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From its perch, the bird of prey shakes its head from left to right, flaps its wings and bellows its call. While it may look and sound real to pigeons, it's not.
Robotic hawks are increasingly being deployed on corporation campuses and at airports around the world as a humane deterrent for unwanted birds. And they could be one weapon for driving pigeons from New York City sidewalks.
"I don't want to say it's a panacea for all problems," said John Donald, managing director of Robop Limited, which manufactures mechanical hawks. "It can certainly reduce the numbers."
The idea of using robotic hawks in New York was floated last fall in Councilman Simcha Felder's report about what he views as a citywide pigeon problem. Felder (D-Brooklyn) is proposing a bill that would fine people $1,000 for feeding the birds and would create a "pigeon czar" to be responsible for pigeon-related matters, such as cleanup. He expects a council hearing on the legislation, which is still being drafted, to be held before the end of the year.
Using robots to combat the city's immense pigeon population is not part of Felder's bill but could be an option if the Bloomberg administration feels the high-tech scarecrows are a good investment, Felder said. The city's health department did not comment directly about the possible use of robotic hawks but said pigeons do not pose a health risk to the public.
Municipalities have rarely resorted to robots, with Liverpool, England, last year becoming one of their few - and highest profile - customers. Liverpool purchased 10 of the $4,200 Robops, produced in Scotland and designed to look, act and sound like peregrine falcons. While it's unclear how effective the robots alone have been there, the novel items have drummed up worldwide media attention and helped the Liverpool City Council deliver its bigger message to residents: Don't feed the pigeons.
"Spending $50,000 to get rid of a problem that is a health hazard and is disgusting is a small price to pay," Felder said.
Robop, oddly enough, doesn't fly and must be moved around periodically to trick pigeons.
Another robotic hawk, Falco Robot, made in Spain and modeled after a goshawk, does fly, however.
Both products would have their drawbacks in New York, though.
Falco Robot, which is controlled remotely, requires a trained operator to fly it, likely driving up its price tag. The makers of Falco Robot would not disclose how much their product costs.
Meanwhile, Robop, can work for hours on its own but was designed only to rid individual buildings of pesky birds, not a major city.
City officials have not been in contact with the makers of Robop or Falco Robot, the manufacturers said.
The 30th district, comprised of Ridgewood, Glendale, and Middle Village, is a conservative part of Queens, represented in the State Senate by Republican Serphin Maltese, who has sponsored a state Defense of Marriage Act, fortunately forestalled in Albany. His Assembly partner on that effort is Democrat Anthony Seminario, who represents a portion of the 30th.
According to GothamGazette.com, the district is 53 percent white, 32 percent Latino, seven percent Asian, and only two percent black. Just over half of the voters are registered Democrats, with only a quarter identifying as Republicans, yet the GOP has held the Council seat for the past 16 years.
At a candidate forum in Glendale in early April, strong opposition was voiced in the crowd and among some of the candidates to bilingual education and to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, which shortly afterward went down to defeat in Albany. Only Ober said anything positive about the congestion plan, though he emphasized some reservations. Several mentions of the "Brooklyn border" during the evening indicated community anxiety about the proximity of Bushwick and East New York, two neighborhoods with predominately people of color populations.
In a race that includes three Republicans and two Democrats and will be decided in a nonpartisan vote, the divides among the candidates have played out as though two primaries were simultaneously being contested. Ognibene has been harshly critical of the GOP machine in Queens for supporting Anthony Como, a Maltese aide who just resigned his post as a Queens County elections commissioner.
Ober meanwhile has taken on the county Democratic establishment for endorsing Crowley, who also got the party's nod in 2001 when, at age 23, she garnered just 40 percent of the vote against Dennis Gallagher, the Republican. Gallagher's resignation after pleading guilty to two sexual abuse misdemeanor charges set the stage for the special election. Ober charges he was never given consideration by the Democratic organization.
Ober similarly complains that the Working Families Party ignored his candidacy at the time it made its endorsement. Crowley has racked up an impressive series of labor endorsements, with nods ranging from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1199 to the Uniformed Fire Officers Association.
But the most surprising fault line - and also, at least temporary, alliance - emerged in late April when Ober, who is a longtime Ridgewood civic activist as well as the former president of the Queens Pride House, the borough's LGBT Center, became the target of a vicious anti-gay hate flyer mailed to district voters. Calling Ober "a faggot," the mailing asked, "What kind of message does it send to our children?," warned that Glendale and Middle Village could become "Queerville U.S.A. 11385 and 11379" if "a pedophile" were elected, and claimed, "God gave them all aids [sic] to die and rot in hell."
