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Dear New Yorkers,

It’s a hard life for wild animals in the concrete jungle.

Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo and captured hearts while being spotted around the city, shocked fans when he died after colliding with an Upper West Side building.

The beloved bird’s death renewed discussion on the dangers for wildlife living in NYC, which differ for every type of animal.

“The greatest threats to different bird species vary; for waterfowl, it tends to be trash and fishing line left near water bodies, leading to entanglement. Birds of prey are most endangered by rodenticides, while songbirds primarily suffer from human impacts,” according to Marc Sanchez, the deputy director of Urban Park Rangers.

Last year, a coyote was found dead on a highway, likely struck by a vehicle. Turtles died in a pond during construction at a Queens park. Some birds, although later poisoned to death, had previously been shot.

THE CITY has obtained the 2023 necropsies of a slew of other animals. Read more about them here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Monday's Weather Rating: 6/10. Back on track (for now)! Mostly sunny skies are expected today, with high temperatures in the lower 50s and a light breeze. A far cry from the terrible weather from a few days ago. The vibes are looking up!

Our Other Top Stories

Safety Net Assistance is a cash benefit for New Yorkers who are ineligible for its federal equivalent — such as many noncitizens, including asylum seekers. About 7,400 refugee and migrant households make up 4% of all city cases in the program. That’s up from 1% in the years prior, a spike that pre-dated a rule change to expand which migrants were qualified in May 2023.. A $2 million gift to Health People, a small nonprofit in The Bronx, will double the group’s budget to combat diabetes in the borough. It was announced as part of $640 million in new giving by Yield Giving, a foundation led by the philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. Health People, which launched in 1990 to help address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, will use the money to expand its operation in the South Bronx, and its peer-education diabetes self-management program citywide.

Reporter’s Notebook

Budget Battle Lines

Passing a state budget by the April 1 start of the fiscal year doesn’t seem to be as important as it used to be, but if legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul want to meet that deadline, they have big decisions to make before the Easter break. Here are three key ones.

How much to spend: Hochul proposed $233 billion with no new taxes. Both the Assembly and Senate want to spend as much as $5 billion more with higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Housing: After punting on the issue last year, there is talk of a deal that would increase allowed density, revive a tax break for rental buildings, and establish one for converting offices to residential use. The key is whether there could be a compromise on “Good Cause” legislation protecting tenants that’s acceptable to their advocates and to real estate groups.

Retail theft: The governor wants tougher penalties. The Assembly in particular is reluctant.

Not as important for the city but crucial elsewhere is the governor’s plan to adjust student aid so it reflects increases and decreases in enrollment. The Legislature doesn’t want to do this.

— Greg David

Gowanus Tanks

Delays setting up two tanks to help reduce raw sewage from flowing into the Gowanus Canal resulted in millions of dollars of additional costs and “prolonged exposures to contaminants,” according to an audit released Thursday by the Office of the Inspector General within the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The tanks, being built by the city Department of Environmental Protection, are designed to capture both stormwater and wastewater during sewer system overflows, preventing untreated waste from spilling into the canal. They are now expected to be completed by 2030, later than other clean-up projects on the polluted canal.

The audit found the tanks could’ve been finished by 2022, and faulted the EPA for failing to enforce the timetable for the construction. It also found the city underestimated the timeline for the work and initially designed a project that was not aligned with what the EPA. Costs increased from $78 million to over $1 billion. The OIG recommended the EPA closely monitor the progress of the tanks moving forward.

To learn more about the Gowanus Canal’s cleanup, check out THE CITY’s multimedia Hazard NYC project.

— Samantha Maldonado

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, March 28: The New York Public Library’s March Book Club event, featuring “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” author Xochitl Gonzalez. Free from 6 to 7 p.m. online and in-person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan. Saturday, March 30: Activists on Screen: Queer Gaze in Cinema, a pair of films followed by a conversation about trans New Yorkers’ lives.Tickets are $10 ($5 for members), at 3 p.m. at the Museum of the City of New York. Saturday, March 30: Let's Go Birding Together, an inclusive birding event for all levels of curiosity and expertise, hosted by NYC Audubon. Free from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island Park.

THE KICKER: Some Orthodox Jewish women in Brooklyn have begun a sex strike to protest rules that make it difficult for women to divorce their husbands, reports Gothamist.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Monday.

Love,

THE CITY

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