UPDATE: Friday, October 30 at 1:30 p.m.: Police, authorities from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and elected officials converged Friday afternoon at the building home to the water tower where a family of Barn owls has nested for the past month.
The building management was served with a cease and desist for any work connected to the water tower, an employee from the NYC Bird Alliance told West Side Rag. On Thursday, the building was given a verbal warning related to continuing work, but workers returned to the water tower on Friday.
Despite orders yesterday from the NYS DEC to cease work on this Upper West Side water tank, several workers appeared earlier today and lifted this wood panel onto the top of the tank and did other work. The DEC is here again. https://t.co/gXP98IMxzt
— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) October 30, 2026
NYPD officers entered the Upper West Side building on Friday, while a group led by Manhattan Borough President Brad-Hoylman Sigal and State Senator Erik Bottcher attempted to get answers outside of the front door.
The Barn owls were seen Thursday night on and around the water tower.
This remains a developing situation, please check back in for updates.
Original Story
By Gus Saltonstall
It appears there has been an eviction attempt involving some of the Upper West Side’s most famous new residents.
On Thursday, the roof of the water tower of a building on West 75th Street, between Columbus and Central Park West, where a family of Barn owls has nested since the beginning of October, was removed.
“Upon visiting the UWS barn owl roost today, I noticed that the roof had been removed from the water tower,” an anonymous tipster wrote to West Side Rag on Thursday. “There were no owls in sight.”
Jacqueline Emery, a well-known wildlife photographer, also sent in photos of a man taking the roof off of the tower.
“Such a disappointing and deeply concerning turn of events!” Emery wrote to the Rag. “We’re worried about the family, especially the owlets. One of them appears to be perching out in the open on a rooftop — not a safe place for a young owl.”
Here is what the water tower with the owls looked like prior to the roof removal.
5 Barn Owls on an Upper West Side water tower! 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉What an incredible Manhattan moment! So grateful to witness such fabulous wildlife right here in our city. See my previous post for a close-up!
#birdcpp, #NYCWildlife, #UrbanWildlife, #NYC https://t.co/2IMouFGwnd
— Anke Frohlich Photography (@_AnkeFrohlich) October 10, 2026
As mentioned by the popular social media account, Manhattan Bird Alert, there are laws against taking apart bird nests in New York State. Specifically, active nests of migratory birds are protected under federal and state law, and destroying one without a permit is prohibited. However, the details and reasoning for the roof removal of the Upper West Side water tower remain unclear as of Thursday at 4 p.m.
On Wednesday, J.F. Grossen sent in a video to WSR showing some sort of torch work that produced flames directly underneath the owls’ nest within the water tower. Now, a day later, the roof to the water tower is gone.
Video shared with West Side Rag shows torch work that happened on Wednesday, which produced flames and smoke directly underneath the Barn Owls’ nest on the Upper West Side.
Now, a day later, the roof is gone.
Video by J.F. Grossen https://t.co/fVbkb6wWqG
— Gus Saltonstall (@GusSaltonstall) October 29, 2026
It is also unclear if the owls will vacate the water tower now that the protective roof is gone.
“New Yorkers have spent the past month falling in love with this owl family, and we share their anguish and outrage today,” said Jessica Wilson, Executive Director of NYC Bird Alliance, in a news release. “We’re asking that all work stop now so these owls have every chance to survive, and we’ll keep working with building management, as well as state and federal wildlife officials to make sure they’re protected.”
Following West Side Rag’s first report about the Upper West Side Barn owls, their popularity has swept across the country. The family consists of two adult Barn owls and up to six owlets. The story of the neighborhood newcomers was covered by The New York Times, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, and others.
Barn owls are incredibly rare in New York City.
This is a developing story, please check back in for updates.
Read More:
- The Late-Night Birders Flocking to the UWS To Capture a Shot of the Resident Barn Owl Family
- Multiple Barn Owls Possibly Spotted in Upper West Side Building Courtyard
- Barn Owl Spotted Outside of Upper West Side Buildings: ‘Extremely Rare in NYC’
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
water tanks require regular mandated by the city maintenence and inspection. They also sometimes need to be replaced. Normally the work is done internally so the roof removal and use of welding torches would indicate structural issues.
Were they given a permit?
Do you think this could have waited?
Waited??? In guess you would have paid all the NYC Gov fines for not making needed repairs/replacement. As well as proved free water delivered to the residents to use
But the mob has already weighed in with their verdict!
In other words, you have no idea what happened.
Yeah, sure. Veteran City Dwellers know your post is nonsense!!
I can count on one hand how many times in my 64 years there has been any work at all done to these vintage rooftop water buckets.
