Researchers last week announced the transit system was overrun with rats, but the data gave no information on the flying vermin that plague some commuters.
Pigeon-admirers celebrated National Pigeon Day last Saturday in Central Park, but for Albert Glover they’re a daily hazard at the Staten Island ferry terminal.
“Pigeons carry a lot of diseases. They’re gross,” he said. “When the terminal is empty they land on chairs and tables and other places. I try not to touch my face or eat until I can get home and wash my hands. I’m not one of those neurotic people, but I take my clothes off at the door because of them.”
Spanish researchers this week put out a study of the bacteria pigeons carry, concluding that in dense numbers “they may pose a direct threat to public health.”
In the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a warm place many pigeons call home, opinion was mixed about human-pigeon coexistence.
“A lot of people feed them,” noted Loraine Flowers, who is currently homeless, “but I try to feed them outside so they don’t come back.”
