The east side of the New York State Capitol building in Albany belongs to the Senate. The west side belongs to the Assembly.
The middle is for the birds.
For more than a century, state officials have struggled to control generations of invasive pigeons that roost in the Capitol’s huge central courtyard, an otherwise ornate, open-air space. The courtyard’s intricately carved, four-story stone walls have nooks and crannies perfect for providing the birds with cover from the elements.
Since the 1930s, the state’s tried everything from sticky substances to laser lights to — controversially — poisoned grain in an attempt to rid the space of the pigeons. But each time, the birds have come out on top.
Now, the state is nearing completion of a two-year, $9 million renovation of the courtyard, a meticulous rehabilitation project that restored the space to the splendor envisioned by the Capitol’s original architect in the 1800s. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she wants the public to be able to access it in some form. But whether they’ll get the chance to set foot in it is still up in the air.
It’ll depend, in part, on whether the birds will allow it.
“It’s a beautiful space, it’s incredibly inviting,” said Jeanette Moy, commissioner of the state Office of General Services. “But as you can see, we’re already starting to lose the war a little bit with the pigeons.”
New York state spent $9 million meticulously renovating the Capitol building’s interior courtyard, with bluestone pavers to match the original architect’s vision. But dozens of pigeons still call the space home.
Jon Campbell
Decades of pigeons
The war has been raging since shortly after construction of the current Capitol was completed in 1899.
In March 1930, the state’s building superintendent — apparently acting on orders to get rid of the pigeons — spread poisoned barley throughout the courtyard. When the birds ate it, they were sent falling to their deaths.
“The sight of dead birds plunging past windows where many had been feeding them sent some legislators on the warpath,” the Associated Press reported at the time.
Some lawmakers called for the superintendent to be prosecuted, though he never was.
A new flock of pigeons returned within two months, according to newspaper reports. A few years later, state workers sprinkled trails of grain that led to remote-controlled traps; the pigeons ate the grain and then flew away. Around the same time, the state tried “exploding sky-rockets” to no avail, according to the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News.
By 1939, a columnist for the Middletown Times Herald wrote that bird droppings were “a foot deep” in some corners of the Capitol courtyard, while the windows were “in some places so streaked that one can see through only dimly.”
In the 1940s, the state tried electric shock wires and brass spikes. In the 1950s, the state hired Joseph Fink, who heralded himself “the world’s champion dirty-bird purger.” Newspaper reports say he used a yellow chemical he called “Roost No More,” which irritated the birds’ feet.
None of it worked.
“Pigeons are a very difficult bird to manage for a variety of reasons,” said Paul Curtis, a wildlife science professor at Cornell University. “They’re smart and they do learn over time. They adapt readily to the environments we create.”
Dozens of pigeons make their home inside the New York State Capitol’s interior courtyard. Their droppings cover various ledges and nooks and crannies.
Jon Campbell
Lasers and more
The pigeons aren’t the only reason the public isn’t allowed in. The Capitol’s mechanical systems have exhaust fans that pipe into the courtyard and affect the air quality.
The rehab project involves several cosmetic and practical repairs. A leaky floor let water through to some of the electric equipment that powers the Capitol’s heating and cooling systems. An enclosed walkway had windows covered up with drywall, and its copper roof had become corroded and long ago turned green. The copper cladding and floor have been replaced, and the windows have been uncovered.
As the state renovated the courtyard, officials tried to get more creative with the birds.
First, they tried playing a recording of various birds of prey, squawking and screeching in a manner meant to scare the pigeons they feast on. It was broadcast through two transmitters to eight speakers that played the tape at full volume, echoing through the courtyard.
It seemed to work. The pigeons got scared and flew away. But Moy said the state workers whose office windows overlook the courtyard weren’t fans of the ear-splitting audio.
“We did get some complaints,” said Moy, whose agency oversees state buildings. “It’s alarming, right? You hear these hawks sort of echoing in through the courtyard. And so we turned them off.”
From there, the state turned to lasers — automated, roving green lights that randomly traced ledges and crevices within the courtyard to shoo the birds away without harming them. And that seemed to work for a brief period, too, until the pigeons wised up and realized the laser didn’t hurt them.
Now, the green lights continue to beam through the courtyard 24 hours a day. But the pigeons, for the most part, don’t budge, letting the light wash over them without so much as flinching.
The pigeons have become more emboldened over time. About six months ago, the Office of General Services put up signs prohibiting people from opening most courtyard windows — because the birds had started letting themselves inside.
“The pigeons get in the building and it’s really — it’s a struggle to get them out,” said Rich Hynes, area supervisor for the agency’s design and construction team.
The courtyard now looks better than it has in generations, with hostas blooming from new planters. The final piece, to be completed in the coming months, is a pair of doors, crafted to match the historical time period when the Capitol opened. (In recent memory, staff have had to climb through windows to clean the space.)
New York State Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy, left, looks to the upper floors of the New York State Capitol’s courtyard with members of her staff.
Jon Campbell
As the renovation project nears completion, Moy says her team is back to thinking of new, humane ways to get the pigeons out. She said it’s possible that they could go back to using the birds of prey recording, which would perhaps only be played when few people are in the building.
Moy said she’s hopeful tour guides will be able to lead their groups through the courtyard “for a nice short period” once the renovation project is completed. But the dream of opening the space for state workers to, say, enjoy their lunch will have to wait for a day when the state can finally win its war with the pigeons.
“I think until we actually have a sense for how to better manage the pigeons, this is a really tough space to have a nice meal,” she said.