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The co-op board of 927 Fifth Avenue and the Audobon Society have agreed on an arrangement that would allow NYC's new favorite family, Pale Male and his red-tailed hawk brood, to return to the posh Fifth Avenue building's perch. After many days of protest and media coverage, 927 Fifth agreed to the construction of a protectivestructure that would prevent debris from the nest from falling. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission must approve the design, but it's expected to give the okay. Yes, the LPC probably doesn't want to deal with the bad press of preventing protected birds from making a home in the city.
And in protester news, Pale Male admirer/activist, Lincoln Karim who maintain the PaleMale.com website, was charged with stalking 927 Fifth Avenue co-op board first lady, Paula Zahn, yesterday. There have been a number of incidents where Karim has approached Zahn's children (including telling her 7 year-old son with co-op board president Richard Cohen, "Your parents are going ot pay for this"), and last night, Karim was charged with harrassment, stalking and endangering the welfare of a child. Protesters made their way to the 19th Precinct, where they thought Karim had been arrested on civil rights issues; Mary Tyler Moore also went to the station house.
Gothamist hopes that Pale Male, Lola, and all the other pigeonavores enjoy their Fifth Avenue digs once again. Now, onto stories of human-vs.-human apartment conflict.
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That "Protestor" needs to get a clue. Protesting is one thing, being a Stark, foaming-at-the-mouth, raving lunatic is sonething else.
Geez. If he did what they say, I hope they throw the Book at him.
I posted in another thread yesterday about how animal defenders are often socially retarded as far as human relations go. Thankfully, this moron proved the point to the letter. Lincoln Karim approached a 7 year old and threatened them? I hope he gets hell.
And for those who care, go to the Pale Male site http://www.palemale.com/ and read the self-congratulatory "Yesterday a little 4 year old girl..." entry where he praises himself via the words of a child.
Two faced and hateful man.
People should be careful about taking these charges at face value. The idea of Lincoln Karim endangering a child is frankly ludicrous. He loves children and spends most of his days off letting children in central park look through his camera lens and answering their questions about hawks. He counts children of 927 Fifth Avenue among his friends (read what he's written about the children of 927 on palemale.com).
He is determined and passionate about the hawks, no doubt about it, and he is angry at Cohen and the board. But he is no loony. On the contrary, he is an extremely kindhearted person.
I have been at the vigils every evening, and though I don't spend every second shadowing Lincoln, I have never heard him shout anything but "bring back the nest!" and "put back Pale Male's nest!" I witnessed the incident last week where he crossed the street chanting "bring back the nest" while a child was present (who turned out to be Zahn and Cohen's child). It was an ill-advised thing to do, and he should have stayed on the side of the street where we had a permit. (I immediately went over and spoke to the doorman, apologizing for Lincoln and asking him to please pass our apologies on to the building residents.) Was Lincoln's move dumb? You bet. Did he threaten anyone? No.
I would also like to note that at least one uniformed police officer has been present at the protest site every time I've been there. Anything Lincoln might have done was very likely in full view of an officer, who would have intervened if something illegal was going on.
Lincoln is a black man with a West Indian accent (he is from Trinidad). I wonder, if I (little white girl) had crossed the street shouting "bring back the nest," would I be under arrest for endangering a child? Somehow I doubt it.
As I said, I don't shadow Lincoln every second of the day, but I do know him as a kind person (I cannot say the same for Cohen), and I have not seen him threaten anybody at the protests. I urge everyone to wait until all the facts are in before judging him.
Jo, while I somewhat applaud your blind praise at him, as someone who has friends who have been abused in their life, I want to lay down some harsh reality.
It's rarely what some woud describe as "bad people" who do bad things. Most abusers are not dirty filthy old men who decide to just hate kids. Some people who are the nastiest to children are the closest to them. Friends and family are often the perpetrators of horrible crimes. And caretakers of children are no angel.
One needs to think of the foster care system. And even look at Michael Jackson. Superficially, some people "care" for children, when all they are doing is simply--and possibly unconsciously--putting themselves close to kids.
Maybe Lincoln has some unresolved childhood issues. Taken objectively, just look at the Pale Male page he maintains. He's the ultimate hero of all his tales and others are always the perpetrators.
