October 5, 2010: Vol. 33, No. 41

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October 5, 2010 / Brooklyn news / Park Slope

Tupper knew! Park administrator objected to goose slaughter — yet said nothing!

By Stephen Brown

The Brooklyn Paper

When they came for the geese, she said nothing.

Prospect Park’s top administrator Tupper Thomas opposed a federal decision to massacre close to 300 Canada geese in her park this summer, but she chose not to cry fowl because the program was orchestrated by Mayor Bloomberg and federal agencies, a spokesman revealed this week.

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“Tupper wasn’t the one who gave permission, but she did know [the feds] were coming,” said the spokesman, Eugene Patron. “As for when and what time and how many geese [would be killed] — she was not in the loop.

“Personally, Tupper was not for the culling,” Patron added.

Thomas, who is retiring at the end of the year from running both the Prospect Park Alliance as well as day-to-day operation of the park for the city, faced a barrage of criticism in her silent response to the goose slaughter in July. Nine days after the operation, the under-fire Thomas finally issued a letter addressing the issue, though one that did little to quiet critics.

“A lot of people were angry about this, and she was silent,” said Tony Chiappelloni, the president of FIDO, a dog walkers advocacy group.

Chiappelloni added that the geese massacre had made Thomas’s final year as the boss of Prospect Park a difficult one.

“Look, she put her heart and soul into that park, she’s done a lot — but we didn’t know what was going on [after the slaughter]! I couldn’t say whether she authorized it or not, I didn’t know, I had no idea!”

Patron said that one of Thomas’s last major decisions before she retires from her job early next year will be to define a new wildlife management plan for the park and present it to the public.

“If successful it could be implemented elsewhere,” said Patron, who added, “I’m sure it’ll be called her ‘swan song.’ ”

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Reader Feedback

Or from Yellow Hook says:

Who needs geese - they've run off the native birds, killed the fish and fouled the water.

Thin them out, they are not endangered.

Oct. 5, 2010, 8:47 am

PattyA from Manhattan says:

Kill the geese and you will have far fewer ducks, swans and other waterfowl. Fact is, that gaggles of geese provide a sense of safety and security for other birds.

Following the gassing of 368 geese and gosslings last July 8th, some park goers were worried that ducks were included in the slaughter, because so few were seen at the lake.

I assured them that the ducks probably took off, witnessing the capture of and violence towards their winged buddies.

Mallards aren't stupid. They figure "what's good (or bad) for the goose is also the same for THEM.

They are probably right on that.

Oct. 5, 2010, 8:56 am

PattyA from Manhattan says:

THANK YOU so much, Brooklyn Paper and Stephen Brown. You are one of the very few media outlets to actually investigate the carnage of Prospect Park and expose it for what it is.

A complete sham.

Other media is picking up on your important lead.

I hope the people of Brooklyn truly appreciate the important and ground breaking expose you are doing!

Bravo!

Oct. 5, 2010, 9:01 am

Eva from Prospect Leffferts says:

Thank You Brooklyn Paper! Kudos to you, Stephen Brown and all for your investigative work!

Perhaps now transparency will prevail? Thanks to all at Brooklyn Paper!!!!!

Oct. 5, 2010, 9:30 am

Olden Caufield from West Side says:

Where do the ducks go?

Oct. 5, 2010, 9:38 am

Mary Beth from Windsor Terrace says:

Thanks to the work of Stephen Brown and the crew at Brooklyn Paper, the future wildlife in Prospect Park may stand a chance.

Gassing is torture and a waste of my tax dollars as it obviously didn't deter others from entering the available habitat. It has probably created more bird traffic in the skies as new birds vie for the coveted space.

Let's move forward and do the right thing- Thanks Brooklyn Paper!

Oct. 5, 2010, 9:42 am

judy starr from upper west side says:

If men can build planes & fly ~~~ We certainly can create a barrier that blocks any debris from getting into the engines of planes .
We need to work with nature not fight against it by destroying our most precious treasures !
The ones that taught us how to fly !

Oct. 5, 2010, 1:28 pm

judy starr from upper west side says:

Oct. 5, 2010, 1:28 pm

judy starr from upper west side says:

Oct. 5, 2010, 1:28 pm

joey from clinton hills says:

paid off with pate?

Oct. 5, 2010, 3:18 pm

Moshe Aron Kestenbaum from Williamsburg ODA says:

How about making a new airline called the The El Oro Parakeet Airline . Charging cheap fares for Birds , A special birds price . So they wont crash or fly from the outside of the plane. Lets bring them inside , Lets show them some CAMARADERIE.

Oct. 5, 2010, 4:03 pm

ArleneS from Manhattan says:

Oct. 6, 2010, 3:02 am

ArleneS from Manhattan says:

Re: Bird strikes and airline safety

You can't put a screen on a jet enine. But you CAN use bird radar, called MERLIN and you CAN map bird migration routes and alter flights so as not to collide with migrating birds. Problem solved. Trying to kill every bird is neanderthal idiocy, and will do nothing for air travel safety. Just another scam from Bloomberg that he thinks you're stupid enough to buy.

