Crows discharge an unsightly scene as downtown businesses prepare to reopen
Monday marks the first day Rochester’s restaurants and bars have been allowed to reopen for in-person service in roughly two months. This weekend, downtown shopkeepers nestled around Third Street returned to their storefront to find an unsightly surprise: a coating of crow poop, up and down the sidewalks of the historic district.
Of course, the crow problem is not new to Rochester — for decades, the city of Rochester and Mayo Clinic have tried to battle the feathered fiends with little success. The timing of this latest aerial assault, though, has left a scattering of downtown business owners frustrated with the cleanup, with some taking to social media to vent their frustrations.
Rochester Downtown Alliance’s Clean and Safe program — partly paid for by a special service district (SSD) tax on downtown businesses — has beared the brunt of the criticism, with business owners wondering: on such an important day for their business, why do the sidewalks look this… shoddy?
Clean and Safe managers say that this winter has led to a “perfect storm” of sorts: normally, a fresh coating of snow breaks up the droppings, making it easier to shovel it out with the snow in one fell swoop. A relatively dry and warm winter, though, has left sidewalks snow-free — and an easy target for aerial assaults from the roosting birds.
“My understanding is that the amount of poop in those pictures that are circulating can accumulate in one night,” said Holly Masek, executive director of RDA, adding that crews have been unable to use their power washer — normally successful in summer months — due to concerns about turning sidewalks into ice skating rinks.
Masek and Clean and Safe operations manager Tom Claymon say that workers in their own department, as well as city and Mayo Clinic employees, have gone through the “end of the list” of ways to solve the stool situation, without success so far. The next strategy meeting is set for Wednesday, but for the next few days — at least — the brown brick of Rochester’s downtown may well have a white sheen to it.
“We don’t know the answers yet,” said Masek. “There’s evening prevention tactics, morning cleanup, and concerns about noise and water pollution that come with all of this… we’re trying to figure it out.”
Update: Mild temps allow for cleaning
On Tuesday, Clean and Safe crews could be seen power washing the sidewalks to remove crow feces from the pavement.
In an email to stakeholders, the RDA said the washing of crow “hot spots” was possible because temperatures had risen above the freezing mark.
In addition to its Wednesday meeting the Mayo’s maintenance team, RDA staff plan to meet again later this week with Mayo, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works to discuss various clean-up options.
The organization also plans to reach out to other cities experiencing similar issues to learn from their best practices.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
