Remove the Bird Spikes from the Historic Bowery Savings Bank at 130 Bowery
The Issue
I live across the street from the beautiful and historic Bowery Savings Bank at 130 Bowery. Almost every day, I find joy in watching the pigeons gather there, perched on its ledges above the chaos of New York City.
Recently, bird spikes were installed across parts of the building to prevent pigeons from resting in the places they have long used. It may seem like a small change, but for those of us who love urban wildlife and see these birds as part of the neighborhood, it feels deeply sad and unnecessarily hostile.
What makes this even more frustrating is that the work on the building originally appeared to be focused on removing graffiti and cleaning up damage caused by people. The pigeons were not the problem. Yet somehow, in the process of addressing human behavior, the solution ended up making the building less hospitable to the birds who had simply been resting there. It feels backwards to punish wildlife for problems created by people.
Pigeons are so often dismissed as pests, but they have lived alongside humans for centuries and adapted extraordinarily well to the environments we created. We built the concrete landscape they now call home, and yet we continue designing more and more of it specifically to exclude them.
These birds have already been pushed to the margins of city life. Watching them lose yet another place to simply land, rest, and gather is genuinely upsetting. They are not asking for much — just somewhere to exist comfortably in the city we share.
This petition is not asking the building’s owners to ignore legitimate maintenance concerns. It is asking them to reconsider whether covering a historic landmark in spikes is really the best solution. Humane, less visually intrusive alternatives can address bird management without turning every ledge into a hostile surface.
I am asking the owners and management of 130 Bowery to remove the recently installed bird spikes and explore a more compassionate, bird-friendly alternative that respects both the building and the animals who have made it part of their environment.
New York is already a hard place to exist. We do not need to make it harder for the animals who live here too.
Please sign this petition and help ask the owners of 130 Bowery to give these birds somewhere to land.
109
The Issue
I live across the street from the beautiful and historic Bowery Savings Bank at 130 Bowery. Almost every day, I find joy in watching the pigeons gather there, perched on its ledges above the chaos of New York City.
Recently, bird spikes were installed across parts of the building to prevent pigeons from resting in the places they have long used. It may seem like a small change, but for those of us who love urban wildlife and see these birds as part of the neighborhood, it feels deeply sad and unnecessarily hostile.
What makes this even more frustrating is that the work on the building originally appeared to be focused on removing graffiti and cleaning up damage caused by people. The pigeons were not the problem. Yet somehow, in the process of addressing human behavior, the solution ended up making the building less hospitable to the birds who had simply been resting there. It feels backwards to punish wildlife for problems created by people.
Pigeons are so often dismissed as pests, but they have lived alongside humans for centuries and adapted extraordinarily well to the environments we created. We built the concrete landscape they now call home, and yet we continue designing more and more of it specifically to exclude them.
These birds have already been pushed to the margins of city life. Watching them lose yet another place to simply land, rest, and gather is genuinely upsetting. They are not asking for much — just somewhere to exist comfortably in the city we share.
This petition is not asking the building’s owners to ignore legitimate maintenance concerns. It is asking them to reconsider whether covering a historic landmark in spikes is really the best solution. Humane, less visually intrusive alternatives can address bird management without turning every ledge into a hostile surface.
I am asking the owners and management of 130 Bowery to remove the recently installed bird spikes and explore a more compassionate, bird-friendly alternative that respects both the building and the animals who have made it part of their environment.
New York is already a hard place to exist. We do not need to make it harder for the animals who live here too.
Please sign this petition and help ask the owners of 130 Bowery to give these birds somewhere to land.
Supporter Voices
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on September 3, 2026