Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, July 23, 2003

THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN DUCKS SIGH

In an extraordinary example of human-animal communication, five ducklings were saved from uncertain death in Central Park’s sewers. The astonishing rescue took place last Wednesday afternoon, when the paths of two wandering parties—one duck, the other human—converged. The humans—Doug Blonsky, Jill Bristow, Neil Calvanese and Adam Kaufman—were on their way to the very last planning meeting for Saturday’s Central Park’s 150^th anniversary celebration, while Mama Duck, with her brood in tow, was mostly likely on her way to the park’s southern-most pond.

The trouble began just north of the Greengap Arch, when Mama Duck walked across a metal sewer grate with broadly spaced bars—an urban obstacle avoided by well-heeled Manhattan women and small children alike. Although Mama Duck could easily traverse the grate’s expanses, her brood’s little webbies were not yet wide enough to cross the gate without falling through the cracks. Upon hearing her first duckling fall, Mama Duck, realizing her miscalculation, began to sound the alarm, squawking loudly, trying to warn the rest of her brood away from the sewer’s too-wide grates. The ducklings however, were fresh from their imprinting period and could not help but follow in their mother’s footsteps. One after another, like lemmings, or Chevy Chase doing a President Ford imitation, the ducklings stumbled on the grate’s wide openings, and fell through to the muck-filled sewer below.

The squawking duck attracted the attention of some wandering tourists who, in turn, attracted the attention of Central Park Conservancy’s meeting-bound crew. Soon, there was a small crowd around the sewer grate.

"It was actually kind of cute when they fell," said Adam Kaufman, Director of Operations in Central Park. "They could have been in a Disney movie."

But where Kaufman and fellow humans saw classic slapstick comedy, Mama Duck saw a horror movie. When a chorus of ever-fainter duckling cries joined her wails, Kaufman realized that the situation required human intervention.

In preparation for the daring rescue, Kaufman removed his tie, his radio, and his pager. Removing the grate, he lowered himself into the catch basin and, like Indiana Jones extracting precious cargo from a pit of snakes, pulled each duckling out of the muck.

"The smell was disgusting," said Kaufman.

The rescue required some careful climbing. For the initial descent, Kaufman used the basin’s ladder, but in order to pull the ducklings from the slime, he was forced to improvise. Finding footholds in the wall—spaces left by loosened bricks—Kaufman was able to stand directly above the ducklings, so that they were easily within reach.

As each duckling was returned to its mother, Kaufman said he could swear he heard the mother duck sigh in relief. "I never realized how much they could vocalize their emotions," he added.

Doug Blonsky, Central Park Administrator and eyewitness to the event, admired Kaufman’s quick response. "It was amazing to see Adam spring into action. He didn’t hesitate to jump into the mucky catch basin to save the little duckies."

The scene ended happily, with the ducks heading to the pond, the humans heading to the meeting, and Adam Kaufman heading to the nearest men’s room, to wash his hands profusely.

"The more things change, the more they remain the same."

(1808-1890)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center