New York Today
The birding group has rebranded as NYC Bird Alliance because of John James Audubon’s connections to slavery.
Good morning. It’s Tuesday. We’ll look at a name change that has put a well-known birding organization on the right side of history. We’ll also see why the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says “we’re behind the eight ball” now that Gov. Kathy Hochul has shelved congestion pricing.
Last week a well-known New York birding organization, NYC Audubon, rebranded itself to be on the right side of history.
It changed its name to NYC Bird Alliance, dropping the reference to John James Audubon, the self-trained ornithologist and illustrator who was once a patron saint of birders.
He also enslaved people.
NYC Bird Alliance is not the only group that has abandoned the Audubon name. In the past few years, Nature Forward (formerly the Audubon Naturalist Society) has done so, as have some local chapters of the National Audubon Society, including those in Seattle and Chicago.
But Audubon’s name remains in other places in northern Manhattan, where he lived for about nine years before his death in 1851.
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