Birdhouses on 81st Street Vandalized and Stolen

For the past five years, all the trees on East 81st Street between York and First avenues have been decorated throughout the summer with colorful and creative birdhouses. This annual tradition, known as the Birdhouse Community Project, is an initiative of the Yorkville 81 Block Association—a collective of individual volunteers and local businesses whose mission is to improve quality of life and build a sense of community on the block. This week, members of the Association and other neighbors were saddened to discover that four of the birdhouses were damaged and one was stolen.

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At 8 a.m. on Sunday, Association member Justin Shea received an email that some of the birdhouses had been dropped on the ground and broken. Shea, who lives on the block, immediately went downstairs and found that one birdhouse was gone, one had its roof fully pulled off and is beyond repair, and three were mildly damaged and easily fixable.

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There is currently no information about who vandalized the display. “I hope it’s just a one-off thing,” said Shea.

In the Birdhouse Community Project’s five years, the only other act of vandalism took place in September 2020. Video surveillance from a building on the block caught a woman removing the birdhouses with wire cutters in the middle of the night and throwing them in garbage bags to be picked up that morning. In an attempt to figure out who the vandal was, members of the Association posted flyers with the culprit’s image, but those were also removed and replaced with handwritten letters from someone claiming to be the vandal. The letters said the project violates NYC Parks Department rules and regulations, that the birdhouses are tacky eyesores that harm the trees, and that birds don’t actually use birdhouses, among other bizarre statements.

Shea doesn’t believe the same individual has anything to do with this weekend’s incident because they “ended on good terms” and she was even ready to pay restitutions.

Shea voiced his frustration that the Association now has to buy more materials to fix and re-hang the three mildly damaged birdhouses. He’s considering hanging them higher to reduce the chances of future damage.

“People don’t realize how much effort, work, and care goes into maintaining the birdhouses, hanging them, and taking them down,” Shea told us. He acknowledged the volunteers who take the project seriously and put their hearts into painting the birdhouses.

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Whenever passersby walk along the block and see Shea or other Association volunteers doing work on the birdhouses, they compliment and express their appreciation for the project. Shea shared, “It’s frustrating to see someone intentionally destroy something that brings so much joy to the community. Barely does a week go by that I don’t see someone, especially families with young children and babies in strollers, pointing up at the birdhouses and admiring them.”

The Yorkville 81 Block Association appreciates the outpouring of support and encouragement from the neighbors following the vandalism. Shea asked that neighbors keep an eye out for suspicious activity and to reach out to the Association if they observe any.

Follow the Yorkville 81 Block Association on Facebook or Instagram.