That was more than enough to garner Ober sympathetic coverage in newspapers and on TV, but there was a curious silence from the Crowley camp. Then, Ober teamed up with Ognibene - an ardent critic of the LGBT-inclusive, ultimately failed Children of the Rainbow public school curriculum 15 years ago and in 2005 a participant in a City Action Coalition rally denouncing a Manhattan judge's ruling in favor of same-sex marriage rights - in a press conference speaking out against the flyer.
Suddenly, the Crowley team became animated on the issue, her campaign manager issuing a statement saying, "It's outrageous that Charles Ober is allowing himself to be used by Tom Ognibene and the Republicans, since Ognibene's entire career has been an affront to everything Ober claims to stand for."
Michael Reich, executive secretary of the county Democratic Party, went so far as to say, "It looks like [Ober and Ognibene] manufactured an issue and tried to get press on it."
Ober is aware that many Democrats object to his having appeared with Ognibene; in fact the issue became contentious when he appeared last week before the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, which gave its endorsement to Crowley instead.
"He did not place any pre-conditions on his appearing with me," Ober said of his decision to stand with Ognibene. "He did not limit his remarks, he categorically condemned the flyer. Crowley didn't condemn the flyer, only the press conference."
But then, in a statement many Ognibene observers might find dubious, Ober added, "He also specifically said that things are different now." The Democrat said he could not reject out of hand the opportunity to lessen polarization on gay issues.
If Ober's decision to appear with Ognibene was puzzling, so too was the endorsement made by the Queens gay Democrats. Ober responded to the group's questionnaire and appeared at the endorsement meeting. Crowley did neither, and the representative she sent was unable to answer questions about her candidate's positions on gay marriage and transgender rights. Ober promises that, if elected, he will work to lobby state legislators representing the district on marriage equality.
When asked for the gay Democrats' rationale, Daniel Dromm, a longtime leader in the club who is an elected Democratic district leader in Jackson Heights and a candidate for City Council next year, explained, "I don't know that everyone in Queens is up to par with gay and lesbian issues. We need to continue doing that education." Dromm noted that Crowley has a strong record on labor and immigrant rights issues, and said the club was confused by a written answer Ober gave regarding his commitment to a woman's right to choose.
Asked about that issue, Ober said he made clear he is pro-choice but also wrote that "the city should make sure that no woman has to have an abortion out of economic necessity." He said none of the club members asked him about the issue at the endorsement meeting.
According to Dromm, the club vote was 19 for Crowley, one for no endorsement, and zero for Ober.
Both Dromm and Larry Menzie, the club's communications chair, pointed to a long-festering issue regarding Ober's participation in a short-lived rival LGBT club in Queens, which Menzie said attacked the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club for not being open to people of color. "He never apologized for that," Menzie said, adding that there was a strong sense among members of, "Where have you been?"
"We never agreed with the premise that we were attacking the other club," Ober said, responding to Menzie's charge. "Our club intended to reach out to people of color, not to criticize anyone."
Menzie also suggested that political viability was at play in his club's decision, saying, "It's more than likely if a Democrat wins it will be her and then we could have an open dialogue about our issues." Both he and Dromm noted that the Ridgewood Democratic Club, of which Ober is president, did not endorse him, due to the influence of local Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, who is backing Crowley.
Campaign fundraising filings suggest that Crowley, in addition to her strong backing by the Democratic Party, will have a big financial advantage. She reported just over $100,000 in funds raised; Como and Ognibene each show a total slightly under $30,000; but Ober has collected just $14,000.
Pauline Park, a gender rights activist and Pride House co-founder, was harsh in criticizing the gay Democrats' endorsement, saying, "It's really hypocritical and extraordinary that they would not endorse a qualified gay candidate especially when they endorsed a candidate who has no apparent qualification for public office at all except that she's the cousin of the county boss."
Park also argued that Dromm's Council ambitions were behind the club's decision to endorse the county organization's choice, though he in turn cited a string of endorsements the club has made contrary to the party's pick - including City Councilman Hiram Monserrate in his first race and Mark Green in the 2006 attorney general primary.
Still, the one other LGBT club that has weighed in - the Stonewall Democrats of New York City - endorsed Ober, and its president Matthew Carlin confirmed the group is working to organize volunteers on his behalf.
The Empire State Pride Agenda, the state gay rights lobby, has not taken a position in the race.
