Results tagged “pigeon”

A pigeon in Brooklyn was recently rescued by some animal lovers after being "dangled upside down from a piece of string that was caught around her leg and tangled on a tree branch two stories above a busy sidewalk."

Will the pigeon bullying story be a plot line in an upcoming 30 Rock? The NY Post talked to Morgan Pitts, who rescued the baby falcon from the gang of birds in Greenpoint; he's an assistant prop master at the show, and his first course of action was to bring the little one over to Silvercup Studios, where a friend's wife at the Animal Medical Center was called. The American kestrel has been named Alice Cooper for the markings around its eyes (a moniker that's bound to toughen it up), and it's sex is not yet known—one of the vets saying, "I love this bird. He or she is so cute." Agreed.

That's right, bird on bird violence is happening in our own backyard: Brooklyn. WCBS reports that a man recently rescued a falcon from a troupe of pigeon bullies! While an adult peregrine falcon could have taken them all out, this one was just a baby, being chased and pecked at by the larger birds. "Morgan Pitts says the falcon was either abandoned by its mother or fell from its nest in his Greenpoint. The frightened chick is now in the care of veterinarians at The Animal Medical Center in Manhattan." One day he'll encounter those pigeons again and the tables will be turned. Until that showdown, however, check out the baby falcons that were born at three different city bridges earlier this year.

A pigeon painted purple picked up on a playground may not pull through what appears to be a pitiless prank. The four month-old bird remains flightless in Animal Care and Control after being rescued Thursday in Long Island City. Animal lover Joe Mora picked up the pigeon and tried feeding it while asking the group that had gathered around the strangely-colored bird if anyone knew how to clean paint from its beak and feathers. The dye job appears to be intentional, but no one yet knows for certain how the paint got there.

This week’s New York Magazine is all about finding the cheapest eats in the city, but the most obvious source of cheap (illegal) food may be clumsily flying right before our eyes. “Eating pigeons is as American as eating pumpkin pie,” says Wired’s Alexis Madrigal, who's made a persuasive argument for pigeon as the next logical step in the locavore trend. He argues that all pigeons need “is a re-branding. Just as the spurned Patagonian toothfish became the majestic Chilean sea bass… pigeons can merely reclaim their previous sufficiently arugula-sounding name: squab.” Poach at your own risk!

A street sweeper employed by the Doe Fund, a charity that employs homeless New Yorkers to clean city streets, picked up a $2,500 bonus last month by defending the pigeons on the Upper East Side. According to In Defense of Animals, Desi Stewart witnessed a man spreading bird seed on the ground and “netting a large number of pigeons.”

Earlier this year Central Park crowds looked on in horror as a hawk dug his talons into a squirrel. Now the pigeons of New York are being targeted as the city considers bringing in robotic hawks to perch on rooftops.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: serious trauma on 51st St. in Brooklyn, a missing person on 90th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan, and a large fight at 1087 Broadway in Brooklyn.
• A Brooklyn high school student was stabbed to death yesterday after school. The fatal injury occurred as he was attempting to rob another kid on a playground.
• Don Imus will be returning to the air with a "sidekick," who is black.
• The police are taking her at her word, but it appears that a woman may have faked a violent attack against herself as an excuse to not repay her mother $800. The allegedly faked assault involved using "Krazy Glue" to seal her eyes and mouth shut.
• Today is World AIDS Day, with demonstrations last night and this afternoon emphasizing prevention to halt the spread of HIV.
• Barack Obama tipped his waitress almost 60% on the $17 check he covered having lunch with Mayor Bloomberg.
• Customers who are owed refunds by the furniture chain are not lovin' it at Levitz. The company filed for bankruptcy and checks are bouncing.
• Some tourists are booking expensive rooms on the Upper West Side only to arrive and find out they've just rented space in some woman's apartment, and she has no idea what they are talking about. NYC scams are alive and well apparently.

