NYC NOW - February 26, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

Authorities confirm the person who died in a Harlem fire on Friday was 27-year-old Fazil Khan, a data journalist from India. The fire was caused by a lithium ion battery and 17 other people were injured. Plus, President Biden is expected to be in New York City Monday afternoon for a campaign fundraiser and drivers should expect extensive road delays. Finally, the tragic death of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl who famously escaped from the Central Park Zoo last year, has saddened New York City’s birding community. The Wildlife Conservation Society reported that Flaco seems to have collided with a building on West 89th Street this past Friday. This incident brings to the forefront a critical question: How can New York City become a safer habitat for birds? WNYC’s David Furst talks with the New York City Audubon's Director of Conservation and Science, Dustin Partridge, to get answers.

NYC now. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, February 26. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Police have confirmed the person who died in a Harlem fire on Friday was a 27-year-old journalist from India. Vasil Khan worked as a data journalist at the Heckinger report and news outlets. focused on education. He graduated from Columbia University's Journalism School in 2021 and was later a postgraduate fellow for the school's Global Migration Project. FDNI officials say the cause of the fire was a lithium ion battery. 17 people were also injured. President Joe Biden is expected to be in New York City this afternoon for another campaign fundraiser. He's due to arrive at JFK

just before 2 p.m. drivers should expect extensive road delays in Manhattan, though the administration has not specified exactly where the president will be. We'll bring bringing more details on road closures as they become available. It's 45 degrees now, maybe 54 this afternoon, with sun and clouds, 38 overnight, and more clouds than sun tomorrow, especially in the afternoon, with a chance of showers in your 56. Stay close. There's more after the break. Here on W1.1.C, I'm David First.

The death of flakow, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, who escaped the Central Park Zoo last year, has devastated the city's burden community. The Wildlife Conservation Society reported that he appeared to have collided with a building on West 89th Street on Friday, and it has raised questions once again about what we can do to try to make New York City a safer place for birds. For more, we are joined by Dustin Partridge, Dr. Dustin Partridge, New York City's Audubon's Director of Conservation and Science. Dustin, welcome. Hi, David, thank you. Flacco is one of the most famous birds to die in a building collision.

certainly not the only one. Roughly, how many birds suffer a similar fate each year? And what exactly is causing it? Right. So at New York City Audubon, our data demonstrate that up to 250,000 birds die due to collisions each year in New York City. And that's even bigger across North America. So it's likely over a billion birds.

It's currently one of the biggest threats that birds face. Now, in urban areas, this is really due to two things, two lethal factors that are at play. For most part, it's migratory birds. A lot of migratory birds pass through the city and pass through urban areas. And most migratory birds fly at night. They're migrating at night. And that light that comes from the city at night is very attractive to birds. It pulls birds in.

They change their flight pass and they move towards the city. Some of them collide due to that light at night. Others are stuck as the sun comes up, and they are within this kind of matrix of glass and concrete. And glass is lethal. So a bird, you know, when they're bouncing around the city in the morning after migrating from pretty far away, looking for a place to forage or rest, they see a reflection in a window. And to them that reflection is real. They don't realize that there's glass there.

Or in some cases, there's a fly-through condition where there's, Glass is present, but birds can't perceive it's there, and they go to fly through it. And when they collide, it often results in death. I mean, glass is present. There's a lot of glass present in New York City. So what can developers do to limit the amount of collisions into their buildings? And can older buildings get retrofitted in some way to help with the problem? Yeah, so New York City Audubon, along with several partners, was able to get past Local Law 15 back in 2020.

And what that law does is that going forward, all new buildings within New York City have to have bird-safe glass installed in the lower 75 feet of the building or over a green roof. Those areas where most collisions occur. And that's great. So going to have a much more bird-safe city. Those buildings that are going to be bird-friendly, they could still do more. They can still turn their lights out or adjust lighting to be downward-facing or cap. But it doesn't address anything to do with the building stock. of the million buildings that are across New York City that don't have birds hit glass.

Yeah. And in those cases, there's a really good solution. There are films that are available that are really easily applied. You can put them on the exterior surface of a building. And when I say a film, it's not exactly a film, but it's more of like picture a little sticker that can go on the external surface that are spaced out about two inches by two inches. They can be applied and what they do is they let birds know there's something there. They break up that reflection. They break up that fly-through condition. What can apartment dwellers do in their own buildings to make things safer for birds? Yeah, so it's something to consider getting the building together and talking about a bird-friendly

retrofit. So think about things that you could do to make your building more bird safe, applying those films in areas that are adjacent to vegetation, the lower stories. Also consider talking about doing lights out, either getting a full program going and turning your lights out during migration. So in this area, it's April and May for spring migration. And it's about mid-August to mid-November for fall migration. And turn your lights out or close your blinds between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to stop attracting those birds into the city and leading collisions. Those stickers. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, I was also going to say that something that would be very helpful is to call your city council member. Let them know that you support a

city-wide lights-out initiative, which is currently being considered by city council. Do you have any other tips for city residents to help us think about and care for the birds that fly through the city all the time? Yeah, so this might not be what you expect, but go birding, go out and enjoy nature. Get out there and engage with the birds, just like Flaco was able to do. Flacco was a major contribution to conservation because he got people outside. When you go out and you enjoying nature, it's good for people. It's good for you. It's healthy.

also bring a friend. We need more people to be engaging, connecting with wildlife, because New York City has amazing wildlife. Also, if you're so inclined after you engage with the amazing wildlife of the city and you want to do more, there are opportunities to volunteer. We're currently approaching migration season, which also coincides with many of the collisions in New York City, and there are opportunities to volunteer to be a collision monitor, to transport injured birds. We can do that through New York City Audubon's website. We have a couple of trainings coming up as to how to volunteer and take part in that. Some great idea. As a sad moment to be talking about some of this, but really great tips. Dr. Dustin Partridge, New York City,

Audubon's Director of Conservation and Science. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep vibes. Also subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.