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Brooklyn's Pigeon Racing Craze
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 29, 2008
Modified May 29, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published May 29, 2008
Modified May 29, 2008
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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
"Now, there was a pigeon coop up on my roof, and I didn’t know any better, and I went up on the roof, and I seen all these birds inside … and I went inside and I grabbed a bird and I took it downstairs to my mother. Now, the next day, at dinner, I said to my mother, 'What happened to that little bird?” and she said, 'You’re eating it. I made that soup out of it.'"- Victor
The Morning News has a good story from a few years ago about the Brooklyn Pigeon Wars. Brooklyn is home to most of the pigeon keepers, the borough even has its own Pigeon Mumbler. The hobby is a somewhat expensive one (running around $70/week for some), and one would assume a keeper wouldn't make for a great neighbor (though at least one assures that his neighbors don't seem to mind). And if they did mind, there's always the Robo Hawks.
Tagged
brooklyn
coops
outer boroughs
pigeon keeping
pigeon racing
pigeons
race
robo hawk
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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