As Flaco the owl is being memorialized at the New York State Historical Society, another bird visitor of note is making the rounds on the East Side. Unlike Flaco, whom some miscreant human helped escape from the Central Park Zoo, Astoria the turkey seems to have come to East Side out of her own volition. Her normal digs are Roosevelt Island. (She was named after Astoria, the neighborhood at the Queens end of the Queensboro Bridge.)
Needless to say, the image above is not of Astoria, but you’ll find video and stills in The New York Times.. The Times is on the case.
This is at least Astoria’s second visit to Manhattan. She was seen here last year, fashionably posing above the entrance of Saks Fifth Avenue. How she gets over the East River is not entirely known. Does she fly? Does she walk across the bridge? Does she take the Roosevelt Island Tramway, figuring she’d save some mileage on her wings ?
Anyhow, earlier this week she was seen on a balcony around 58th Street, between First Avenue and Sutton Place,
Astoria is not the first being to look across the river at the bright lights of Manhattan and think, “Looks more fun over there.”
Flaco had a good run. May Astoria’s last longer.