Dirty Birds – Non-lethal shock for Corona pigeons

To the delight of many local residents, a few weeks after the MTA announced it would install an electric track system to give pigeons a non-lethal electric shock at the No. 7 subway's 103rd Street station in Corona, employees finally began laying out the zappers over the station's window ledges, cable wires and pipes.
&#8220Our pigeon dropping problem in Corona Plaza is one of immediate attention,”
said Rubn Pea, owner of Cristal Liquor, a wine shop located one block from the subway station, at 40-28 National Street.
An exasperated Pea said the problem has been going on for many years. &#8220I awaited relief every year for about the past five so I could work in the garden in Corona Plaza in peace.”
Over the years, the serious health risk resulting from the pesky pigeons and their poop remained a threat to the community and destroyed the usability of the little park at the station.
&#8220We are installing low voltage shock traps on subway wires and pipes where the pigeons perch,” said Luis Arango, an MTA employee working at the station on November 8. &#8220The MTA addressed this problem at the 52nd Street station in Woodside and 103rd Street station was next - so we are on schedule.”
Pea, a local business leader in the area, said that for years, he had sent complaints to the MTA and mayor's office, and not once did he ever receive a response as to when this &#8220messy, unsightly and unhealthy” situation would be cleaned up.
Senator John Sabini also criticized the situation saying, &#8220This was going on when I was a little kid. I favor the MTA taking action. I know [Assemblymember Jos] Peralta came up with a bill some two years ago so it needs to be corrected before it gets worse.”
In 2004, while passengers who commuted to and from the elevated No. 7 line train on Roosevelt Avenue at the 52nd, 90th, 103rd and 111th Street stations ducked the pigeon droppings, Peralta secured $1.5 million in funding in Albany for the refurbishment of the 90th and 103rd Street stations, which included the installment of bird relocation systems.
On Tuesday, November 14, Peralta said, &#8220It's about time. We secured that funding two years ago and the MTA kept stalling. The MTA is one agency I don't mind bashing. They were so bureaucratic on this issue.”
According to Peralta, &#8220Every month for the past two years we have asked the MTA for an update on the status of the refurbishing and they were always noncommittal. The worst part is that after we secured the money, they came back and told us they needed an extra $700,000 for six employees to fix the 90th, 103rd and 111th Street stations. Give me a break.”
&#8220Only to then find out in the newspaper that they had installed zappers on the 52nd Street station not too long ago. The MTA now tells me that the 103rd Street station will be ready by December 1, but you never know because they're not out for the people in the community that have to suffer. Since coming into office, nothing has given me a bigger headache. I hope Eliot Spitzer cleans house, and that includes Peter Kalikow, head of the MTA,” Peralta said.
Bird lovers who are against the zappers being used say what pigeons need are more trees on which to sit and nest.
Pea had long complained that the pigeon poop was becoming an unhealthy, foul-smelling health problem. &#8220We couldn't let up on this issue. Other stations got the treatment they deserve,” said Pea. &#8220Why not us?”