Myrtle the Turtle, the poor creature that was spray painted in Williamsburg, possibly by construction workers at 5 Roebling Street, whose sad story we broke on Monday, made a bit of splash in the press yesterday. She was written up in amNY and Newsday (well, the same story), made 1010 WINS and Channel 2 (with no credit to GL for breaking the story and we even put them in touch with Myrtle’s people). There was interest from NPR and the story was carried on UPI. And, the story made the AP wire this morning. What’s interesting, of course, is that construction-related mess at 5 Roebling elicited nary a yawn of interest in mainstream media and oil pollution issues at the Roebling Oil Field across the street (aka Warehouse 11), didn’t get much traction either. Yet, Myrtle, as we suspected as soon as we got the photos, turned out to be one of those touchstone stories to which a lot of people can relate. Some even called her a symbol of the fallout of Williamsburg development. (Us, we’re still interested in finding out which developer of a building on N. 8 Street is said to have thrown a cat from the roof a few weeks ago.) Here are links to some of the coverage:
NYC residents angry over spray-painting of beloved turtle [AP]
Painted Turtle Angers Bklyn Neighborhood [amNY]
Heartless Pranksters Paint Brooklyn Neighborhood Turtle [1010 WINS]
Orange Turtle Blamed on Workers [UPI]
Painting of Turtles Angers Neighbors [WCBS TV]
Myrtle the Turtle: A Sad Little Burg Mini-Star is Born
May 7th, 2008 · 6 Comments
Tags: Animals · Williamsburg
6 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // May 7, 2008 at 9:33 am
So, has anyone contacted the actual contractors? Or is this public outcry just that, public/ press etc. Wouldn’t the developer want to hear all this poop about his people? And…
2 Anonymous // May 7, 2008 at 11:03 am
Turtle soup, anyone?
3 Ann // May 7, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Contractors killed my dog five years ago. It was barking at them when they were illegally tearing down a building next door. One of them took a fork lift and dumped a whole pile of bricks and cinder blocks on top of my dog in my yard. It was screaming and bleeding under the pie of rubble and all the contractors did was laugh at me and my husband as we tried to dig the poor dog out from under. She died before we could save her. And the police did nothing. So we called the county sheriff department and some deputies came by and arrested the contractors and they are going to jail for violating the state animal cruelty laws. How come the NYPD will not arrest contractors but the sheriff department will? Is the city trying to protect all developers or something?
Ann
4 Merry // May 9, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Ann,
I really feel for you. What a horrible, sad thing to happen to your dog and to your family. To the first poster, yes , the owner was contacted and denies any knowledge of his “crew” painting a turtle. Let’s see how he responds to the mounting vet bill.
This story isn’t a bunch of hot air. It is a disgusting symbol of greedy developers not even knowing what kind of workers are on his payroll.
To top it off, I doubt that Humane Law Enforcement officers will even give Myrtle back to it’s owner, for her to decide where she wants him to be. Sadly , the aspca will be the only agency involved in this matter. No cops, no detectives, no day in court for the perpetrators , or the landlord to answer to negligence in putting up a security fence with gapping holes in it. It totally sucks for everyone involved. Myrtle’s garden is a tiny patch of real live nature, right here in God forsaken Brooklyn. Is it really expecting too much to have these “temporary” workers to have a little human decency and respect for other creatures that were here first and will HOPEFULLY still be here when they go .
5 Rt // May 21, 2008 at 12:29 pm
that’s terrible about the turtle. what awful people are out there? and i just cant, cant believe those guys about burying a beloved pet in the backyard and laughing!
6 Mert The Turtle // Jan 14, 2009 at 11:12 am
My name is mert the tert. I love to swim in my tank. I love olives. I like to mate with goons. Goons roll harder than interstate truckers. Mike has a small wee wee. ?