NYC Deer Dies After Becoming Subject of Intense Political Attention Between Gov. Cuomo, de Blasio

By Ken MeyerDec 16th, 2016, 4:27 pm
 



A deer that caused a great deal of commotion earning local headlines around Gotham for the past few days has unfortunately passed away.

The animal was seen walking around Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem at the beginning of the month, possibly after it swam across the East River in hopes of finding a mate. From the moment it was spooted, it became the subject of much local scrutiny in New York media. Gothamist reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have been arguing with each other recently about the best course of action about the deer, as the political differences between the two spilled over to the case of the urban hoofed creature.

The animal was originally planned to be euthanized after it was captured by Animal Care & Control, though reports suggested that officials would relocate it up-state. Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker shed some light on why the plans might’ve been changed.

City spokesperson Natalia Grybauskas said this week, “The State’s position was that euthanization was the preferred route. Later, the State reversed years of their own policy and offered to help relocate the deer.” She continued, “The State itself has said it is not safe to relocate deer – and so the only humane and safe recourse is to euthanize the deer, and that will happen in the morning.” The city planned to leave the deer alone, but on Thursday it was caught after jumping a fence at the Polo Grounds Towers housing development in Harlem; it was promptly captured and tranquilized.

Unfortunately, NY1’s Michael Scotto reported a tragic end to the story today:

Watch a report on the deer in the video above, via New York Post.

[Image via screengrab]

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