Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
This 16-foot pigeon coming to NYC might make you love pigeons
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 1, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Rendering courtesy of the artist
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 1, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The group behind a 16-foot pigeon being shipped on a flatbed truck from Mexico to Manhattan’s High Line hopes to convince New Yorkers to rethink their disgust for the all too disparaged “rat with wings” while also learning a bit about themselves.
The giant Columba livia sculpture is set to be installed at the elevated public park above the intersection of 10th Avenue and 30th Street in October, High Line officials said on Wednesday. The hand-painted, hyper-realistic aluminum art piece was created by Iván Argote and will roost for 18 months as the outdoor park’s fourth Plinth commission, a rotating series of large contemporary works of art.
Iván Argote’s Dinosaur, a colossal, hyper-realistic sculpture of a pigeon cast in aluminum, is coming to the High Line.
Rendering courtesy of the artist
Known as “Dinosaur,” the work is meant to challenge preconceived notions about what’s wild in the city.
“The pigeon is an iconic New Yorker, and I hope that people come to see them that way as opposed to vermin,” Taylor Zakarin, the High Line's associate curator, said in a phone interview. “I think hopefully this work could inspire a deviation from that.”
Zakarin highlighted the domestication of pigeons as an example of how they can challenge peoples’ perceptions of what they consider dirty. Used in war and as messengers, pigeons first came to North America in the 1800s as immigrants, much like the people of New York City, she said.
“They are immigrants here as well,” she said. “Everyone is effectively an immigrant in New York, even the pigeons.”
The sculpture was fabricated in Mexico and hoisted by crane onto a flatbed truck in preparation for its journey north. It will travel to New Jersey to be painted before being transported by bridge to Manhattan, where it will be hoisted by crane again to its temporary home above the street, visible to thousands of pedestrians and office workers.
The sculpture is loaded up before embarking on its journey from Mexico to New York City.
Screenshot courtesy of Friends of the High Line
Argote, a 40-year-old native of Colombia, titled the work “Dinosaur” in reference to not just its scale, but also to the fact that the pigeon once dominated the world like humans do today.
“The name also serves as a reference to the dinosaur’s extinction,” Argote said in a statement. “Like them, one day we won’t be around anymore, but perhaps a remnant of humanity will live on — as pigeons do — in the dark corners and gaps of future worlds.”
The sculpture was one of 12 shortlisted proposals selected through a public comment process on the High Line’s website and social media. It will sit on a 5-foot-high plinth made to resemble the concrete sidewalks and buildings of the pigeon’s natural environment.
Zakarin said she hopes “Dinosaur” will change people’s perception of pigeons and come to see them as beautiful
“I had always hated pigeons. I couldn't stand them,” she said. “I have had a full 180 on how I feel about pigeons when I see them on the street.”
Tagged
manhattan
parks
art
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .