Chelsea Piers, a health club and recreation center at the edge of the Hudson River in New York, has been trapping pigeons for at least a year and a half in cages with one-way trap doors.  The traps are boxes about three feet long and are on fire escape stairways.  This is illegal, according to the NYC fire code. It is not determined what the Piers do with the trapped pigeons.  The traps, provided by a New Jersey-based pest-control service, ensnare the birds in a wood-and-wire cage to prevent them from massing freely on fire escapes. The company then collects the birds and claims to release them back into the wild. Although the Health Department issued permit does allow the birds to be euthanized humanely,  it is heard that the pigeons are gassed or have their necks broken in the extermination process.

Erica Shietinger, V.P. of Corporate Communications at Chelsea Piers, said they had previously tried humane methods which had failed.   An alternative simple and inexpensive device made of plastic or wire, as well as sloping surfaces, are an effective way to keep pigeons off buildings and they don't kill.  Droppings still remaining can be hosed off. Killing or removing pigeons does not work since others simply take their places.  It's the same with all wildlife.  Shietinger claimed disease as her reason for trapping pigeons, however,  according to the NYC Health Dept. pigeons do not get or transmit bird flu or West Nile virus, and they do not transmit disease to humans  any more than other kinds of birds.  If these were any other kind of birds, Chelsea Piers would think twice about trying to rid itself of them.  Removing pigeons from buildings is up to the owner and is legal, but there is a kinder way than trapping them.

Did anyone call 911 to report the fire violation?

I am curious about the "plastic or wire devices."   About 2 years ago, one of our local Vons markets put clear plastic spikes on top of their roof to discourage pigeons from roosting there.  It appeared to me that the spikes could impale the birds if they tried to land and could not see the clear plastic spikes pointing up, so I wrote a letter to Vons about it and told them I was not going to shop there anymore (and I haven't).  However, I went back to check at a later date, and saw two pigeons somehow roosted atop the spikes without being impaled.  Are the spikes intended to be injurious, or was I misinterpreting?