New Yorkers mourn loss of beloved Flaco the owl

New Yorkers are mourning the loss of Flaco, the beloved Eurasian eagle owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo a year ago and has flown freely around the city since.

Admirers of the iconic creature took to X to express their sadness at his death Friday after he hit a building on West 89th Street.

One called him “a poignant figure of wildness and wonder in this city,” and another said that his death signified “a painful ending to a glorious year of free flight.”

Others praised Flaco for uniting city residents, saying his story of resilience gave them hope.

“He was a majestic creature who in an odd, wonderful way brought our city together,” wrote Eyewitness News’ Kemberly Richardson.

“Stories of your exploits in NYC made everyone’s day just a little bit brighter,” added @moelizam.

Midtown East resident David Lei took “many thousands of photos” of Flaco and saw him “well over a hundred times” this year, including just last week, he told The Post.

“I’m sad beyond words about his death. It stings especially because he just made it to a year in the wild and he seemed to be doing really well,” Lei said.

“The last time I saw him was a week ago hooting from a water tower on the Upper West Side and he seemed very healthy and strong. He was hooting loudly for an extended period of time.”

Lei, a real estate investor who takes pictures as a hobby, first photographed Flaco the night he went missing from the zoo last February.

“I have been keeping up with him ever since, seeing how he was adapting, improving his flight skills, learning to hunt,” he said. “And then, after that, seeing him settle into life in the park, and eventually exploring the city.”

Flaco had been in captivity for 12 years, but flew out of the Central Park Zoo last winter after vandals tampered with his enclosure there.

“There’s so few things that all New Yorkers agreed on, but loving Flaco was one of them,” Melissa Armo, founder of the educational firm The Stock Swoosh, told The Post.

Armo, who lives on the Upper West Side, recently took on birding as a hobby and only saw Flaco once, which she regrets.

“You always say you’ll go today then life gets busy,” she said. “As New Yorkers we work so much. It’s a lesson to get out there and enjoy the park more because we think these birds will be here forever, but they may not be.”