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Wild Turkeys of Staten Island, NYC -- Al Jazeera America

In 2009, a local resident abandoned 9 turkeys near the South Beach Psychiatric Center in Staten Island New York. Having no natural predators and an abundant food source, the turkeys have grown to a population of over 100 today. Legislation prevents community members from either feeding the turkeys or harvesting them. The NYDEC has performed community surveys, tracked and tagged the turkeys, but has failed to adequately find a home, politically and socially, for the turkeys. Unable to survive on their own, the turkeys can not be relocated and reintegrated into the wild, but are thriving in the urban environment. The turkeys exist in legal and existential isolation, a loophole of urban bureaucracy. The feral turkeys offer us an opportunity to rethink our relationship with wildlife, not for their sake, but for our own.

In collaboration with Mehan Jayasuriya, Heather Velez, Yoonjo Choi, and Tak Cheung, I worked on creating a speculative Park for the feral turkeys and their human neighbors. The project consisted of entrance signage, hiking maps, and informational placards. We also built a web component for the park at http://statenislandturkeynationalpark.org. The website provides contextual information, activities for the public, as well as future improvements to the park. Proposed future developments to Turkey National Park include a Turkey Bridge and a Companion Species Rehabilitation program with local residents of the South Beach Psychiatric Center.

Turkey National Park was featured in a recent story by Al Jazeera. click here for and archive of the story.