In the case of this charge, you really need to think about something. Had the charges just been levelled based on Lincoln harassing adults, that's one thing. But I don't think that given the high level of attention this hawk issue has taken, anyone would willfully use their own child as a pawn. Logically speaking since some have painted Paula Zahn as "evil", what would she gain by placing her child as a pawn in the middle of all of this? I don't think she's that evil and frivilous. Logically if this is a bluff on her part she can only lose and lose dearly. Lose respect for herself and damage her child.
As much as I admire Lincoln's tenacity in saving a bird, he seems like an imbalanced attention whore who's personal validity in the world is threatened by the loss of this bird.
People here are "Law & Order" fans, right? Briscoe could say a few things about this.
Captain Oblivious, your name suits you. You say Jo (whom has commented extensively on this site as well as others as to the predicament of Palemale, so much in fact that her name is familiar to me because I have followed the story) has blind appreciation/praise for Lincoln, yet she has met him and you have not. How is praising someone you have been protesting side by side with for over a week, for hours at a time, a "blind praise"? She certainly knows him and the story better than you do, especially considering you are comparing Lincoln's charges to Michael Jackson's, which is like comparing, well....a sane person and yourself. The palemale story has nothing to do with abuse of children, Michael Jackson, or your abusive past. And as for the hero of Lincoln's website, that would be clear to anyone who browsed it: Pale Male.
Captain Hates The World,
Once again you prove ignorant, calling Jo's praise "blind", when she's met the fella and you haven't. What are you thinking? What is wrong with you?
Have you ever been passionate about anything in your life? I bet Lincoln would rather get arrested for something he cared passionately about by a b1tch like Paula Zahn, than have a cold black heart that spews oil like yourself, who is not passionate about anything and posts bile on Internet message boards.
Mary Tyler Moore defended and gave him her lawyer anyway, and she gets my vote. Plus, the Richard and Paula have been lying the whole time (the "dangerous" nest which has been fine for 11 years with how many offspring? and if they were so worried, they couldn't make it safe 5 years ago like they are going to now)
"Captain Obvious", the only thing that's obvious is that you were indeed abused, because you're so mean spirited (curious if the abuse was cause or effect)
Captain Obvious wrote, "I posted in another thread yesterday about how animal defenders are often socially retarded as far as human relations go."
Pot, kettle, black.
Does anyone know if Pale Male and Lola are still around today? I am worried and I havent seen any recent comments as to their activity.
Nice to see the feelings of a 7 year old child take the backseat to the feelings of a couple of birds.
It just continually proves what I've said before. And like I said before, that hawk should just move to New Jersey. Let's see how Lincoln would feel then.
There are folks in the world that want to dominate conversations. Captain Obvious is one of those, and I bet s/he didn't write one letter or make one phone call for the resolution of this 'hawk' topic.
I also have found the gentleman discussed to be polite, and caring of everyone. His work has been most helpful in letting concerned citizens know where to offer supports in emails and how to get to the Audubon Society's petition. I think it's time to let snarkers fade away without a direct response and to continue to support the calm and respectful thanks for all the hours given by many to the successful resolution of this topic.
Sally, can you explain why you are blind to the fact that threatening a 7 year old child is nothing to dismiss so quickly?
Do you really think Paula Zahn is that selfish that she would use her own child as a pawn in a battle over a birds nest?
Sally, I did not see the hawks today, but I was not uptown until 4:30. Frederic said he had not seen them today either.
I want to say again that what Lincoln did (crossing the street and yelling "Bring back the nest" when a child was there) was anything but praiseworthy. It was stupid and wrong and he should not have done it. Had anyone known he was crossing the street in time to stop him, they would have.
Tonight Frederic told me that Lincoln had felt so bad about it that he had written a card to the child saying he did not mean to scare him (the card would have been received by Monday).
After that incident, Lincoln kept to the west side of fifth avenue and did not approach people entering or leaving the building, to my knowledge. On the night that four of us were walking back and forth near the service entrance (in view of a police officer and a private security guard), we were very careful not to obstruct anyone's path or come close to them.
I wasn't witness to the encounters that allegedly happened between Zahn and Lincoln at other times, so I can't speak about those firsthand. I presume there were witnesses, however, and again I would urge people to wait until all facts are heard before rushing to brand Lincoln some sort of unbalanced stalker.
