December 12, 2004


As Hawks Circle, All Sides Seek Compromise

By JENNIFER 8. LEE



overnment officials, environmental advocates and a representative of a
luxury co-op building have agreed to meet tomorrow to discuss new
lodgings for Manhattan's most famous homeless couple: two red-tailed
hawks, Pale Male and Lola, whose eight-foot nest was removed and
destroyed on Tuesday afternoon.

Daily protests in front of the building, a public outcry from across the
country, and concern from some of the building's own residents prompted
the chairman of the building's co-op board, Richard Cohen, on Friday to
call the New York City Audubon Society, a group that has helped stoke
much of the public reaction.

"If there is a solution to be worked out, we would like to work it out,"
said Mr. Cohen, in an interview on Friday. The demonstrations continued
into the weekend; yesterday, two protesters dressed up in red bird
costumes. Some of the building's young inhabitants clearly sympathized
with the hawks, as a handwritten sign hung on an 11th-floor window read,
"Bring back the hawks."

The management of the building at 927 Fifth Avenue has suggested
spending as much as $100,000 to build a platform elsewhere on the
building, like the roof. But environmental advocates, including
officials of the Audubon Society, said such a potential solution was
inadequate. They want the nest at the original location, on a 12th-floor
window cornice above the building's entrance.

Since Tuesday, the birds have brought twigs to the cornice in an attempt
to rebuild the nest. But they have had little success because the spikes
that had been placed there to ward off pigeons and had anchored the nest
since 1991 were also removed by workers on Tuesday.

"New York City Audubon's first goal is to have the spikes returned to
the window ledge in a way that takes into account the building's health
and safety concerns," said E. J. McAdams, the group's executive
director.

The discussions will include representatives and bird experts from Brown
Harris Stevens Property Management, the building manager; the city's
Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Parks and
Recreation; the State Department of Environmental Conservation; and the
Audubon Society.

Whether a compromise can be brokered that will be amenable to the
feathered couple is unclear. "It remains to be seen if what we do is
enough for the hawks to return," said Adrian Benepe, the parks
commissioner, whose office will represent Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in
the discussions. "If we don't and they successfully build a nest
someplace else, that's O.K., too."

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