ORIGINAL: Brineymolly
If you fly in Central Park, Lincoln Karim will come after you with a vengence... He loves birds more than human beings, and protested churches giving out free Turkeys at Thanksgiving time to needy people. He and his followers are a force to be reckoned with (seriously)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Dec16.html
His website (Pale Male is the name of one of the Hawks)
www.palemale.com
Yup. It's a very real issue.
Yesterday, we were at the top of the tower of Belvedere Castle, the only other people there were birdwatchers, watching migratory hawks(I think)...they are a force to be reckoned with, even besides the famous Pale Male and co. on CPE.
But the other problem, not being able to fence off an area, is all-pervasive, too. You need to have some sort of designated flying area without people on it, or you are in violation of AMA rules(I think), hence no AMA insurance...any sort of organized activity needs insurance to get the permission from the Parks people. So, for starters, you would need a different policy from AMA.
But the DANGER from not having a cordoned-off area is very real. Like, you can hurt someone.
And, like someone pointed out, New Yorkers could give a damn about flimsy barriers, they will walk right across them!
If someone has some actual solutions, I'm all ears, though.