Saturday, July 27, 2013

Turtles dying at Bowne Park

This is a large, bloated, dead turtle with its mouth open in agony in the pond at Bowne Park. One of its legs is probably entangled in a discarded length of fishing line. This has happened before. It’s disgusting and extremely upsetting. The turtle most likely drowned and then bobbed to the surface as it started to decompose and filled with gas. Last summer an enormous turtle died in a similar manner.

When is the Dept. of Parks going to wise up and BAN FISHING AT CITY PARKS???? I don’t think the dead wildlife find it all that sporting!!!

Something is extremely wrong with people that feel the need to torture animals with their children for fun. Their justification of fish not being able to feel pain is just painfully stupid! Haven’t they ever seen a fish out of water? Does it look like it’s not suffering?

PEOPLE NEED TO STOP TORTURING AND KILLING ANIMALS FOR FUN!!! ESPECIALLY AT OUR PARKS!!!

Regards,
Flooshing Rezident

As always, thanks again Crappy!

19 comments:

Joe Moretti said...

You go Flooshing Rezident, time for a Cleanup Flushing Queens, hell time for a Cleanup Queens period. Enough of the stupid shit that goes on in this borough.

Remember TONY AVELLA for Queens Borough President.

Anonymous said...

Start a publicty campaign involving your local elected officials.

They always go nuts where their empty carefully cultivated images are cut away.

They cannot stand criticism or bad publicity in any fashion.

You will get results when you make it public by sharing it with places like Crappy.

Anonymous said...

Where is Queens Civic Congress - action on Flushing Meadows is fine but now is not the time to retreat back to tree pruning and gazing open mouthed every time a politician walks into a room.

Anonymous said...

Queens Civic Congress is on its death bed too.

They have no real power (as recognized by County).
They're just a collection of high toned speech makers who get stomped on regardless of what they say.

Your ONLY real power is controlling WHO you elect to represent you. Beyond that it's all a can of BS!

Just add water and bring to a boil.

Jerry Rotondi said...

Speaking of condensed BS soup--
with that goof ball crook Halloran in the soup, we are stuck without representation.

Make sure that Paul Vallone doesn't become Halloran's replacement.

Anonymous said...


Yesterday afternoon I was at Bowne Park trying to enjoy the beautiful afternoon, this young dude just caught a five pound carp, took pictures of it and tossed it back into the water.

Fishing shouldn't be practiced at city parks at all. Harming wild life is just simply stupid and barbaric.

Would they like me to kick their dog in the butt just for fun?
In the 21st century and has an avant-garde society we should be already over the need for pleasure of hunting and harming life just for pure fun.

Anonymous said...

This summer it seems that many more turtles and fish are dying in Bowne Park Pond than ever before. Makes me wonder if the renovation of the bocce courts has anything to do with it?

If I remember correctly, the pond is no longer fed by a spring but by the city water supply and the bocce court renovation included work on the mains by the park house.

Also in years past I'd see a parkee opening a valve at the pond to let fresh water in and I haven't seen that happening anymore. The fountains in the pond are another problem. They need to shoot water higher in the air in order to aerate the pond so that the fish and turtles can live. Algae, rotting food from people feeding the geese, fish and turtles, people discarding garbage into the water in addition to neglect by the parks department are immense problems.

Speaking of geese, is the geese poop, which everyone who walks near the pond knows is awful, helping to cause the die off?

Joe said...

I have a pond with fish frogs and turtles in Southold and seen that disaster zone called "Bowne Park" recently.
Oxygen depletion from the algae is creating a "sludge" nasty poisonous Cyanobacteria
you clearly see floating to the top.
The successive heat wave made it worse.
The parks dept needs to clean up the pond, add some water from a fire hydrant and get some pumps going.
The stupid parks dept assholes should have prepared for this back in May --but then again "its just Queens" so the f_ with these people, fish and turtles"
How do these park workers get jobs without understanding basic eco systems, photosynthesis & 2nd grade biology ?
The city doesn't give a dam about this park so the turtles need to be removed and sent to a re-hab shelter. They have all ingested this Cyanobacteria shit by now and WILL ALL die.
---Then the city's fix may be fill in the pond and put another maintenance free astro-turf ball field.

Joe said...

"They need to shoot water higher in the air"
When I was there last week there were no fountains or pumps going It was a mess of rotting garbage and stagnant smelly qualified water.
Perhaps the city needs to turn all ALL the pumps VS 1/2 the pumps on weekends when people are around ?

Anonymous said...

