I think all those with negatvie attitudes toward the Rock Doves (Pigeons) ought to take a deep look inside yourselves...

How on earth could an intelligent human being hate the venerable Pigeon?

It is simply one of the most benign creatures on the planet - people who know them love them - why? - because they are adorable. There's not a bad bone in their bodies. They harm nothing, no one. They play a role in the propagation of trees and other vegetaion,upon which we depend. (Albeit not in a city, but hardly their fault)

Bear in mind:

Man brought them here - to eat their babies.

Tall buildings are the closest to thier natural enviroments.

They are dirty because we are filthy, and they just can't shake off human filth. A pigeon shielded from human filth is a very clean bird indeed. Quite beautiful close up, shimmering fluorescence.

All poop carries disease. Pigeons get worms from dog poop in the street. (BTW Dog urine is IMHO much worse than anything Pigeons secrete.)

Pigeons are not carriers of H5N1 (bird flu) or West Nile.

We should be asking how that is... Not kill them all for being immune!

It's speciesism - pure and simple. You've been ingrained to condemn certain creatures without any knowledge of them, without any personal experience with them.

The old ladies need a little control and guidence in their feeding patterns for sure - they invariably grow a flock that ends up condemned.

We should embrace our Pigeons, look after them and manage them with "Dovecotes" (Pigeon appartment buildings) where we can substitute their eggs to keep the population at a comfortable healthy level where the Pigeons will have a better quality of life and appreciated and enjoyed by everybody.

It's a24th century Gene Rodenbery pipedream, but I love it.

It's called PICAS, and it is happening in some places in Europe.

"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace." Albert Schweitzer

The Pigeon

Old people often feed the pigeons cause it makes them feel like they're taking care of something, and it gives them something to do, rather than just sitting in the park for a few hours a day.

Also, Depression era people feel like it's better to throw scraps like stale bread to the birds, rather than waste it by throwing it away.

There was a man in my neighborhood who fed the birds (sparrows, mourning doves, pigeons, etc.,) every day at the same spot for years. When he went into the hospital he contacted my grandfather to feed them in his place. The birds were LOOKING for him at the place acting very "sad" and NOT happy with my grandfather being there instead. In fact they barely ate ANYTHING until the other man returned, a week later. He had nothing else to do & he really got a kick out of it that the birds needed him while he was in the hospital.

Yelling at people who feed pigeons/squirrels solves nothing at all, will make no difference. Hate the pigeons, fine, but don't be such vile angry dickheads about it. That's how you get high blood pressure and possibily, colon cancer. From being an uptight angry white prick for most of your life...we've all seen it happen.

Yes Ethan, (who sites running over a pigeon as one his "highlights of 2005") I'm talking to you. Please get "furious" about things that matter, rather than this. Ideally, I pray you develop a soul, you heartless prick. At any rate, I'm telling my elderly aunt to Sicilian curse you next time she sees you in Stuy Town...

Teo -

Your soul will be spared.

Thanks SATAN! You're right about everything, as usual. You gettin pumped for 6/6/06?

Suck it, Te'o.

Several comments:

1. The reason people go ape-shit about the crappy grammar here is that though this is a blog, it is a professional blog where money is made on ads, and the site contributors bill themselves as editors, publishers and reporters. Commentors produce typos as well, but we do not have the ability to edit our posts; if Gothamist really wants to be taken seriously, all posts should be proofread by a colleague before clicking the submission button.

2. That pigeon-killing book looks totally gay and is a waste of money.

3. Pigeons suck, and they should all be killed. They contribute zero to everything - the net gain from their demise would be significant.

yeah pigeons suck. dirty nasty things. and that pigeon killing book rocks! i got it for five friends for christmas and everyone was oh so thankful...

This makes me so sad. I love pigeons! Leave them alone!

I had a squab on my fire escape that was quite tame, and had to restrain myself from wringing its neck and making it into a nice appetizer. I've had squab before (and have the skills to dress it nicely), and I am sure this guy would have been just fine. We'd have far fewer problems with animals in heavily populated areas (deer in the suburbs, pigeons, squirrels) if we'd just start looking at them as dinner (and if those of us who would like to sample this urban-grown fare didn't have to worry about someone calling the cops).

My, but everybody seems to have short memories around here. Or didn't anybody bother to read the Gothamist entry about pigeons and bird flu only three weeks ago? Long story short: pigeons are not susceptible to it except in very high concentrations.

what's with all the damn pigeon and squirrel haters? sure, i wouldn't invite one into my apartment, nor want to hold one, but they often offer all sorts of amusements if you're sitting on a park bench and watching them do their thing. in a concrete jungle like this one, any display of life is a welcome one in my book.

and by the way, who gets "furious" at the sight of pigeons or squirrels being fed?? puhleeze. save your ire for the important stuff, like the fact that new york is affordable only for the rich, or the fact that our commander in chief is a liar and a crook.

Lets trap all pigeons and send them to Puerto Rico and Iran.

And of course as you can see from errors above, I should take my own advice as well!

Nevertheless, ever since I found out Jen is an avid Veronica Mars and Buffy fan I just can't scold a fellow genre show watcher.

Now if she says she likes BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, then I promise I'll never say anything bad about her....for the time being....

What doesn't make sesne to me is why hasn't she used a grammar and spell checker? I just find that baffling!

It's a BLOG! Who's combing it for grammar anyway? Just enjoy it.

why, whenever anybody brings Jen to task on her horrible proofreading, are commenters so likely to pick apart the commenter's bad grammar, but completely ignore the fact that theyre standing up for someone who is just as sloppy. I say to hell with both! Myself included!

i got one word for ya: cryptococcus

Yeah I fucked up. Oops. But I'm not a writer, blogger, or journalist.

you're=you are

your=not mine

The wrong way:

Jen! You're posts are sloppy! (It literally means "Jen! You are posts are sloppy!")

The right way:

Jen! Your posts are sloppy!

This is the definitive answer. Period.

Poor pigeons..all they wanted to do is peck and chow down on some leftover goodies and flap around..maybe coooo a little bit..

Um... no, he's NOT wrong. The first usage should be "your;" the second time, it's correctly contracted as "you're" (short for YOU ARE). Don't even get me started with the word its vs. it's! Possessive versus contracted versions of pronouns shouldn't screw up the average 4th grader, much less college grads like y'all. Right??