Barn owls could be removed from UWS home

I mean, barn owls could be getting ousted from their Upper West Side home. The construction workers have been spotted doing work on the water tower where the birds have been living. All right, and as Fox 5's Antoine Lewis shows us, it has sparked a lot of outrage in the community. A rarity here in New York City. They are a species of concern under state law. And this is a federal law that was being violated, the Migratory Bird Species Act. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman Siegel on hand this afternoon when state law enforcement delivered a second cease and desist order to management of this Upper West Side building where a family of barn owls has been nesting. It is believed the owls were calling the building's water tower home for several weeks until activists say construction crews started dismantling the tower days ago, leaving the fate of the owls in question. They could not allow workers to come back and keep working. But just this morning, as I was standing on Central Park West looking at the water tower, I saw workers climbing up the tower and continuing to dismantle that water tower in violation of what the Department of Environmental Conservation had ordered just yesterday. Barn Owl sightings in New York City are quite rare, which has sparked intense interest among New Yorkers. Wilson says the fledglings rely on their adult parents for food because they can't hunt for themselves just yet. That was their nest site where they've been growing up. Their parents come back to that site every night to feed them. Without nesting site gone now, there's nowhere for them to rest during the day. There's nowhere for them to hang out to wait for their parents. They could starve to death. The animal welfare folks need to go up there and construct some kind of coverage for the owls so that they can hopefully live. Then we need accountability for what happened. The people who ordered this work done need to be held accountable. They broke federal and state law. It's not clear why the water tower is being dismantled. Fox 5 made several attempts to reach the owners of the building to get some answers, and so far have been unsuccessful. Advocates say they will keep their eyes on this building because any sort of work activity on the roof of the building is in direct violation of the cease and desist order that is now in place. We'll keep you updated. Reporting from the Upper West Side, Antoine Lewis, Fox 5 News.