UPPER EAST SIDE - A mother duck that frequents the fountain outside of a luxury residential building on York Avenue hatched nine ducklings on Sunday.
The mother and her chicks were swimming in the fountain outside of the Stratford apartments at 1385 York Avenue on Tuesday morning, as residents and passersby stopped to take photos.
"Even in New York, this can happen. It's wonderful," said Hariette Croll, a resident of the building.
The mother duck has been coming to the fountain for the past three years, and stays at the fountain during spring and summer before migrating in the fall, according to Rob Sharma, a gardener at the building for 16 years.
"She is usually here from the end of March through September," Sharma said. "Sometimes there's a male with her too. But this is the first time she has babies."
Residents were surprised and delighted to see the chicks floating in the fountain and sunning on the fountain's edge on Tuesday.
"Oh my god, they are so adorable," said Desiree Aryeh, a 52-year-old photographer who lives in the neighborhood. "I've never seen anything like it. I hope the city doesn't take them away."
The Wild Bird Found will relocate the mother and ducklings to a more suitable home in upcoming weeks, according Ed, a 52-year-old doorman of the building, who declined to reveal his last name.
Ed, who was feeding the ducks grain on Tuesday, said he refuses to name the baby birds because it would make separation too hard.
"I'm already too attached," he said. "I don't want to cry when they take them away."
