The summons referred to a two-story brick house in Astoria that Mr. Pomares, a 53-year-old home renovation contractor, had recently refurbished and rented to tenants. Titled “vector control inspection work order,” the citation accused him of violating what appeared to be a paradoxical imperative: “standing water” in a birdbath. The violation of Article 151 of the city’s health code could subject him to a $2,000 fine.
“I bought the birdbath brand new. I thought I was doing something good, and I changed the water every other day,” Mr. Pomares recalled. “I had beautiful birds.”
Mr. Pomares was one of 699 New Yorkers who learned last year that April showers can bring a lot more than May flowers. They can also deliver property owners a summons. Most of those issued in 2011 were for poorly maintained swimming pools and standing water at construction sites. Even an ordinary puddle can lead to a violation. So can a birdbath, as four surprised New Yorkers found out.
During mosquito-breeding season, from April to October, standing water on the ground, in roof gutters, on swimming pool covers and in discarded tires, among other places, can violate Article 151, which covers pest prevention and management. Health officials said the 699 summonses issued last year was about average.
In a city where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has all but banned smoking and waged war on soda and trans fats, some New Yorkers may complain that the crackdown on birdbaths is yet another intrusion by the nanny state or a ruse to raise more money for municipal coffers.
Actually, a regulation against stagnant water has been on the books for more than a decade, but in the battle against West Nile virus, the health code was amended last year. It explicitly made landlords liable and applied the rule, apparently more broadly, to “standing water” rather than “stagnant water” and further empowered the department not only to prevent “the breeding or harborage” of mosquitoes, but also to prevent “conditions conducive” to their breeding or harborage.
As a result, one creature’s beverage can be another’s breeding ground. Dimitri Gatanas, an owner of the Urban Garden Center in East Harlem, said, “When there’s a mosquito issue, someone gets nervous and files a complaint.”
One solution is to buy a birdbath that circulates the water. Some nurseries sell pellets that John Razzano of Market Garden Center in Brooklyn says “kill the mosquito larvae, but don’t hurt the birds.”
Mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus lay their eggs in standing water, although exactly what constitutes standing water is ambiguous. Asked to explain the difference between standing and stagnant, a department spokeswoman, Chanel Caraway, gamely said: “Standing waters become increasingly stagnant with time as they become more and more concentrated with decomposing organic material, which is food for the mosquito larvae.”
Ms. Caraway emphasized that the agency is not necessarily anti-birdbath. “The health department will issue a notice of violation for standing water in a birdbath only if that water is stagnant, not simply for having water in a birdbath,” she said. “The decomposed organic matter found in stagnant water is the food for mosquito larvae. The department recommends replacing the water in the birdbath every two to three days to prevent mosquito breeding.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control recommends that homeowners “replace the water in birdbaths weekly.”
Last year, the city’s health department recorded 11 cases of West Nile virus, including one death, of a Queens resident.
