It wasn’t exactly the fight of the century when a hawk and a squirrel faced off on a branch in East River Park this week.
The daredevil critter scampered along the branch toward the fearsome avian predator, which annoyedly hopped toward the squirrel and flapped its wings. Things apparently ended in a standoff.
Hawk 🦅 Vs Squirrel 🐿 EAST RIVER PARK / NYC. #saveeastriverPark ( all of these trees 🌳 are scheduled to be cut down.) #voteallieryan @allieRyanNyc #citycouncil territorial / brave / lucky 🍀 squirrel …for now! @eastriverpark @evgrieve @TheVillageSun pic.twitter.com/njPwrCcQYd
— East Village by Bike 🎥🗳 (@ChrisRyanAction) April 29, 2021
Were the squirrel a bit farther away and on the ground, though, it could have ended very differently since hawks attack by swooping down on their prey from above.
Chris Ryan, who took the video, noted that the tree in which the scene occurred is slated to be felled — along with nearly 1,000 others in East River Park — as part of the city’s embattled East Side Coastal Resiliency plan. The project would clear-cut the2.4-mile-long park, then raise it by 8 feet under tons of new fill, so it would be above the rising sea level.
The video maker is married to Allie Ryan, who is currently running in the Nov. 2 general election for City Council District 2.
I visited East River Park not long ago. Although not from the area, what I saw was a lot of deep cracks on the pavement by the playgrounds, where you can easily trip and get a flat on your bike, and ball fields (except by the promenade by the water of course). The ball fields were in shoddy condition and the decorative painting on the playgrounds looks like they haven’t been repainted in a decade.
It’s immediately evident how the city let this park rot for so long and now has the audacity to destroy it and all the trees, when a few modest repairs can be made at a low cost. The mayor’s finalized plan, after obstructing it from the community for so long, is going to wind up privatized when it’s done after a decade. So sorry for the people and the kids who won’t be able to enjoy it like Carlina Rivera did.