And for those of you compassionless heartless people, the gassing of the geese is incredibly inhumane and indefensible. You don't do this to any living thing just because you don't like that it craps. Have you somehow failed to notice the garbage and litter PEOPLE leave around? BP oil spill, STDs, drunk drivers, road rage, terrorist attacks -- no creature fouls its planet worse than MAN, so spare me your complaints about the geese and learn to respect other forms of life that have the right to exist peacefully. We should emulate their exemplary habits as parents and mates instead of vilifying them. Gesse know where their children are at night.... do YOU?

Oct. 6, 2010, 3:03 am

ArleneS from Manhattan says:

You can't put a screen on a jet enine. But you CAN use bird radar, called MERLIN and you CAN map bird migration routes and alter flights so as not to collide with migrating birds. Problem solved. Trying to kill every bird is neanderthal idiocy, and will do nothing for air travel safety. Just another scam from Bloomberg that he thinks you're stupid enough to buy.

And for those of you compassionless heartless people, the gassing of the geese is incredibly inhumane and indefensible. You don't do this to any living thing just because you don't like that it craps. Have you somehow failed to notice the garbage and litter PEOPLE leave around? BP oil spill, STDs, drunk drivers, road rage, terrorist attacks -- no creature fouls its planet worse than MAN, so spare me your complaints about the geese and learn to respect other forms of life that have the right to exist peacefully. We should emulate their exemplary habits as parents and mates instead of vilifying them. Gesse know where their children are at night.... do YOU?

Oct. 6, 2010, 3:08 am

ArleneS from Manhattan says:

SHAME on Tupper Thomas for not protecting the very animals she was obligated to uphold. Her betrayal is a pathetic legacy to leave as she retires. She better write a DAMN GOOD wildlife plan in atonement for the massacre she condoned. She kept silent because of Mayor Bloomberg??? Are you KIDDING me? This incompetent mayor hasn't done anything but raise taxes for the last 2 years and now we're stuck with him for another term. Oh, but this makes sense now, because the Fed killing plan is paid for out of - you guessed it - YOUR TAXES. Right into Bloomberg's buddies pockets.

You can't put a screen on a jet enine. But you CAN use bird radar, called MERLIN and you CAN map bird migration routes and alter flights so as not to collide with migrating birds. Problem solved. Trying to kill every bird is neanderthal idiocy, and will do nothing for air travel safety. Just another scam from Bloomberg that he thinks you're stupid enough to buy.

Oct. 6, 2010, 3:09 am

Carola F from Upper East Side says:

I just read about this, how could we knot have known about such callous work being done- and across the country!!!! This is sickening beyond words.

ArleneS, GREAT POINTS. How do they think they can control and maneuver thousands of years of instinctual behavior by all migrating species?

Geese are incredibly loyal mates and exemplary parents indeed. One can only imagine how those very parents felt as they watched the USDA thugs lure their defenseless goslings into their gassing chambers.

It sickens me to think that these "Wildlife Services" act in such a manner. The public has no idea. They automatically think that if "Wildlife" is attached, they always do the right thing.

Instances like this make me feel ashamed to be a human being.

Oct. 6, 2010, 10:50 am

John from Park Slope says:

Only a spineless over-paid bureaucrat would behave like Tupper Thomas did.

Oct. 7, 2010, 10:48 am

Yancy from Brooklyn says:

I think Tupper Thomas has done more for Prospect Park and Brooklyn than any public official in recent memory.

That being said, she has always carried water for the Bloomberg administration. When they decided to tell the public that Brooklyn Bridge Park needed luxury condos to support itself, Tupper dutifully wrote a piece for the Daily News supporting it. Did I think she really believed what she wrote? Not in the slightest.

I feel bad for Tupper that the Bloomberg administration put her in the position it did, particularly since Prospect Park could have been easily argued to have been outside the perimeter established to cull the geese. Even more so since the perimeter was completely arbitrary and not based on any scientific data in the slightest. But that's the Bloomberg administration for you and that's what happens when you play ball with folks like these.

It would have been nice if in her last year in office if she spoke up against the plan but we didn't do her job and accomplish all she did. Maybe she did what she thought was best for the future of the park and its relations with the city. All I know is she did a very very good job for us.

Oct. 9, 2010, 3:52 am

Karl from Kensington says:

Tupper Thomas is NOT a volunteer. She is a highly paid yes man with no courage or foresight.
Prospect Park is in serious decline from her covering up the poorly executed maintenance by the Alliance.
She is fooling less and less people with her rhetoric.

Oct. 9, 2010, 10:10 am

Andy from Park Slope says:

I can perhaps understand Tupper's reluctance to speak out publicly if indeed she really opposed the goose-kill (an "opposition" about which I have my doubts). However, she could have anonymously alerted the media, and the humane organizations who might have taken over from there. (The range of possible dates for the slaughter would have been predictable given the fact that geese molt.
As the saying goes, "all that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing".

Oct. 10, 2010, 10:02 pm

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