Pigeon Love
Love
Look up from the busy hectic streets of New York City life, and you will see a flock of purebred pigeons flying in circles around an abandoned tenement building in Bushwick, New York City. Their aerial acrobatics are guided by their keeper, a street-wise Puerto Rico man nicknamed 2Tone.
On the other end of Brooklyn, Goodwin and his pal, Super 13, tend their pigeon coop and flock of 300 birds. Each one trying to lure each other’s pigeons away in order to get bragging rights. The keepers are "animal freaks," as Super 13 calls himself. They love all animals, but are enamored by pigeons.
“A true pigeon-man will never give it up, and that’s the god’s honest truth. Even if its one bird in a box in a corner somewhere. As long as he has one bird, and that’s the bird he loves, he is content with that.” proclaims 2Tone, while a speckled apple colored pigeon climbs his multicolored tattooed arm. Pigeon keeping is an art that has been around for centuries and practiced all over the world.
In the past, pigeon coops were all over New York City, but have been relegated to obscure parts of the outer Burroughs. Most of the keepers have been doing it since they were kids and often taught by their fathers. The pigeon are a distraction and a tranquil respite from the hectic urban life states World Champion boxer Mike Tyson, who owns a few coops in Brooklyn and Las Vegas.
Video by Ram Devineni, Ashok Sinha, Chris Arnade and Martina Sönksen.
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