Good morning. It’s Friday. Today we’ll look at a tattoo parlor in Brooklyn that offered original designs of Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl at a discounted rate.
Duke Riley, the owner of East River Tattoo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, had always been obsessed with birds in the urban landscape and closely followed the story of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl.
He never did get to see Flaco in person but had still been saddened when the owl died in February, he said.
Now, more than a dozen people have new tattoos of Flaco — whose escape from the Central Park Zoo and life on the loose enthralled New Yorkers — after Riley’s tattoo parlor offered original designs of the owl at a discounted rate on Thursday.
“I just wanted to give people an opportunity to sort of commemorate his life,” Riley said.
The tattoos are just one example of Flaco’s legacy. Fans have created T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise. Legislation that had been introduced in Albany that would require bird-friendly material to be used in more buildings in New York State was renamed the FLACO Act — “Feathered Lives Also Count.” The New York City Council introduced a bill that would deploy contraceptives to rodents in place of rat poison, in the hopes of shrinking the rat population and protecting wildlife, like Flaco, from being poisoned.
Despite the rainy, gloomy weather on Thursday, nine people stood outside the tattoo parlor before 11 a.m., waiting for the sign-up sheet to be posted. Ion Sokhos, a 45-year-old photo and video producer who lives in Boston, was one of those in line. He had arrived in the city the night before just for the tattoo.
Sokhos said that he had been captivated by Flaco’s story, that he generally loved owls for their silence and watchfulness and that he was a longtime fan of Riley’s work. Sokhos hopped in his car on Wednesday afternoon and drove more than four hours to get the tattoo. He said he had been shocked to learn that the artwork would cost just $150.
“It’s a hell of a bargain,” said Sokhos, who already has six tattoos. “I was prepared to pay four times that.”
Riley said that he typically charges $600 per hour but wanted to offer the tattoos at “a more approachable range.” He said he would donate all of the money he earned from the tattoos to the Wild Bird Fund, a New York City-based bird-rescue organization, and would let the other artists in his studio offering Flaco tattoos decide how much of their earnings to donate.
At least three other artists at the studio offered the tattoos, and Flaco fans could choose from at least seven original designs, which were posted on the parlor’s Instagram page.
Kari Nicolaisen, 29, said she had learned about the offerings from her sister, who sent her the social media post. Nicolaisen previously worked near the Central Park Zoo and saw Flaco in the park soon after he had been released.
She said that the bird represented freedom and that she had been drawn to him because of his beauty. “I’m glad that he survived so long,” she said.
She drew parallels between her life and Flaco’s caged life and said that in some ways, his freedom had inspired her to quit her job.
“It was just not the right place for me,” she said. “I didn’t see the outdoors during the day, didn’t have a window, and I think there’s just more to life than that,” she said. “You’ve got to live.”
Weather
Prepare for showers and a possible thunderstorm. It will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 65 degrees. At night, expect lingering clouds and a chance of showers, with a low around 50.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Apr. 23 (Passover).
Crime & Investigations
Politics
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Officials must apply to speak with mayoral staff members: Mayor Eric Adams will now require any elected officials, even powerful members of Congress, to fill out a lengthy online form in order to engage with members of his staff.
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Robert Menendez corruption trial: A federal judge ruled that Senator Robert Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, would stand trial separately on corruption charges after a postponement was granted for Ms. Menendez on the basis of a health issue.
Arts & Culture
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The “Muslim Met Gala”: Hasan Minhaj and Ramy Youssef joined hundreds of Muslims dressed to the nines at a morning prayer gathering in Washington Square Park for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.
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Resonant spaces: The composer Michael Gordon and members of the ensemble Mantra Percussion picked up their mallets and set out to find the best acoustics around the city.
More in New York
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Remote cashiers: A handful of New York City restaurants are experimenting with employing virtual hosts who dial in to work remotely from the Philippines via Zoom to greet customers onscreen.
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Search and rescue: A 33-year-old hiker went missing in the snowy Adirondack Mountains. New York State rangers saved his life.
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What we’re watching: On “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts,” the Times investigative reporter Kim Barker will discuss the case the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, will present against Donald Trump, and the Metro reporter Jan Ransom will talk about the city’s recent $28 million Rikers settlement. The show airs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. [CUNY TV].
METROPOLITAN diary
Very tired
Dear Diary:
I was on the F train and very tired.
I fell asleep and did that leaning-on-the-passenger-next-to-you thing that you see other people do and hope you never do yourself.
I apologized profusely to the unlucky woman whose shoulder my head had grazed.
“It’s OK,” she said.
Not five minutes later, her head was on my shoulder and she was snoring gently.
— Jan Weinstein
