IRVING PARK — In a battle to keep the Irving Park Blue Line stop free of pigeon poop, State Rep. Jaime Andrade Jr. recorded himself asking two people to stop feeding the pigeons there.
But one woman, with a bag of rice in her hand, defiantly cursed at him and proceeded to feed the pigeons during the politician’s Facebook Live video.
“She literally threw the rice under the sign that says it’s a $500 fine to feed the pigeons,” Andrade told Block Club Chicago Tuesday afternoon. “The frustrating part is, if people keep feeding the pigeons I will never be able to solve this situation.”
Since last Thursday, both Ald. John Arena (45th) and Andrade, a Democrat who represents the state’s 40th District, have posted images of city crews power-washing the CTA station.
The two men have been coordinating the cleanup of the station while trying to find a “a long-term solution” to “chronic pigeon issues” at the location, according to Arena’s office.
So running into two people going out in the middle of the night to feed the pigeons, after city crews had powerwashed the area, was very frustrating, he said.
Andrade went live on Facebook around 12:55 a.m. Tuesday to follow up with the crews scheduled to continue power-washing the Blue Line stop overnight.
The video begins with him getting into his car and heading to a Dunkin’ Donuts, before heading to the CTA train station. Once Andrade arrives at the Irving Park Blue Line station he becomes upset with the fresh pigeon droppings on the sidewalk.
“That was power-washed on Thursday. Oh man, I can’t believe it. Someone just fed the pigeons. Just fed them,” he said. Next, the video shows him looking around the area and then walking over to a dark SUV with a man and woman inside of it parked by station’s bus turnabout.
The woman responds by saying that the birds don’t need to be killed and aggressively yells profanities at Andrade as he continues to film her. In the video the SUV appears to have multiple bags of rice in its trunk, and the woman is seen carrying a bag of rice as well.
Confrontation begins at the 35-minute mark:
Check out the full story at blockclubchicago.org