People are disgusting. Animals are often better. At least the state banned that shark fin crap. Defend all creatures great and small.

Anonymous said...

The state needs to ban and start locking up and prosecuting these new lawless destructive immigrants who think they can do whatever they want !!
Make some examples of them !!
The "new flushing locals" would be butchering and cooking up them turtles "alive" right in the park if they could get away with it AND THAT'S COMING NEXT!!!
This shit would never happen in the 1960's when Flushing was a paradise !
I remember when people had horses, Christmas lights, said hello & good morning in Flushing. Now its "No speak English" or "FU America free country"

Anonymous said...

A perfect allegory for the death of Flushing and NYC, and our once great country.

Anonymous said...

Either make it three metres deep or fill it in. This is a rinky dink idea for a pond.
Typical 1950s suburbia fantasies.

Anonymous said...

Either make it three metres deep or fill it in. This is a rinky dink idea for a pond.

Typical 1950s suburbia fantasies.


Contrary to your statement, Bowne Pond has been in existence for several thousand years; it is fed by springs several blocks away to the south.

The pond was in its natural form until the late 1930s when Robert Moses used WPA funding to "urbanize" many ponds and lakes around the city by surrounding them with concrete walls and walkways.

Additionally, starting in the 1960s, the Department of Environmental Protection began to cut off the original springs of these ponds and replaced them with water from the upstate reservoirs.

The result has been nauseating: red tides and other algae blooms; shoreline destruction and fish kills are routine.

The solution - as has been partially realized at Kissena Lake - is to tear down the concrete walls and restore the shoreline; and, most importantly, reconnect the pond with its natural springs. Groundwater in New York City has a different pH content and is several degrees cooler than the piped-in water from upstate New York.

Rather than spend $700,000 on another bocce court, the money could have been put to great use restoring Bowne Pond to its original state - which I will do should I be elected to the City Council.

Paul Graziano
Candidate for City Council, 19th District

www.paulgraziano.com

willie h. said...

Fishing IS forbidden in all parks for adults, and only in certain locations for children. And it's only "catch & release", which I don't think is acceptable, as most fish become so mutilated they might as well be killed. What poisons the water, usually, are the idiots who toss endless amounts of bread in to amuse the kiddies. In truth, my family was guilty of same when I was a child. It's important that there be signs posted forbidding the feeding of wildlife, like in Central Park. And it'd be real nice if some people wouldn't use any issue as an excuse for racist invective. Don't hide behind the "anonymous" shroud.

Queens Crapper said...

Actually, that's not true. Here's the regulations from NYC Parks:

Fishing Regulations

By observing the following regulations when fishing in waters under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, you will help preserve our marine resources for future generations to enjoy. For state and federal regulations of which you should be aware, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website.

(The following is an excerpt from Section §1-05 Regulated Uses of the Rules & Regulations of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.)

(h) Fishing

Fishing shall be permitted from locations under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, except in open swimming areas or where specifically prohibited.

Any person who engages in fishing shall obey all posted guidelines and comply with all applicable City, State, and Federal laws and regulations, including Title 6 of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law.

The use of lead fishing weights in waters under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation shall be a violation of these rules.

Failure to remove fishing line fragments and hooks from land and waters under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation shall be a violation of these rules.

All fish caught in freshwater areas shall be immediately released. The use of barbed hooks in such areas shall be a violation of these rules.

The use of traps to catch fish and/or crustaceans in areas under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation shall be a violation of these rules.

willie h. said...

Thanks for that info. I emailed the Parks Dept. but won't hold my breath. Central Park is my stomping ground, and the only park I'm really familiar with. But there fishing is not allowed except at the Harlem Meer, and then only catch & release for minors. Maybe the rules are different in the boros for "cultural reasons".

Anonymous said...

Them boys from the Bronx take the Q16 to Fort Totten and fish for blues

Unknown said...

I've fished this pond for years. Within the last 5 years or so the ecosystem of the pond has been on a steady decline. Lack of running water and proper drainage is a major issue. Red algae has formed for the past two summers and this has by far killed much of the bass that lived and thrived for years in this pond. Turtles have literally taken over the pond due to the tremendous amount of ppl dumping their pet turtles in there. I've seen it happen on many occasions. This pond needs to be drained and taken care of properly. Kissena lake was drained and made new again years back and this needs to be done at bowne. I am an advid fisherman and have enjoyed catching and releasing fish at this pond. Responsible fisherman take care of the waters we fish at so that everyone can enjoy them as much as we do. Don't blame fishing line for killing a turtle while that pond is quickly becoming a cesspool.