4 The Courier sun • JUNE 30, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com 50+ Canada geese in Queens were sent for slaughter By Anthony Giudice agiudice@qns.com/@A_GiudiceReport These Canada geese were at the wrong place at the wrong time. In an effort to prevent accidents like the 2009 Miracle on the Hudson — where a brave pilot made an emergency landing in the Hudson River after his plane was struck by Canada geese — these birds have been continuously removed from the areas around local airports. On June 27, officials from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were spotted rounding up more than 50 Canada geese in Brookville Park in Rosedale, to be taken upstate to a slaughterhouse before they could damage any planes at JFK Airport. Jeffery Kramer, a volunteer with GooseWatch NYC, an organization founded in 2011 that has since been advocating for the humane treatment of the geese collected around LaGuardia and JKF airports, arrived at Brookville Park at around 5 a.m. Monday morning to see USDA officials in kayaks scouring the water for geese. “The kayaks were in the water and they were rounding up the geese. We monitor the parks and they took over 50 geese,” Kramer said. “They then stuff them in these turkey crates and send them upstate to slaughter. There has never been an option of non-lethal ways to prevent air strikes. The same thing happened in this park in 2009 with 43 geese, and they have done this at other parks. Eventually it will lead to the extermination of the whole geese population in NYC.” According to Kramer, the USDA collects the geese in the summer when the birds are molting, leaving them without the ability to fly. Previously, when the geese were slaughtered their meat was distributed to local food pantries. “We’re not saying that there isn’t a population problem with geese, but there are other things that could be done. There are other alternatives they could use,” Kramer said. “We’re going to continue this until there is a program where they really make an effort at non-lethal alternatives. This method isn’t effective because there are bird strikes every day.” The Queens Courier has reached out to USDA as well as to Animal Care Centers of NYC with a request for a statement and is currently awaiting a response. $3M restoration plan aims to improve Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park By Brianna Ellis bellis@qns.com/@briinformed It may not be the most active part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but the tranquil area around Meadow Lake now looks a little nicer. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation joined with elected officials for a ribboncutting ceremony on June 23 to celebrate a $3 million restoration of the Meadow Lake shoreline. Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver joined with City Council members Rory Lancman and Karen Koslowitz to hail the upgrades, which are designed to prevent stormwater contamination of the lake’s ecosystem and thousands of native plants in the area. The City Council funded $1.4 million while a state Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Water-Clean Air Act grant brought in another $1.4 million. “Since the 1939 World’s Fair, the story of Flushing Meadows Corona Park has been one of continued improvement – eight decades of building, public programming, and now, environmental restoration,” Silver said in a press release on June 23. “Meadow Lake is the heart of the World’s Park, and in the coming months and years, we will continue to collaborate with our volunteer stewards to make sure it stays as green, healthy and cared-for as it is today.” Through the efforts of NYC Parks horticulturalists, disruptive phragmites (tall reeds) along the wetland were replaced with 22 different species of herbaceous plants and grasses, including the rare species Cyperus flavescens, as well as Arrow arum, catail, softstem, swamp milk weed, bulrush and fox sedge. “Today, we can see Meadow Lake as nature intended it to be: surrounded by thousands of native plants and without stormwater contaminating its ecosystem,” Lancman said. “This investment is crucial for the southern half of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and hopefully represents just the beginning of needed improvements in my portion of the park.” Photo by NYC Parks Department Three million dollars will be geared toward restoring Meadow Lake.
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