New York City's official bird, the humble pigeon, is ubiquitous, intelligent, nutritious (uh, for hawks) and extremely helpful. But they get really thirsty, especially after eating a bagel. On Thursday, one man decided to give one pigeon a hand by turning on a water fountain.
Steven Pesantez and Mariel Mitkowski were at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George when they saw the pigeon perched on the fountain. "The pigeon was just sitting there and he looked thirsty," Pesantez recounted. "So I decided to get up and help the little guy."
Mitkowski filmed the exchange, and Pesantez admitted, "I expected him to stay for a little bit but I didn't expect him to start drinking!"
"It felt cool to help out the pigeon," he said. "It was very zen."
Very zen, and also a much better use of a water fountain than an impromptu doggy bidet.