTARIA
Santeria stuff… but they usually just throw them away in a bag, I wonder what the purpose of placing them like that is… I’m sure there’s video from restaurants etc.
Attention.
It’s just to mess with everyone, add that little touch of surrealism every day.
I guess we’ll never find out why the chicken crossed the road.
Animal cruelty, which we have laws against. But a law is only as good as its enforcement.
This is a standard brujeria, or voodoo sacrifice from ancient cultures. Not necessarily scary as it can be used to help a patient but it can be also used for the darker aspects of these traditions. The placing on Broadway I find fascinating myself. I hope it was a sacrifice for good.
Do the cameras show who is responsible?
One year ago (around this time ) I found a young, white chicken in a box in the Rambles. Passerby & some tourist were standing looking puzzled, while some were taking videos. Being local, I took the chicken to the Bird Rescue on Columbus & 88th. They could/would not take her as they only take wildlife birds. I was told to take her to the Animal Rescue at 102nd St., which I did. After some paperwork & intake I surrendered her there. On follow up, once she was treated & healthy, she was taken in by a sanctuary farm for farm animals upstate.
Thank you decent, compassionate Inpeace.
Does this beg the question, why did the chicken cross the road?
No, it doesn’t.
Popeyes trying to create a buzz
Look, this is unsanitary and people shouldn’t do it, but anyone who thinks raising chickens in hellish conditions (that produce ungodly levels of pollution, by the way), slaughtering them, buying their flesh, and eating it is somehow more “civilized” is kidding themselves. Or racist. Or both.
Factory “farms” are hideous.
I don’t practice Santeria, I ain’t got no crystal balllllll
It’s multi-cultural. Tolerance, and all that jazz.