Dirty Birds at City Hall or Much Ado About a Little Guano?

The white on City Hall's pillars are not snow. It's guano from pigeons that roost above.

It is not new and The Reporter does not recall ever seeing it cleaned up.

Mayor Paul A. Dyster has done little to improve the outward appearance of the peoples' building. In summer the lawn is unkempt and full of weeds, the shrubbery is in poor condition and there are virtually no flowers in season. This in spite of the fact that Dyster claims to be close to the Beautification Commission and has fought to give them taxpayer's money. One would think they could adopt the building and beautify the property for their beloved and generous leader. It's also strange that His Honor never gave a contract to a friendly campaign supporting landscaper to take care of the grounds. Conversely the mayor spent $465,000 of casino money to pave the parking lot at City Hall during late paving season last year, a poor timing choice that led to the cost being as much as double what it would have cost had it been bid out during the winter and planned for execution in the early Spring when contractors are hungry for work. Indeed the proof that the timing was bad was that only one contractor bid on the parking lot paving - coming in at what we believe was a highly inflated price. The publisher of this newspaper paved a similar sized lot in Niagara Falls for less than half the price.

Meantime, simple maintenance like cleaning up guano goes undone and perhaps unnoticed. One city hall insider says the accumulated bird droppings and the wafting of its smell inside the corridors when the doors open adds atmosphere to the building.