Pigeon Homing Comes Home To Roost In Southern BK


by on Apr 15th, 2011

Source: WNYC.org

WNYC ran a piece the other day about a revival in the lost art of pigeon culture, and since it would seem contrived to drop an easy “I coulda been a contendah” reference, I will say this: For all the fuss we make over pigeons, that they’re dirty, that they poop everywhere, and that they’re rats with wings, pigeon fanciers conversely dote upon these docile, pleasant creatures, provide them with a shelter — so this and this (oy, and this) don’t end up happening — and supply them with food and medicine… at no extra cost to taxpayers.

The story cites development and gentrification as the catalysts behind the 50-year decline in pigeon homing on the city’s rooftop coops, but with a renewal in interest in this nearly forgotten hobby, which dates back more than 3,000 years, old-time pigeon fanciers — many of whom live in Southern Brooklyn — and the enjoyment they get out of what has become more of a way of life for them rather than a hobby are gaining a new breed of followers.

William Corsello, an octogenarian pigeon fancier whose father had pigeons during the Great Depression, keeps about 70 birds in his Brighton Beach loft, according to WNYC. He shrugged his hobby off as “a cheap way to pass time,” lamenting that “Today the youth are interested in other things, not pigeons. It’s something to do. I’m 84 years old and it keeps me alive.”

Similarly, big-hearted Brooklynite Anthony Martire has been tending to a coop on top of his Coney Island auto radiator shop, which his dad first started cultivating more than 64 years ago in 1947. Martire also runs the adjacent Neptune Pet Supply, where old-timer pigeon hobbyists like to fraternize on the weekends.

Fifty-two-year-old Pakistani immigrant and Midwood resident Mohammad Asif, who so missed his pigeons back home after he came to America, requested that his brother in Pakistan send him 12 pairs of Pakistani tipplers from the family coop.

“The birds are like my kids. I love them,” he said.

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  • Faba

    “keeps about 70 birds in his Brighton Beach loft”
    We are done here. These people are sick and need medical attention.
    Their is 1 none Russian guy left on Brighton Beach and even that mofo is crazy.

    • gene

      they mean on his roof. not in his house.

      • Barkingspider7

        Ooh – I hope so – I thought the same as Faba – I never heard of a roof being called a loft. Could you imagine keeping birds (70 of them) in your house? Yuck!

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

      “Loft” is the proper word for an enclosure used to house pigeons. Originally it referred to an enclosure below a roof that was usually a storage space.

    • nolastname

      It would have been more clear if it read “in their loft”. I was picturing the same thing. Still it would not surprise me.

  • Vicka1

    alright, to each his own. but as a dog owner i am required to clean up after my dogs. r these guys cleanin up aftee the flying rats they call pets?

    • gene

      the coops have to be cleaned daily

  • Local Broker
  • http://twitter.com/nicktherat Nick the Rat

    I resent RATS with wings. if pigeons were HALF as smart as rats are than you humans really WOULD be fucked.

  • Nancy

    Squab!!! YUM!