Where is this?

The Repair and Painting Project on the Gowanus (Union Street Bridge/Carroll Street Bridge, on 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, New York) Viaduct/Expressway is a state-funded construction project. 

What is happening?

The metal support structures of the bridge(s) are cellular beams but with downward-facing cells (openings). In these openings, pigeons have created nests to have and raise their young. However, in preparation for painting, construction workers are carelessly and discriminately covering these holes with wooden planks as they work, and when the planks are removed in the morning, the pigeons have already died overnight, likely from suffocation, with numerous bodies already recovered. In addition to a tarp covering the entire section, at each stage in the process, pigeons have been found trapped, suffocated, and visibly sandblasted or vacuumed. There is likely intention and indifference behind these acts, as workers have reacted negatively to intervening volunteer rescuers, with curse words and hateful things being said about the pigeons. 

Estimates suggest there may be thousands of pigeons in the area, and with a single section of the bridge having about 8 holes per bridge beam, it would amount to 40 holes per section alone, putting countless of pigeons and their babies in extreme danger. 

What is the problem?

Efforts are being made to rescue the pigeons before sandblasting, boarding and other construction processes continue. However this is an extremely exhaustive process as:

1. There is a a very limited crew (most of the times it's a single rescuer)
2. It involves separating babies from their parents in order to bring the babies to a wildlife rehabilitation center (Wild Bird Fund).
3. It is mentally exhausting seeing so many deaths and injuries in daily monitoring rounds
4. It is physically exhausting, as trips to the rehab center and back, carrying a ladder to access the holes, and rescuing the pigeons among other processes can take a heavy physical toll
5. It can be dangerous at times for both pigeon and rescuer as there could be danger of asbestos and lead in the peeling and new paint, and both onlookers and workers have instigated and tried to prevent rescue efforts from being conducted
6. There have been no real preventative policies being put into place - conversations with project managers and construction workers continually lead to dead ends

So why is this petition important?

1. To spread awareness about this issue - hundreds of cars and people pass on and by this expressway every day and are unaware of just how horrid the conditions have become for pigeons
2. To put pressure on the project officiates to implement preventative measures to allow for at minimum a 2-day alert to rescuers before construction continues to allow for proper rescue
3. To put pressure on the project officiates to revise their current construction methods that involves no death or harm to the pigeons, such as avoiding permanent boarding of cells
4. To garner support, both digitally and physically, to help the very limited crew of volunteers in their rescue efforts
5. To set a precedent for all future and current construction projects to include Wildlife Mitigation procedures to be followed by managers and workers

Pigeons have been a part of our communities for hundreds of years, and have natural instincts to roots and raise young in safe spaces such as the cells of these bridges. We have a responsibility to accommodate their survival, and it does not have to mean ending ongoing projects but rather modifying them to ensure their lives are taken into consideration. Please consider signing and voicing your support!