Workers were back on top of the Upper West Side water tower that housed a barn owl nest this week, after the city issued a stop-work order on the job, according to CBS News and NY1, which both filmed crews on the tower Thursday and Friday.
The tower sits atop a residential building where a nesting pair of barn owls — a species rarely seen in Manhattan — had drawn bird-watchers and photographers for weeks. The RFI Wire reported October 29 that the tower was being dismantled and that DOB records showed the work underway. CBS News and NY1, first to report the stop-work violation, said the Department of Buildings ordered the work halted after the nest was disturbed, but that workers returned to the tower anyway.
DOB's public records system lists stop-work orders by address and violation number; The RFI Wire has not independently confirmed a new violation number tied to the resumed work as of this writing, and is checking DOB Now for an updated filing. The building owner and the contractor on the job have not been named in published reports and did not respond to a request for comment relayed through the property's managing agent, per NY1's reporting.
Audubon advocates and neighborhood residents told both outlets they want DOB and the city's wildlife agencies to investigate whether work violated any environmental review tied to the permit. No violation specific to the owls has been cited by DOB as of Friday night, and no stop-work order tied to wildlife protection appears in the public record; the original stop-work order's stated basis has not been published by either outlet.
First reported by CBS News and NY1.