After City Council member Simcha Felder announced he would propose legislation to ban feeding pigeons, bird lovers joined forces and, yesterday, held a rally at City Hall. Armed with posters like "Save Our Right to Feed Wildlife," "Have U Known Anybody Killed by a Pigeon?", "Pigeons are Beautiful Birds," and "Felder's Pigeon Bill is Poop!", the pro-pigeon protesters spoke out for their feathered friends. One demonstrator told City Room, "We are voices for the...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx.
• Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will.
• BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet Sean Kingston's 14K Crayolas, and be disappointed by Celine Dion, all in one 4-minute segment. That's jam-packed talent.
• Community spokesperson Al Sharpton and mayoral hopeful Council Speaker Christine Quinn fell over themselves denouncing hateful speech yesterday.
• Pimping your motor vehicle rides is for LA suckers. New Yorkers pimp their bikes with mega stereo systems––really.
• Managing Editor Choire Sicha is flying the coop from Gawker.com.
• A construction worker was rescued after being buried alive in Morningside Heights up to his chest.
• Ray Kelly flips Councilman Simcha Felder the bird, literally. He gave him a plastic pigeon in recognition of his somewhat controversial bid to rid NYC of what the councilman described as "flying rats".

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a foot pursuit on West 50th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, a missing person on West 110th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Grove St. and Seneca Ave. in Queens.
• The 57-year-old man shot to death by a federal agent during a grenade sting this week was a career criminal. Authorities believe the proposed sale of what turned out to be an inert grenade was probably just an attempt to scam a gullible buyer.
• On the heels of his attempt to curb NYC's pigeon population, Councilman James Oddo now wants to reduce the population of wild turkeys on Staten Island, which he claims are a nuisance to the town of Ocean Breeze.
• Dick Wilson, the actor who played the ("Don't Squeeze the") Charmin salesman Mr. Whipple, died this week.
• A firefighter featured in the 2005 Calendar of Heroes was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges yesterday.
• Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't the tryptophan in turkey that makes people tired after Thanksgiving dinner. The likely culprit is a combination of eating too much, alcohol, and a long day.
• Approximately 1,000 doctors at Columbia University are now at risk for identity theft after a healthcare provider published their social security numbers online.
• BoingBoing brings us the holiday krunk video "Turkey Wrap."

City Councilman Simcha Felder's proposed legislation to fine people $1,000 for feeding pigeons has struck a nerve. Felder and other elected officials claim that pigeons' poop is harmful to New Yorkers and, therefore, various ways to limit pigeons' eating and procreating should be explored. But some pigeon lovers are unhappy with the level of vitriol directed at the city's unofficial bird. Hence the video from Animaniacs, "Goodfeathers" (it's 10 minutes, so settle in to...

Citing the unsightly damage that pigeon poop does to the city, City Council Member Simcha Felder announced a bill proposal to fine people $1000 for feeding pigeons. Some of Felder's key remarks and findings: "Stop feeding pigeons!" "If people like pigeons... feed [them] in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living room." A pigeon creates about 25 pounds of poop annually. "[The pigeons] may go elsewhere. Let them...

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist is really sick of that taco promo. And, while they're proud of John Williams, Bostonist is still trying to figure out Williams' "Very Special Arrangement" of the "Star Spangled Banner."

As Park Slopers discuss the elementary school pigeon killers lurking about Prospect Park, the animals decide to strike back!

It’s not to say that Rioja wines have ever gone away, but they never seem to be top of mind. We’re willing to take partial responsibility for this (no more than 34%). Perhaps we may have pigeon-holed the region to uncomplicated, cherry-vanilla red wines. It wasn’t done maliciously, but all the wines we’ve had only perpetuated this perception. We didn’t think badly of them, but they didn’t keep us wanting more. That’s the dangerous thing about perceptions, though, they’re slightly biased and don’t always capture the full view.

