Results tagged “pigeons”

It was NY parks commissioner Thomas P. F. Hoving who dubbed pigeons "rats with wings," a term that fourteen years later was popularized by Woody Allen in his 1980 flick “Stardust Memories.” So surely there's some blood on their hands in the war on the pigeon community in New York (only recently was a National Pigeon Day established to combat the haters).

The website Revel in New York hosts a series of pretty great original videos introducing you to some of the city's more interesting and quirky characters... like the Pigeon Lady!

The pigeon gangs of Greenpoint are still at it! After one baby falcon was rescued from a bird-on-bird attack, our photographer Katie Sokoler informs us the violence is still going on. She tells us, "I came out of my apartment this morning and saw a baby falcon sitting on the railing of my stoop. It was so adorable but then suddenly a group of pigeons came down and started attacking it! I spent the whole morning kicking pigeon ass and finally captured the hurt falcon. But as I was walking back to my apartment, a woman ran up to me and told me that she saw a grown falcon down the street at McGorlick Park and it must be one of her babies. The falcon got frightened and jumped out of my hands and hid in some bushes by a church and now I can find the hurt lil' guy." Greenpoint, it's time to start a pigeon task force.

Sunday may be Father's Day, but today is reserved especially for what Woody Allen dubbed "rats with wings" (the New York Bird Club is still demanding an apology from him).

Pigeon keeping and racing has been a part of the city for a while, and finally someone has poured over all the ink that has been somewhat-recently spilled on this other American Pastime. Bed-Stuy Banana's rundown finishes with a link to Overlooked New York, which features profiles on some of the top pigeon keepers in the city. All 40 or older, they each seem to have a long, quirky history with pigeons (not street pigeons, mind you, which they refer to as "rats").

"I’ve had pigeons since I was a kid, but we didn’t have a coop on the roof back then; my mother wouldn’t let us up on the roof. So my brother came home one day with two milk crates, and he manufactured this thing and he put it on the window, and that was our pigeon coop." - Orlando

Continue reading "Brooklyn's Pigeon Racing Craze"

A Queens man is suing the city for harassment after receiving $500 in fines for being “a public nuisance” by feeding pigeons in his back yard. 65-year-old Cecil Pitts lives off Social Security in the South Ozone Park house where he was raised as a boy. Now, since the death of his mother, his only companions are two elderly dogs and whatever pigeons descend for his twice-daily feedings. Got a box of tissues ready? Pitts tells the Times, “They are my whole life, because all my relatives are gone.”

The MTA has been making an effort to warn commuters to watch their step going up and down the subway stairs, but it’s not just because they care so much about your safety – it’s because they can be held liable for your nasty falls. A former doorman has been awarded $7.67 million in damages resulting from a spill he took on the stairs of a Bronx subway station back in 1998. In this case the cause of the tumble wasn’t haste but rather a nice slimy pile of pigeon droppings.

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...