What to Expect if Wildlife Feeding is Criminalized in New York City Parks

Climate change has caused all kinds of weather extremes across the globe. Many wildlife species are pressured to adapt; many face actual extinction.

Even in a place like New York City which hasn't yet faced the worst of climate extremes, two harsh winters did result in many park birds perishing due to starvation.

The "Polar Vortex" of 2015 caused thousands of water birds all along the North East to starve to death on iced-over ponds and lakes that remained frozen well into March.  (In effort to save dying ducks, one town in Long Island resorted to purchasing huge bans of cracked corn to feed.)

During the winter of 2014, New York City received more than 60 inches of snow (the average yearly snowfall for NYC is 25 inches).
It was common to see mallards digging through foot-high snow in parks in effort to find food buried beneath.

Noting birds dying on the 90% iced-over Jackie Onassis Reservoir in 2015, I and a few other people took to going twice a day in effort to feed the starving. It was too little too late for some unfortunate ducks, coots and geese, but it did aid in saving the majority.

It is foolhardy and naive to think such harsh and deadly winters won't happen again in New York City.

Will City Parks send workers out to feed the starving?

Or will they say, "Let Them Eat Ice!" and plan for the next "Special Event? "

If the Wildlife Feeding Ban goes into effect, New Yorkers should anticipate seeing far more sights of the starving -- just like the ones in these photos.