So how unhealthy is having piles of pigeon feces several inches thick between platforms at JFK? And lots of it on the platforms themselves? There’s no doubt there’s a pigeon situation at the station. As much as my heart is warmed by the thought of Frida and Diego nesting in the rafters, there is a real problem between the tracks. If you’re standing on the platform directly beneath the station, next to the stairs, look up. There is obviously some serious nesting going on up there, with not only loads of bird droppings dripping down but bird bits, parts of dead pigeons hanging there as well.

So what’s a little bird poop, right? Well, according to birdbarrier.com, there is some risk of airborne disease due to inhalation of fecal dust:

“As bird feces and/or the contaminated soil it rests on, dries or is disturbed, microscopic pieces break off and become airborne. These airborne particles can contain dormant fungi and/or bacteria. When breathed into the lungs, the warm, moist environment of the lung lining provides a breeding ground for the infectious agents. Common symptoms of this type of infection are flu like in nature: coughing, elevated temperature, restricted breathing and general body fatigue, and last roughly two to four days. The vast majority of the time, the bodies defenses will contain the invaders even before minor symptoms appear but in a small percentage of cases, major infection causing long term disability and even death occurs. It is worth noting that there is no known medical cure for internal fungal infections. After the Northridge earthquake, several thousand people came down with flu like respiratory symptoms. The ailment was called Valley Fever and was caused by people breathing in dust and airborne debris filled with histoplasmosis spores and related fungal agents stirred up by the earthquake.”

Can you imagine how much of that dried up feces is being stirred up by trains coming and going?

Now, I’m not really that concerned, but a little effort on the part of the T to control the pigeon population in stations like JFK, or at the very, very least, to clean up bird feces regularly, would be a step in the right direction. A little bird crap? No problem. But piles of it inches thick, and dripping from the rafters is a bit much, don’t you think?