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The Buzz Animal Planet: With red-tailed hawks seemingly taking up residence in Downtown green spaces everywhere, from Tompkins Square to Stuyvesant Town, it would be only fitting that Washington Square Park have its own hawk, too. Apparently, it now does. Dave Lawrence, manager of Washington Square’s small dog run, said that on Dec. 18 a senior woman asked him to take a look at something in a tree, which turned out to be the raptor — which was devouring a pigeon. “The lady and I watched the incredible bird feeding for about 10 minutes,” Lawrence said. “We pointed it out to a number of people walking by and a group of us stood there marveling as one women took pictures with her camera phone. It really was a very large bird. After about 10 minutes or so, it finished and opened its wings and flew off north. I would guess its wingspan at about 5 feet. In my 25 years in Washington Square Park I have never seen anything like this.” Lawrence said he’s been spotting the avian predator in the park regularly ever since — frequently by the children’s playground. (Fear not parents: We’re told as long as your children are bigger than a pigeon, they’re perfectly safe.) On Tuesday, he took the above photo of the well-fed-looking hawk overlooking the fountain. Lawrence thought it might be none other than Pale Male, the famous Fifth Ave. red-tail. But, as far as we’ve heard, Pale Male hasn’t ditched his tony Upper East Side digs. Warner Johnston, Parks Department spokesperson, said it was unlikely that it was Pale Male. The birds tend to hunt within a clearly defined range. Johnston said he hadn’t heard about a red-tailed hawk in Washington Square, but that there are quite a lot of hawks out there now, including 10 in Central Park alone. Any bids for a nickname for the new bird: George? Archie? Bones of contention: On Dec. 20 he Department of Buildings lifted the stop-work order at the Trump Soho condo-hotel construction site at Varick and Spring Sts. D.O.B. said it was satisfied that Trump and his partners had reached out to the Presbyterian Church regarding the historic bones found at the site, where the Spring Street Church stood until the early 1960s. Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, was outraged. He said the site should have undergone a full archaeological inspection by an independent archaeologist, not one hired by Trump & Co. “The city is sweeping this under the rug — a 45-story rug,” Berman fumed. O Mistress gone: Tim Gay, former Chelsea Democratic district leader, called us to lament the closing of O Mistress Mine at Seventh Ave. S. and Charles St. The vintage clothing shop, which had been around since 1969, was reportedly forced out by high rent. Among its high-profile customers were Susan Sarandon, Boy George and Deborah Harry. Gay said he recently purchased a pair of sequined gloves there — something he’d always wanted to do.
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