One very confident wild turkey briefly owned a Staten Island intersection on Wednesday, strutting into a crosswalk and making an MTA bus wait its turn. The bird stepped onto the painted lines at Victory Boulevard and Forest Avenue, lingered near a roadside poster, and kept moving while commuters watched the bus roll to a full stop and yield. After asserting its right of way, the turkey wandered off without so much as a ruffled feather.
Turkey vs. Bus at Victory Boulevard
According to People, which cited a SILive photo by Andrew Bellah, the standoff unfolded when bus #8256 braked at the intersection and the turkey ambled over to inspect an advertising poster for the Museum of Sex mounted above the bus's front bumper. Witnesses told SILive the bird was in no rush, taking its time in the crosswalk and appearing completely unfazed by the growing line of vehicles. Drivers ultimately gave the turkey the right of way, the bird finished its slow roll across Victory Boulevard, and it all wrapped up without incident or citations.
How Staten Island Got Its Flock
Staten Island's wild turkey population traces back to domesticated birds that were reportedly released near the South Beach Psychiatric Center in the late 1990s. State officials began tracking the flock in the early 2000s as the birds settled in and expanded their range. NY1 notes that turkeys often gather near Staten Island University Hospital on Seaview Avenue and have previously slowed traffic on nearby roads. Relocation efforts by the Department of Environmental Conservation and animal-control groups have produced mixed results, so residents and officials are still left managing the occasional bird-related traffic jam.
Officials and Neighbors
Past attempts by animal-control groups, conservationists, and state agencies to control or relocate the flocks have met with uneven success, and many Staten Islanders now see turkey encounters as equal parts nuisance and neighborhood charm. The bold bird that halted bus #8256 walked away unharmed, and no tickets were written, People reports, adding that the outlet reached out to the Staten Island Police Department for comment. Drivers described the scene as more amusing than alarming, while officials continue to weigh humane options for those moments when birds wander from the brush into the bus lane.
Similar sagas have unfolded elsewhere in the city. Hoodline previously covered Astoria the Turkey disrupting Manhattan rush hour last year, a reminder that urban wildlife can rewrite the commute at any time. For now, Staten Island drivers and their feathered neighbors are back to a wary truce at the crosswalk, and the unofficial rule of the road seems clear: when a turkey steps out, the city stops.
