A gull endangered by a careless smoker’s discarded lighter carried it away from a neglected section of the West Promenade. Marta Balla caught it in a photo.
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Photos courtesy of Marta Balla
“I saw this bird trying to eat a lighter,” Balla wrote.
“I hated seeing this poor bird so desperate to get this lighter. I tried to get the lighter, but it didn’t let me.”

From bottle tops to pen lids, seabirds consume plastic discarded by thoughtless humans.
Often mistaking plastic objects floating in the sea for food, the adult birds pick them up and then feed them to their young, with disastrous consequences.
Is it so hard discarding used objects in appropriate containers instead of just dropping them in public spaces? Birds aren’t the only ones endangered.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily
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- Queens Subway and Far Rockaway Stabbings Spur Police InvestigationsQueens subway and Far Rockaway stabbings on September 30 prompted separate police investigations and community response after two fatal incidents disrupted daily routines.
- Fatal Stabbing on J Train at Woodhaven Boulevard Spurs Subway Safety Concerns in QueensA fatal stabbing on J train at Woodhaven Boulevard raises fresh subway safety concerns in Queens, as NYPD investigates and riders reflect on recent incidents.
- J and M Train Weekend Service Changes: What Riders Need to KnowJ and M train weekend service changes will impact riders for five weekends as crews replace elevated track switches. Here’s what to expect and how to prepare for modified schedules across Brooklyn and Queens.
- Coastal Flooding Disrupts Southeast Queens Streets and TransitCoastal flooding disrupted streets and transit across Southeast Queens as a fall nor’easter brought heavy rain and renewed calls for resilience and improved drainage.
Who Does This?
At the June 18 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee, President and Chief Executive Officer B.J. Jones acknowledged that there had been no progress finding a tenant for the long-discussed medical space on Main Street. Hudson/Related Realty LLC had told him that filling the space, along with other vacant storefronts, was proving more difficult than expected.