We can thank the uninformed ‘citizen’ who reported the owls — but most of the blame goes to THE MEDIA which cannot help itself. They always seem to thrive on outing wild animal sightings and their locations.
Pathetic results due to pathetic, semi-educated Humans.
What on earth are you banging on about? This was simply a mean spirited attack on the owl’s nest. Hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Bill Williams is a bird hater who also thinks his “knowledge of water towers” is a flex.
I agree!
Likely the wotk of notorious UWS land lord, Brusco. Evicts
The Brusco’s do not own the building in question. The fact that they are being falsely accused here is libelous.
You clearly don’t understand libel laws and how they work.
If I am wrong I am wrong, but I think it is Adam Jernow that owns this building.
Horrendous and a crime!
If they destroyed the nest, especially if It was deliberate (as it seems it was), throw the book at these building owners.
I’m confused about where the nest was – was it underneath the roof of the water tank? If so, how did they get into the water tank? Was there a hole in the tank? And, is the nest still there, or is it gone. Gus we need more reporting 🙂
This building is so incredibly poorly managed. Look into its history. Last spring someone on their maintenance staff started filling up that water tower and forgot about it. It overflowed for hours on top of the building next door, causing extensive damage that affected every unit. I could go on for hours. They are the worst possible neighbors, and you can bet they do not give a single eff about those owls.
Someone also fell from that same roof and died in December 2025. No one investigated it. The birds are getting more coverage than the human.
The General would never have allowed this to happen!
Sounds like the Owls didn’t do their due diligence before signing the lease.
Glad there won’t be so many people hanging around the streets!
The photo in the October 9, Instagram post shows a water tank roof in poor condition – including a section open to the sky. Rooftop water tanks hold domestic [drinking, bathing] and firefighting water supplies pumped to the roof for gravity distribution to the building below. An open roof and nesting birds create an unsanitary water condition. The sparks in the video indicate metal repairs beneath the tank. It would not be surprising to see the entire tank removed and rebuilt in the coming days. The wooden tanks do not last forever and cannot be easily replaced in winter weather. Sadly, bad timing for owls and bird watchers.
Immediately replace the water tower roof and leave some tempting food on it; then prosecute the criminals. They must thrive on perverseness and the public’s hatred, as they can’t get any other sort of attention. If they don’t have anything positive in their lives except perhaps profit, then they think we shouldn’t either. Save these owls!
Does someone know the address of the building? I’m not seeing it in the reports, only that it’s on 75th near Central Park.
15 W. 75th, posted by brownstonedetectives on IG.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DenHXOyn1uB/
Ah, this news has made WNYC, and the district’s state senator is speaking up about it!
I am a resident of the UWS, and I am livid! Let’s SE THE PERSON, who had the final decision on this! It is OUTRAGEOUS! It’s The Grinch That Stole Christmas! Where did these precious birds go? This has evil written all over it. Imagine the ogre! Getting home for dinner sitting at the dinner table telling his little children what he did at work today! Them crying in outrage! BAH HUMBUG!💔💀🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉
The owls have entranced the entire community so I hope that the harshest penalty and fines are given by DEC. Obviously the water tower was not in use, so why couldn’t they wait a bit to allow the owls to be strong enough to migrate to a better landlord.
It was clear from the moment that the owl’s location inside a water tank was “outed”, that their home would be destroyed for human sanitary reasons.
Loved to death.
Jail!
Here’s a solution. Maybe Mamdani can mandate installation of owl boxes on rooftops as part of water tower repairs.
https://www.barnowlbox.com/?srsltid=AYCX9vLeQ7PfFkXgqXj1MhrhE9IkhiXrlR5slnwh9ZW1WzWAx_CA8yHU
I’m sorry to read this news, but my guess is that the building’s management decided that a family of wild animals living in/around their fresh water supply could be unsanitary.
I don’t know that’s true or not, but it reminds me of the case of Pale Male, the famous Red Tailed Hawk, who was nesting on stonework on 927 Fifth Avenue @ 74th Street years ago. The co-op decided didn’t want a hawk’s nest – and the associated rodent and pigeon bits that came with it – as part of their building. After a public outcry, they relented, restored the nest and the hawks stayed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/927_Fifth_Avenue
I don’t think they relented. I think they were legally forced to make accommodations. The same should occur here – together with legal prosecution of those who already caused harm.
The owls will find another home.
The improper and unpermitted removal of this nest is something I can agree with the urbanists on as something that is uncalled for and must be properly investigated!
I sincerely hope there was a structural reason why this happened, but part of me believes that a grinch is afoot. Some people love to be killjoys.