‘Stool’ Pigeons

They hover over pedestrians and traffic throughout Queens. They breed in hot, dark and moist crevices found at every train station. They feed among crowds like fearless scavengers from the ground below. They are pigeons, and they are making unwelcome deposits on everything beneath them.
For Queens residents and business owners, especially those close to elevated train tracks, the birds most unworthy accomplishment is their droppings. The pigeon problem is widespread but especially serious in the northwest and northeast where train tracks predominate.
In Corona, the birds that make their home at the No. 7 train station at 103rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue are creatures of habit. They feed off crumbs left behind from restaurant garbage and whatever pigeon lovers throw their way.
Elected officials, business owners and residents are up in arms and ready to tackle the urban birds.
Borough leaders along the No. 7 line have joined in the fight. Assemblyman Jose Peralta held a town hall meeting about conditions in the 70th Street station in Jackson Heights on August 20. Peralta said he invited a representative from the MTA, but the meeting was less than fruitful. "The best MTA had to offer was we have no solution, if you find a solution let me know."
Councilman John Lius district, in Flushing, is also affected. The problem is precarious on Kissena Boulevard and at Memorial Park.
Liu said he has worked with the Walgreens and Bravo Supermarkets along Kissena Boulevard to prevent pigeons from roosting on the roofs and awnings of the stores. "Pigeons keep customers away, and it is very problematic," he said.
As for Memorial Park, the problem is more difficult to tackle. According to the councilman, there is one resident who continues to feed the birds despite having been mandated by a court to cease his actions.
Similarly, Councilman Eric Gioia has made the fight against pigeons in Sunnyside and Woodside a personal crusade. "It drives me crazy. My family has owned a florist on Roosevelt Avenue for more than a hundred years. They deal with this everyday."
If successful, a project from Gioia and the MTA could bring relief to residents sick of pigeons. Last year he secured $50,000 from the MTA budget to test the Avian Bird Relocation System. According to a press release from Gioias office, "the system sends an uncomfortable but harmless signal that encourages birds to fly away and stay away over time."
In addition to the MTA and other sanitation-related agencies, officials agree that the public must play a crucial role in finding a solution. Councilwoman Helen Sears of Jackson Heights has also worked with the MTA. She believes that the root of the problem falls squarely on members of the public who are desensitized to the hazards that the pigeons pose. "If they werent fed, they wouldnt be there," she said.
Despite the poo, pigeons have their advocates. Despite the obvious nuisance many residents have become accustomed to the problem.
Araceli Andrade visits Queens once a month via the No. 7 train to visit her sister-in-law. "The pigeons are not a problem, they are just little animals and I like them," said Andrade. "There is a lot of bread left over at my job. I would prefer to bring it to the birds, than to let it go to waste."
To stem the problem of breeding at train stations, the MTA has attempted to combat the problem by putting up netting. However, the nets act instead as a depository for the droppings.
The Department of Health has put up signs advising the public not to feed the pigeons, and the Parks Department has lined tree branches with spikes.
Last year, the Parks Department constructed linked spikes on the trees in Corona Plaza, hiring a professional pest control service to install them at a cost of $3,000. The birds persist though, avoiding the spikes, still lining the branches of the trees.
All the efforts have done little to deter the pigeons from roosting
"The pigeons get things dirty," said Blanca Gomez, who lives in Corona. She works at the Espiga Cafe at the corner of National and Roosevelt Avenues, right across the street from the 103rd Street station. "The only solution would be to take them away," she said. Gomez acknowledges that shes had bird droppings fall on her several times.
The president of the Corona Business Association, Ruben Pea, has demanded action against the pigeons for years. "The birds create a problem of hygiene," he said. "There are restaurants in the area. When the people cross the street, the pigeons defecate on them. Children eating ice cream get poop on their ice cream."
In his campaign against the pigeon problem, he succeeded in stopping the Parks Department from naming the little park at the bottom of the 103rd Street exit Pigeon Plaza. The feces-drenched triangle remains as Corona Plaza.
Yet a different name has done nothing to change the reality of the park. With the logic that pleasant aesthetics attract business, Pea believes that the conditions detract Corona business from getting more customers.
As for the Parks Department, Commissioner Richard Murphy says his department has done everything it possibly can. "We have no other method of dealing with the pigeons."
Murphy blames the MTA and the people in the area for the problem. Murphy doubts that there is any real chance for a solution. "As long as well meaning individuals continue to feed these pigeons, everyone else will continue to suffer."