Bell Environmental is pleased to be quoted (once again) by The New York Times as experts on bird control in its December 10, 2016 Real Estate section.

Why Quote Bell?

Because Bell Environmental has a division named Bell Bird Control which is comprised of experts in bird control and remediation.  We clean up bird problems (and all that they leave behind) and prevent new issues from emerging by installing customized systems for your office, hangar, museum, power plant, military base. condominium, stadium, railroad station, and other places where birds are pests.  Our Better Engineered Longer Lasting (Hope that catch phrase makes you remember “Bell.”) systems incorporate netting, electric sensors and track that protect your building through mechanical means, but are safe for birds.  Our solutions deter and prevent birds from returning.  While birds can be beautiful, the nests and guano they leave behind can be toxic to humans. No wants to nor should be exposed to the numerous health hazards caused by birds.

What Did The New York Times and Its Readers Want To Know?

Every week the New York Times responds to real estate questions from readers on practical topics that affect condo, co-op owners, and renters and finds experts who share advice on how to solve them. This week the question was “How Can a Co-op Shoo Away a Pigeon Complaint?”

How Can a Co-op Shoo Away a Pigeon Complaint?

Ask Real Estate

By RONDA KAYSEN

 Otto Steininger
Q. Our co-op on the Upper West Side is next door to a grocery store. Our back courtyard shares open space with the grocery store’s air vents and cooling system. Pigeons are nesting around the store’s cooling system, providing food for rats. Our co-op hired an exterminator, but so long as the nests remain, the problem continues. The store’s management company has not returned our calls. When we called 311, we received a warning from the city that our building was in violation of health codes and would face fines if the pigeon problem was not resolved. We called 311 again to explain. The operator opened a new service complaint, but we have heard nothing back. That was six months ago. What recourse do we have?hey’re finding shelter,” said Dan Brady, a project manager at Bell Bird Control, of Fairfield, N.J. “They build their nest and lay their eggs, and nobody can get them.”

A. The grocery store might be creating your pigeon problems, but the city could blame both parties for the droppings. “The mere presence of pigeon droppings in the courtyard is an unsanitary condition” and could be grounds for a violation, said Kempshall C. McAndrew, a real estate lawyer in the Manhattan office of Anderson Kill. The board should keep the courtyard free of pigeon droppings in case an inspector returns.

But as you have discovered, an exterminator cannot resolve the ongoing problem if the grocery store refuses to deal with the nests. “There is nothing that a pest control company can do without assistance from the store,” said Dan Brady, a project manager at Bell Bird Control, a company in Fairfield, N.J., that serves New York.

If the store does not own the property, try to contact its landlord to see if you can work out an agreement. Perhaps your co-op could share the cost of resolving the problem.

Mr. McAndrew advised that the board call the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene directly, bypassing 311. The health department should take the issue seriously, especially since the grocery store sells food. The board should photograph the area, documenting the nests as the source of the problem. It should also keep records of calls to the grocery store and of the exterminator’s efforts.

The city also regulates cooling towers, and the store’s cooling system might fall under these regulations. File a separate complaint with 311 about a possible cooling tower violation, Mr. McAndrew suggested, adding that the board could also sue the grocery store for an injunction and for monetary damages.