‘Fowl’ play in rooster’s return to Ploughmans Bush | The Riverdale Press | www.riverdalepress.com

2022-07-30 17:26:54 By : Ms. Grace Zhang

As the rays of a summer sun’s horizon make their way into Riverdale windows near Independence Avenue, the sound more befitting of a upstate New York farm breaks the silence.

The rooster at Ploughmans Bush has returned. Or at least another one that looks a lot like the first one from 2021.

“I don’t want to spend the summer awake four in the morning — one of the guys I hear wake me up four in the morning,” Saul Scheinbach, one of the residents who has had enough, said about the rooster’s crowing.

It’s not only him who experiences early mornings. His wife, Judith Veder, wakes up from the 4 a.m. crower, too. Their loud neighbor has been involved in their lives for a while now, yet this was not the first time.

“She (Veder) comes up to me one morning and said ‘I think I heard a rooster.’ I said I don’t know, and the next morning I heard it,” Scheinbach said.

The pair found themselves in the same situation as 2021. Same owner, but, a different feathered friend. In that case, the rooster found a home upstate with the help of the Riverdale Y Sunday Market operator.

According to neighbor Ann Rauch who wrote a letter to the editor published by The Riverdale Press in 2021, the owner did not expect to hatch a rooster — it was an unexpected situation.

She believed it was a “home-grown project” that people often did during the pandemic. Many people bought or adopted pets for mere innocent entertainment for themselves or their children.

Yet, Veder doesn’t know why the owner did not take extra precautions when the eggs hatched, especially when they are crowing now and then.

“The acoustics are such that the sound bounces off the ground and comes right in our window terrace,” Scheinbach said.

Most nights, the couple sleep with their window open, which allows them to hear everything from a conversation on the street to a crow.

“This is indeed an unusual case, and last year was the first time I can recall where my office received complaints about a rooster in the community,” said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.

“People can’t have roosters in the Bronx, period,” the Assemblyman said.

He highly recommends that any complaints to be sent to the 311 information hotline.

Yet the cases do not always end the complainer’s way. Such as Veder, who found out on the morning of June 29 that her case was closed.

After waiting a week for the city’s  environmental protection department to visit the rooster’s home, they did not observe a violation of an illegal animal.

“What the heck is 311 for? My bet they never went!” she wrote to The Riverdale Press.

She had a similar situation to last year. Yet, the rooster is still crowing away.

According to 311, there are 83 animals as of last year that are illegal to be kept as pets — roosters are one of them. But in the bird family, hens are allowed in New York City.

In general, 311 complaints for illegal animals kept as pets dramatically decreased from last year, with a total of 579 compared to 198 from January to June this year.

Scheinbach says roosters are illegal in the Bronx mainly due to the loud noise they produce and fights. He claimed roosters are not friendly with one another. However, like people, every rooster is different with a different personality as well as a bit of competition with their better half — the hen. Yet, it still depends on the breed of the rooster.

“Roosters don’t get along with each other,” said Shira Silverman, who runs The Riverdale Y Sunday market.

Last year Silverman had a stroke of luck when one of the market vendors from the Orchards of Concklin in Rockland County agreed to take the rooster who had been causing a ruckus.

But they were a perfect match because, according to Rauch the vendor grew up with a rooster while growing up in Jamaica.

Silverman says the market has eight core vendors that come to the market on Sundays. Some come from as far as upstate.

She plans on asking around the market if anyone is willing to adopt the rooster — but she hopes the course of luck will fall into her lap once again. Although there are no promises yet.

But yet, the owner is not following her previous steps. However, the owner allegedly will let her pet go up for adoption.

Scheinbach says the owner cannot distinguish the animals from rooster and hen.

Especially because of the breed. As the roosters hatched in February, the birds are indistinguishable for the owner.

By the age of 12 weeks, the difference between the birds is recognizable as their feathers grow in.

The owner claims the animals need to run around outside of their pen to choose which is the noisy culprit.

Scheinbach hopes the owner will comply with the promise so he can sleep past four in the morning.

However, he jokes that he doesn’t hear one particular rooster as loud because the rooster is still practicing.

“The law is on my side,” he said.

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