Suitably Flip

Nanny Gotham Seethes At Pigeon Feeders

My parents lived in Singapore a while back and among the entertaining things to do around town was playing spot-the-draconian-signage.  Bringing drugs through the airport?  Death.  Studying at the airport?  Hefty fine.  In-home nudity?  Hefty fine.  Graffiti?  Fine, cane, and jail.  Overstay your visa?  Fine, cane, and jail.  Trespassing?  Shot on site.

That last one was helpfully illustrated with a dastardly stick figure running for his life as his dispatcher takes aim and blasts him in the back.

The country has also made a point of strongly dissuading people from feeding the marauding monkeys, with fines running from S$500 to S$10,000 per offense (roughly $350 to $7,000 in real dollars).  While such penalties definitely have that only-in-Singapore feel to them, the idea of financially bludgeoning wildlife-nourishers seems to be catching on.

The New York City Council will now consider a bill that would impose four-figure fines on pigeon feeders.

If one Brooklyn lawmaker has his way, New Yorkers who toss crumbs and seeds to pigeons would be hit with a $1,000 fine.

Brandishing pictures of a subway station soiled by pigeon poo, Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) said he's introducing a bill to ban pigeon feeding, with the goal of slashing the city's population of the birds.

"If people like pigeons, take them into their homes . . . and let them crap all over the place in your living room," Felder said outside City Hall.

If you do get busted feeding a pigeon, though, tell the cop you were just performing a public exhibition "in which animals are required to perform tricks."  So far, the only birds the city has gotten around to barring from public performance are eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, condors, emus, rheas, ostriches, and other "predatory or large birds."

Previously:
Nanny State Quote Of the Day
Son Of a...
Nannyism In New York (a Regrettably Continuing Series)
Nannyism Backfires
New York's Runaway Banwagon
iNanny
New York Loves the N-Word
Nannyism Is the New Black
Nannyism in New York

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Nanny Gotham Seethes At Pigeon Feeders

My parents lived in Singapore a while back and among the entertaining things to do around town was playing spot-the-draconian-signage.  Bringing drugs through the airport?  Death.  Studying at the airport?  Hefty fine.  In-home nudity?  Hefty fine.  Graffiti?  Fine, cane, and jail.  Overstay your visa?  Fine, cane, and jail.  Trespassing?  Shot on site.

That last one was helpfully illustrated with a dastardly stick figure running for his life as his dispatcher takes aim and blasts him in the back.

The country has also made a point of strongly dissuading people from feeding the marauding monkeys, with fines running from S$500 to S$10,000 per offense (roughly $350 to $7,000 in real dollars).  While such penalties definitely have that only-in-Singapore feel to them, the idea of financially bludgeoning wildlife-nourishers seems to be catching on.

The New York City Council will now consider a bill that would impose four-figure fines on pigeon feeders.

If one Brooklyn lawmaker has his way, New Yorkers who toss crumbs and seeds to pigeons would be hit with a $1,000 fine.

Brandishing pictures of a subway station soiled by pigeon poo, Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) said he's introducing a bill to ban pigeon feeding, with the goal of slashing the city's population of the birds.

"If people like pigeons, take them into their homes . . . and let them crap all over the place in your living room," Felder said outside City Hall.

If you do get busted feeding a pigeon, though, tell the cop you were just performing a public exhibition "in which animals are required to perform tricks."  So far, the only birds the city has gotten around to barring from public performance are eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, condors, emus, rheas, ostriches, and other "predatory or large birds."

Previously:
Nanny State Quote Of the Day
Son Of a...
Nannyism In New York (a Regrettably Continuing Series)
Nannyism Backfires
New York's Runaway Banwagon
iNanny
New York Loves the N-Word
Nannyism Is the New Black
Nannyism in New York