Albert the bald eagle returns 'back to roost, back to its home nest' in Manhattan

A small piece of history from the original Penn Station has returned to greet LIRR commuters in Manhattan, six decades after the station was demolished.

A bust of one of several marble eagle statues that adorned the original beaux arts style station is now on display at the Moynihan Train Hall, which connects to Penn Station.

"Albert," as the bust has been dubbed, is named after Albert Fritsch, a machinist who worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and spotted the stone bird head among a pile of rubble when the original Penn Station was being demolished in the early 1960s.

"It caught his eye, and he thought it was kind of cool," said Margaret Flitsch, the granddaughter of Fritsch, who died in 1992. "He asked the foreman, 'What are you going to do with that? Can I take it?' And the guy was like, ‘Sure. Knock yourself out. You’re saving us the trouble of putting it in the landfill.' "

Fritsch wrapped the bust in newspaper and twine, and brought it to his Manhattan apartment in a taxicab. He later moved to Freeport, where he kept the statue as a backyard ornament for decades, his granddaughter said.

After the house was sold about a dozen years ago, Flitsch contacted LIRR historian David Morrison to see if her grandfather’s story checked out, and whether there would be any interest in preserving the eagle head.

"When I got the photographs, I knew right away. I said, 'Yes, you have a Penn Station eagle head,' " said Morrison, an author who has, for years, tracked the whereabouts of the 22 original Penn Station eagles — 18 of which are accounted for.

For the next decade, "Albert" was displayed at various railroad museums on Long Island, as well as the Museum of the City of New York. Then last month, the MTA chose to install it in the LIRR ticket office at Moynihan, as part of a long-term loan agreement with Fritsch’s family.

"When people walk through Moynihan and see Albert, they will see a piece of history," said interim LIRR president Catherine Rinaldi, who thanked Fritsch and his family "for preserving this sculpture so that a portion of the original Penn Station legacy can live on."

Flitsch said her family is "beyond ecstatic" that the statue is "back where it belongs."

"It’s like a bird coming back to roost, back to its home nest," she said.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.