Trudy Frankel's fleeting decision to use the Grant Building's ATM Wednesday morning was the saving grace for an injured baby pigeon at its front entrance.

As the 57-year-old law assistant approached the building's revolving doors around 7:15 a.m., she noticed the young bird's wing was pinned beneath the door.

A lifetime animal lover, Ms. Frankel gasped and tried to wrestle it free. She couldn't do it herself, so she called over a building guard, who managed to release the injured bird from beneath the door.

The pigeon hobbled about three feet, then huddled against the building, clearly unable to fly or find its mother.

"You could tell his wing was badly broke. It was 'L' shaped and sticking out at an angle," she recalled yesterday.

At work that morning at Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, Ms. Frankel couldn't stop thinking about the little injured bird sitting outside the Grant Building. She kept peering out the law offices' windows, trying to see if the pigeon was still there. She went out twice that morning to check on it.

"People were just walking past, they weren't even noticing it," she said.

By 11 a.m. she couldn't take it anymore.

She started making phone calls -- first to the Humane Society, and then to the Animal Rescue League's Wildlife Center in Verona, where rehabilitation assistant Stephanie Loria promised that if Ms. Frankel could get the pigeon to the center, they could take care of him.

So Ms. Loria grabbed a cardboard box, paper towels and a few co-workers and went the Grant Building where the pigeon, who by this time had earned the name Ulysses, was still sitting.

In her high heels and pantsuit, Ms. Frankel scooped up the pigeon and put him in the cardboard box.

"He didn't try to peck me or anything," she said, "It's almost like he knew we were trying to help him."

Since she didn't have her car Downtown, Ms. Frankel decided to call a courier service to pick up the pigeon. Within an hour, the courier had dropped off Ulysses at the Wildlife Center, where Stephanie Loria, 22, saved his life.

She assessed the wing, which was broken in three or four places, and determined he was no more than four months old. Ulysses won't be able to fly again, but Ms. Loria has plans to adopt him.

Pigeons, she said, make great pets.

"They are very, very, kind," Ms. Loria said. "They form strong bonds with their owners. They really like people, especially when they're babies."

Ulysses will spend the next two weeks recovering at the Wildlife Center. He's in a small enclosure now with a heating pad, water and pigeon feed. And if he peeks outside, he can see two other baby pigeons who met similar fates.

Pigeons generally live about five years in the wild, and ten in captivity, Ms. Loria said.

"This should make people more aware that we need to help our little co-habitants," said Ms. Frankel.