The "Bird Man" of Fifth Avenue, distraught over the destruction of a hawk's nest at a posh Manhattan apartment building, was arrested Tuesday and charged with harassing one of the building's celebrity tenants, CNN anchor Paula Zahn.
The arrest revolves, in part, around two homeless red-tailed hawks, named Pale Male and Lola, who've roosted on the residence for more than a decade – until the building's co-op board, whose president is Zahn's husband Richard Cohen, unceremoniously removed their nest last week.
During a protest outside the building Tuesday, Lincoln Karim, 43, said to be an animal-rights advocate who works as a video engineer for Associated Press Television News, was taken into custody after he was pointed out by Zahn's driver. Karim allegedly harassed her family for five days and made threatening comments to Zahn's 7-year-old son while he was walking his dog, reports Newsday.
Karim was charged with multiple counts of aggravated harassment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, AP reports.
Fellow bird lovers who protested his arrest followed Karim into the 19th Precinct station. They included building resident Mary Tyler Moore, who said she planned to get Karim a lawyer, according to New York's Daily News.
Zahn declined to comment, though it was she who ordered the arrest, according to the newspaper.
As for Pale Male and Lola, they are going home, where their roost is being restored – thanks to the efforts of the protestors.
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