To the Editor:

On May 16, our neighbor, Juilette Abadir, was strolling down our street, West 72nd Street/Coghlan Avenue, in Brant Beach and saw a duck standing by a road grate. The duck was in a tizzy, quacking loudly.

Juilette looked down into the grate and saw baby ducklings trapped underneath. She tried to raise the grate to no avail, so she called the Long Beach Township Police Department and two policemen arrived: Patrolman Matthew Compitello and Class 1 Officer Joshua Witko-Mooney.

They lifted the grate and began to save the ducklings. They thought they were done, but the mother kept quacking.

May 27, 2026