Red-tailed hawks and the birds of Gramercy

A pair of winter visitors

In January 2026, the Gramercy Park Block Association shared neighbors’ sightings of two red-tailed hawks in Gramercy Park, described in the letter as an adult and a juvenile. The birds had been seen in the high branches and on surrounding architecture.

The photographs prompted a familiar neighborhood conversation: who had seen them, where they had perched, and what they might do next. They also brought back memories of another hawk.

Remembering Ruggles

In 2009, neighbors took part in naming a visiting red-tailed hawk. Ruggles, in honor of the Park’s founder, became the chosen name. A 2014 retrospective from the Block Association gathered that season’s reports, following the bird through several sightings and updates.

The January 2026 letter wondered whether the new birds might be descendants.

2021 · Another season of sightings

A May 2021 newsletter provides a chapter between Ruggles and the later pair. It shared hawk photographs by Grace Dabi and Sergio Noriega, along with a video by Michael Gerbino. The letter recalled the 2009 naming vote while inviting neighbors to notice the bird visiting then.

The records establish repeated sightings over the years.

A longer record of observation

The 2014 retrospective credited former neighbors Dennis and Sandy Kisiel, whose observations and journal helped residents discover the variety of birds using the Park. The Block Association worked with them to share that material.

The retrospective’s heading describes more than one hundred species. The surviving four-page list itself totals 99 species, including 14 resident or seasonal birds, and says it began in September 2006.

Their journal describes the contributions of neighbors who spotted unusual birds and shared what they saw. The record is as much a story of patient attention and a community of observers as a list of names.

A neighborhood that notices

Bird sightings are one of the ways neighbors share their experience of Gramercy. The January letter invited photographs and encouraged people to watch from a respectful distance without feeding wildlife.

Park access remains under the Trustees’ authority. The story of these visitors does not change the distinction between the Park itself and the public streets around it.

December 2009 · Another visitor

A December 8, 2009 letter shared Alan Kleinberg’s photograph of a young red-tailed hawk across from 34 Gramercy Park East. Arlene Harrison wondered whether it might be related to the hawk neighbors called Ruggles.

That relationship was a question in the letter, not an identification. The photograph adds another dated observation to the neighborhood’s long record of looking up.