CHICAGO (FOX 32 NEWS) – Residents of the city’s North Side Uptown neighborhood said it’s not that they have anything against birds, but when it’s this many birds… Yeah, it’s a problem.
“It’s nice that she feeding pigeons, but she’s creating a home for them and there’s hundreds of them,” Uptown resident Peter Wood, said.
There is 2012 cellphone video of Young Kang, better known as the “pigeon lady” of Uptown.
For years she has run afoul of city laws banning the feeding of pigeons and last week she was ordered to pay the price.
A city administrative hearing judge found Kang guilty of 10 ordinance violations and ordered her to pay $300 apiece. All in all, a total fine of $3,000.
It came after frustrated property owners installed a surveillance camera aimed at one of her favorite spots and documented Kang feeding the birds on multiple occasions.
“I see her coming along every so often,” Wood said. “She comes around 8:30 at night. Just kind of quietly slips in, throws some rice on the grass right here and then disappears.”
What doesn’t disappear, residents say, is the pigeon poop left behind on cars, sidewalks and buildings.
“My car is parked right by there where she drops it every time, so I got bird droppings all over my car, you know?” Wood said.
Other residents said they’ve seen an influx of rats and raccoons because of the food left on the ground.
This isn’t the first time Kang has been in trouble.
In 2012, Ald. James Cappleman (46th) told police Kang assaulted him when he tried to clean up her bread crumbs, prompting the City Council to raise the fines for illegally feeding birds.
We couldn’t find Kang to get her side of the story but residents are hoping this latest big fine will finally force the pigeon lady to fly the coop.
“I don’t want any harm to come to the woman who’s doing it. I know she’s doing it out of the goodness of herself but it needs to stop,” Anne Marie, an Uptown resident, said.
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