The charges reported in some of the newspapers about blocking an entrance and speaking directly to a child appear to refer to incidents I witnessed and, if so, they are inaccurate. There were several witnesses, whose testimonies will, I'm sure, paint a fuller picture of what occurred should the case come to trial.
Bruce Nussbaum just published a thoughtul commentary about Pale Male in BusinessWeek.
Ok, Ignoring the Silly name calling: See Lincoln Karim's quoted words here at the NY Daily News.
To Wit:
"I'm sorry. I knew I should not have gone after the kids. I was trying to get my point across," they quoted him as saying.
Look, Good man or Not (I don't know him, nor do I care to), He menaced a 7 year old child. If I were in his parents shoes, an arrest would be the least of his concerns. Oddly,I think a childs safety overides his "Free Speech". He rushed a child and screamed like that, at the very least I'd push him away as violently as I can manage with he intent of preventing him from getting back up. Preferably with a Baseball bat or other solid object. Is that a violent responce? Absolutly. I'm not a forgiving person when it comes to the welfare of a child. Also, I'd rather pay a Lawyer than a doctor or worse, a Mortician. After this "incident", It is my fondest wish that this child's parents sue this man and at the very least, mandate Psycolgical Terapy.
The incident with the child happened in view of dozens of witnesses, so I wonder: if it was that menacing, why was no action taken against Lincoln until five days later?
I've had enough experience with the taboids to be wary of their version of events.
Could be lots of reasons:
Even with "Media Spin" on it: IMO, repeat IMO, he harrased a little boy.
I think at the least, he ought to be ashamed of himself. If he has kids, What sort of example is he setting by hrrassing and Screaming at a 7 year old boy?
The website http://www.palemale.com is lacking any info on the matter other than an odd, Cryptic "If you love something dearly you shouldn't mind suffering in its honor"
Now I'm confused. Does this Guy think he's a "Martyr" for the "Cause"??
Oh, I'm really going to pay for this one, but See here for a sound bite of what I think people should say to this guy...
;)
Anna Lembke, I have no idea if you've ever dealt with real victims of real crimes/incidents before but here is the deal. 9 times out of 10, the first time and even the second time someone harasses someone goes unreported. We're all adults, and I think there is a common assumption that "Well, unless it gets worse I'm going to try to deal with it on my own." Frankly, that makes sense. Otherwise the courts and precincts of this city would be filled with people crying about the sky falling.
Whether it is the right move or not, that is life. People often try to deal with issues on their own before going elsewhere for help.
Add to that the fact this inicident involves a child, and that's something else. If an adult is harassing another adult, it takes only one person the willpower to get something done. If a child is harassed, you have to factor in the pain the process itself will bring towards that child. It's scary enough to deal with the legal system as an adult. With a child? It's quite nightmarish.
Which is why I said previously, I doubt these claims are false since any parent knows that subjecting a child to such false claims will only damage them more. And if these claims are false, what does Paula Zahn gain from this? A traumatized child and a record that shows she's willing to falsify testimony and include her own child in the mess.
As far as "freedom of speech" goes, it's never been a one way street. The protestors have the right to their opinion. But that does not shield them from responsibility if their actions cross the line. Harassing a child is not a right granted by freedom of speech. And Lincoln Karim has at this point clearly admitted guilt to this act despite the fact that others are still blindly defending him.
As far as the other protestors go, regardless of personal views go I think they could do better than dealing with Lincoln Karim and his bizarrre behavior. If this is the best you can do, you hurt your own cause. And just because he's the webmaster of a Pale Male site does not mean he's a valid voice. Anyone with less than $50 can start a website and publish what they will.
Friends of Pale Male need to find new friends themselves. Just go to the official Pale Male page (http://www.palemale.com/). If he's innocent of these charges the fact the whole page has been virtually deleted and replaced with a semi-maudlin "If you love something dearly you shouldn't mind suffering a little in it's honor." should tell you something. This guy fancies himself a martyr, shows no guilt in his actions towards a child, and is willing to sidetrack the whole fight for his own personal vanity. Enough is enough. What was done to the hawk's nest is one thing. What an adult has done to a child is another. May Lincoln Karim get locked up so he can get the help he needs.
Very Well written.