Rockland County bird breeder Pierre Brooks says he sold National Arts Club president Aldon James about 50 Australian zebra finches last week. On Sunday, dozens of dead baby Australian zebra finches with orange tags around their legs were found dead in Gramercy Park, right across the street from the club. And you'll never guess who local residents suspect is responsible for what they're calling "finchocide.”
An email circulating Monday pointed the finger at James, the self-described "Bird Man of Gramercy Park," who is rumored to be "eccentric" or, according to others, "totally crazy." (An unflattering DNAinfo profile on James in January included photos of the club's interior, which looks like an episode of Hoarders.) James reportedly rents out an apartment in the 19th century mansion to his brother for just $356 a month, and some say he uses other rooms to store piles of possessions. Another observer said the place was like a "looney bin."
But although Brooks, the bird dealer, admits selling the birds to James, he tells the Daily News his customer "is a very responsible person. I don't think he would do something like [leaving the baby birds for dead]." The ASPCA is investigating, and John Lund of the Empire Finch & Canary Club tells DNAinfo that Zebra finches "will survive outside, but it has to be in August." One Gramercy Park resident says she found one finch "cowering" on the park step in the rain. She ran home to get a shoebox for the bird, but it was gone when she returned. Or it was dead—she found the body of a finch nearby.
As for James, he denies having anything to do with the dead birds. Confronted at the club by a News reporter, he pointed to 13 finches in a cage in the lobby. But Brooks says he sold James about 50, and when the reporter asked where the others were, James claimed they were upstairs. But he refused to show the reporter. "I don't know how they got in the park," said James, calling it "an Agatha Christie mystery."
