Everyone seemed thoroughly enamored. Except for some owners at 927, a building in the neo-Italian Renaissance style where apartments can easily fetch $10 million. A few of them complained that the carcasses of rats and pigeons -- part of a hawk's balanced diet -- were occasionally tossed from the perch more than 100 feet above, which was a safety hazard. It didn't help that the street below was often cluttered with gawkers, some of them training high-powered binoculars on the nest. The whole thing was getting on their nerves.
So on Oct. 19, the board decided it had had enough of the nest. Last week, a crew showed up and dismantled it, twig by twig. Also removed were pigeon-shooing spikes, which had the unintended effect of helping Pale Male, and his assorted mates, keep their eight-foot nest in place. Richard Cohen, the husband of Paula Zahn, heads the board and when news of the eviction became public, he and his wife were suddenly the personification of hawk-hating evil. Protesters with signs that said "Honk 4 Hawk" were soon circling and the local chapter of the Audubon Society got involved.
Hawk advocate Lincoln Karim, right, is led away by a law enforcement officer on Tuesday after being arrested for harrassing a resident of 927 Fifth Ave.
(Kathy Willens -- AP)
|
|
Karim took it further than anyone, you won't be surprised to learn. At one point, he allegedly confronted Zahn's 7-year-old son, who was out walking with his nanny, telling him, "Your parents are going to pay for this."
Enough mud was slung for some to land even on Mary Tyler Moore. Citing a "board source," the New York Post ran a story Thursday claiming that Moore's pro-hawk stance was revenge for the board's recent decision to turn down a buyer for her $18.5 million home. She needs the money, hissed this unnamed someone, because she hasn't worked in a long time.
"That couldn't be more ridiculous," says Mara Buxbaum, Moore's spokeswoman. "She's been outspoken for a very long time on animal issues. These two events have nothing to do with each other."
By Monday, the co-op board had begun to retreat. The spikes would be replaced, and pending approval from the city's preservation pooh-bahs a box big enough for a hawk nest would be installed right where Pale Male once lived.
The reason for the turnabout? Zahn, through a spokesman, declined to comment on any of this. But the sheer volume of anger apparently had something to do with it.
"It certainly surprised me," says Aaron Schmulewitz, the co-op's lawyer. "I got over 200 e-mails, from all over the world, some of them death threats."
Pale Male and his current mate, Lola, have been spotted in parts of Central Park and Karim, for one, has no doubt the love birds will return to the lair as soon as 927 Fifth Ave. is again ready for them. In the span of a couple of weeks, if all goes as planned, it'll be as though none of this ever happened. Except that Karim won't be around, at least for as long as there's a restraining order against him. His lawyer even advised him to steer clear of Central Park, just to be on the safe side.
"I think I'll write a book about Pale Male, collect my photographs," he says, shaking his head. "Maybe I need a break."
