Famed New York Hawks Welcomed Back to Ritzy Home
Date: 24-Dec-04
Country: USA
Author: Larry Fine
Red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola, whose nest atop a ritzy Fifth Avenue apartment building was removed on Dec. 7 by order of the tenants' board, were welcomed back on Thursday.
An architect-designed stainless-steel cradle complete with spikes to support a new nest was being installed for the hawks on the landmark building, bringing a happy ending to a saga that spawned angry protests from bird lovers.
"Today a fairy tale has come true for the birds and New Yorkers who love parks and love birds," said city parks commissioner Adrian Benepe.
The National Audubon Society was given credit for helping broker a deal with the apartment tenants, who had been fed up with bird droppings and pigeon remains falling from the 12th-floor penthouse nest and littering the elegant building's entrance.
Noisy protests from naturalists across the street in front of Central Park and intense media attention helped bring negotiations that ended in an agreement to restore the roost and satisfy safety concerns.
The design includes a guardrail that extends beyond the spikes to keep debris from dropping to the street.
"We've had an overwhelming response from all over the world," Audubon Society President John Flicker said about the tale of Pale Male and Lola. "We've had people from Europe, Jordan, Australia and from all across the country contacting us in an unbelievable outpouring of hope, support and concern."
Flicker was confident the hawks, who have been circling the building every day, would return to the site where Pale Male first built a home in 1993 and became a local legend.
Pale Male, named for his unusual light coloring, has been the subject of a book and a documentary film.
Architect Dan Ionescu declined to divulge the cost of the project but said the job presented a unique challenge.
"You don't get a call every day asking for a design for a nest for a bird on top of window of a landmark building," he said. "The birds have been circling and the whole world was watching us, putting on a lot of pressure."
Flicker said response to the hawks' plight showed concern about the environment. "We've pushed nature so far out of our lives they are living on a little window ledge on Fifth Avenue. And then we almost pushed them off there as well," he said.