MTA Zaps Pigeons

A contractor, hired by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), recently installed "Bird-B-Gone" equipment on overhanging edges at the 52nd Street station in Woodside and the 103rd Street station in Corona on the Number 7 line, an agency spokesperson said. The equipment emits a non-lethal level of electricity along "shock tracks" installed along the overhang and at other locations where pigeons gather to roost.

Pigeons have been a longstanding problem for MTA officials, who said they receive dozens of complaints weekly from pedestrians who were victims of bird droppings, and motorists whose cars have suffered far worse fates. MTA officials said only a handful of stations in New York City are equipped with the pigeon-zapping equipment, because installation could unveil a host of other, costly problems.

The equipment is installed at stations that are slated for overhaul, keeping maintenance costs in-tow, a transit spokesperson said.

According to transit authority officials Queens has been waging a war against pigeon droppings for decades, and that they are reasonably certain this will work to send the pigeons somewhere else to roost.

Currently the MTA has no plans to install the equipment at any other Queens station.- Liz Goff