Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Mitigation for pigeon poop problem


From DNA Info:

Scores of pigeons that have built nests around the 7 train elevated tracks in Woodside and Sunnyside have for years forced straphangers and pedestrians to duck and dodge as they wait for trains or walk on the street beneath the tracks, residents and elected officials say.

Now, subway riders at three Queens stations hope that $250,000 in new City Council funding that will be used for a pigeon mitigation system will solve the problem.

Portions of the station's metal structure have become encrusted with thick layers of pigeon droppings over the years, and stretches of the pavement below the stations are covered with a gray mass of droppings mixed with feathers. Above, adult birds perch on the beams, feeding their young.

The stations that will receive the anti-pigeon systems are 46th Street/Bliss Street, 52nd Street and 61st Street/Woodside, where the issue has been particularly severe and where most of the complaints have come from, according to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who requested the money to be allocated to the MTA.

The system, which Van Bramer hopes will be installed by summer, will include pigeon deterrent spikes, netting placed beneath the elevated tracks, and bird wire, according to the MTA.

There will also be an ultrasonic device installed at 52nd Street, reps from the agency said. It will make sounds that are unbearable to pigeons, but which can’t be heard by people.

7 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

It's not the pigeons' fault. It's the fault of the assholes that feed the damn birds. Bread crusts, rice from Chinese take-out. Right in front of the 9/11 mural. I confronted an old bag once at the Woodside post office after she dumped tons of bread crusts under the nearby trestle across the street. She's seen over and over doing this. She started hollering at me: "they have to live too!"

2 summers ago, a most charming vignette: a big fat rat, in broad daylight, back and forth, came out from under the fence next to the Catholic War Veterans and joined in on the feasting.

Joe said...

Haha....good luck
I don't think spikes and nets outside are going to do it.
I seen these smart city pigeons come right into Woodside station itself.
As in up the main escalators, down upper platform staircases to hang out INSIDE the station. The pigeons even wait for people to open doors down to the LIRR tracks.

Anonymous said...

250K to get rid of pigeons? Sensible policies - don't feed them or don't let MTA passengers eat and drink in the facilities could go a long way to minimizing this issue yet alone the clean up,cleanliness and lessening of the garbage removal and other vermin such as rats. Let get these types of policies going immediately so that going forward 250K could be reduced to 75K.

Anonymous said...

"Now, subway riders at three Queens stations hope that $250,000 in new City Council funding that will be used for a pigeon mitigation system will solve the problem."

250,000 really means 150,000 for the politicians and 100,000 to fix the job. A sixth of the money will be line the pockets of these dirtbag political hacks.

You voted for them!

Anonymous said...

The only "mitigation" that has ever been successful is to poison the pigeons. The "animals are people too" crowd won't let that happen in 2012. Having the pols write checks to themselves for $150,000 rather than shelling out $250,000 for something ineffective would be a better choice.

If there's ever been a successful pigeon mitigation without the Grim Reaper, I'd love to visit the place.

Anonymous said...

Pigeon dropping have been reported to be corrosive. I wonder how many years its taking off the elevated steel structure.

Anonymous said...

Linda Schmidt of 5 was at 61st Street. Another news reporter at 52nd St for Channel 4.

I tip my hat to the media relations person at Jimmy Van Bramer's office: Well done, indeed.