Please, For The Love Of God, Stop Feeding The Birds!

To be fair, I haven’t walked under an underpass that wasn’t covered in bird shit. I also haven’t walked under an underpass that wasn’t littered with bread crumbs and discarded rolls. Despite this, ever since I officially moved to Sheepshead Bay last month, the condition of the underpass beneath the B and Q line (East 15th Street between Z and Sheepshead Bay Road) has particularly disgusted me.

It is impossible that I am the only one revolted by the condition of the underpass outside the train station. Yesterday, I took the picture shown above at 5:30 p.m. when hundreds of people were filing off the B train after a long day of work. It was a hot and rainy day and dozens of people like me were hurriedly trying to cross Sheepshead Bay Road as they exited the station.

I felt the frustration of a few people walking in my path when I stopped quickly to take a picture of the bread crumbs, bird shit and garbage lining the underpass across the street from the Dunkin’ Donuts. There is little room to navigate on the street when a good 30 percent of it is littered with horrifying, rat-attracting trash.

Here is my question, which one of you jerks feels the obligation to feed the pigeons under the train? Don’t you understand that there is plenty of random garbage and food bits in the entire tri-state area just lying around for the birds to feed off of? These birds have survived thousands of years before there ever was a city and they do not need your help. They have wings, they can fly all day until they find a more appropriate feeding ground.

The underpass is sickening. I’ve seen dead pigeons lying in a pool of bread crumbs mixed with garbage at least five times under that bridge. Five times! In roughly six months!

I’m not sure if they died of natural causes or from overeating but the image is enough to stir the worst fears of total urban decay.

Come on, people. When you litter you lower the quality of life for everyone in the neighborhood. You encourage others, especially young people, to disrespect the neighborhood and perpetuate the cycle.

If you want to feed birds, go to the Bay or an open public park and toss a few bread crumbs within reason. Do not, for the love of God, toss whole rolls under train bridges that thousands of people walk by every day. It is disgusting and you should know better.