I talk to both parties several times a day. We're looking to get the basics together to sign an agreement very soon.
It's a very emotional issue. On one side you have a group that has a relationship with the birds, and on the other hand you have a property owner with a liability issue.
The biggest message we're sending is we don't want governments to try and do this alone, we want to have partnership with neighborhoods from day one.
This is a step toward a bigger vision. We want to show the city can maintain the space and make it better, and begin to create a constituency for improving the plaza.
There is a real focus on how to break through a lot of this frustration that people talk about. This should be fun. We should all be having a wonderful time re-creating our public realm.
I honestly feel like we're close. We're days away from having an agreement.
