Today, The New York Times continues its coverage of Bird Week, a seven-day holiday we never actually knew existed until Tuesday, when Mike Tyson told us all about it. But now that we've been "revisiting the city’s avian history" along with the paper, turns out there's actually some pretty crazy stuff to be found. For example! The tale of the concrete eagle head that rose anew from the remains of the original, not-so-heinous Penn Station many moons ago.
As legend has it, from 1910 until 1963, Penn Station was overseen by twenty-two majestic concrete eagles, who were beacons of justice, hope, and general patriotism until the building was totally demolished and renovated as a smelly cesspool (take a look at what it used to look like here). So, Albert Fritsch did what any Pennsylvania Railroad mechanic at the time would do, and took home one of concrete heads of the broken eagles, which was otherwise due for an appointment with a Jersey landfill. (As for the lucky few sculptures that did survive, they are currently spread out between downtown Manhattan, Long Island, and, annoyingly, Philadelphia.)
Fritsch's head has remained in his family's hands in Poughkeepsie since he brought it home, making a semi-permanent roost in the front lawn. His granddaughter, curious about the history of the head, brought it to the attention of railroad historian David Morrison, a curious-sounding man who's devoted some serious time and effort to researching the eagles. He alerted the NYC Transit Museum, who is considering adding the head to their "Once and Future Pennsylvania Station" exhibit, taking place at...Grand Central. Oh, Bird Week, you are just full of surprises!