We are sad to hear that Pier I Cafe at Riverside Park South (around 70th Street, underneath the West Side Highway) was closed by the Department of Health. A reader visited the cafe on Sunday, only to find "a note saying they're probably closed for the season because the city said the bathrooms they had weren't good enough." The cafe had an open kitchen and bar, and the bathrooms were built in a temporary building, kind of a step-up from porta-potties.

Despite having been defeated in a City Council vote, where his chief of staff heckled Council Speaker Christine Quinn and threatened a black councilman with assassination, Councilman Charles Barron renamed a street in Brooklyn "Sonny Abubadika Carson Avenue" anyway, declaring that the renaming "is official whether they [presumably the city] take that sign down or not." Sonny Carson's name was struck from a list of people who would get honorary street signs earlier this spring. Council Speaker Quinn felt he was too divisive a figure in the city's history. This sparked a City Hall battle that frayed nerves and invoked additional police protection.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

Those of you who are jealous of the real time information boards popping up along the L line, don't worry: The MTA will be rolling out the system to the numbered lines later this year. Which actually means 2008, but progress is progress, even if it's MTA style progress. And as the real time boards are finessed on the L platforms, it seems that the MTA is also bringing back the plans for the RoboTrain. The only thing is, how will the union react?

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing.

- There's a sad story about the upstate horse farm where NYPD police mounted horses go when they are retire. The city is suing the farm's operator because many of the horses are "grossly underweight, had difficulty chewing and were kept in stalls without straw bedding," according to Newsday. It's a complicated matter, because when the farm was sold, part of the agreement was for the new owner to continue caring for the horses "until the death of the last horse or 10 years after the city disbanded the mounted unit." The farm was bought by Ernest Green who wanted to start a biotech company which then failed, leaving "little money to feed the horses." Enter concerned neighbors, who told the NYPD about the horses, though Green complains that he had asked the city to start a non-profit to help pay for the horses' care. The city has since moved some horses to other farms and is looking for new horse retirement communities; the city and Green are also discussing settlements.

- Look, Sleeping kitty!

As news of what could be the biggest real estate deal in history spread, residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village - and the rest of New York City - wondered what this could mean for the real estate market. Though selling the 110 building complex and changing over ownership of all the units would probably take years, questions about what Mayor Bloomberg will do about the city's housing policy arose, as well as what this will mean for the middle class residents who live there as a large swath of housing is taken away. The Tenants Political Action Committee tells the NY Sun, "This sale is the perfect illustration of the hole in the bottom of the bucket of the Bloomberg housing plan. The plan deals only with production. They will never build as much as we're losing."

Grouse? Yes, grouse. It's grouse season, which is quite brief, running from August 12 through the end of the month. To celebrate, Orsay will present Scottish grouse dinners as the first in a series of special dinners focusing on game and specialty products from Scotland (menus dedicated to partridge, pheasant and wood pigeon are in the works). The five-course grouse dinners include wine pairings with each savory course for $150 per person; call 212-517-6400 for reservations. 1057 Lexington Avenue at 75th Street.

Over the past few years Gothamist has noticed a considerable decline in the pigeon population in our fair city. Where once street corners were littered with flying rats and their poo, now seeing large groups of pigeons just isn't as common as it once was. We'd sort of assumed this decline (which we have no numbers to back up, just perceptions) was due to some kind of secret city poisioning program, along with some help from Tom Lehrer, but now we have another theory.

Whatever notion you have aabout Riesling wines, put it aside for a moment. It’s hard to do because this is a wine that is often pigeon-holed, and is either loved or hated for it. It’s easy to conjure up memories of a German, sweet, fruity wine with concentrated flavors of peaches, apricots and minerality or a rich dessert wine – but that’s only part of the story. Riesling is one of the most difficult wines to categorize because of its versatility: it can be bone dry or intensely sweet. You can love it and hate it.

- Why someone hates the Ten Commandments on YouTube