You read that right. This 16-foot tall statue perched right in the middle of Manhattan is what many people are saying symbolizes our glorious city.
Since the middle of October, this statue has been living on New York’s High Line Plinth found on 450 W 31 Street. It was honorably named “Dinosaur” by its creator, Iván Argote.
This statue is a love letter to New York City, as it showcases one thing that NYC is notorious for: pigeons. Pigeons are part of every aspect of what shapes New York, both physically and symbolically.
For starters, pigeons can be found anywhere and everywhere in the city. From the balconies of the tall skyscrapers to the train stations in the subways, pigeons thrive wherever there is space. This may annoy and disgust some people, explaining why some call them “rats with wings,” while enchanting others with their presence. These feelings mirror the mixed feelings that people have about NYC, how some people love the city and its attractions and others hate the filth and noise.
Pigeons not only represent NYC, but the people as well. Pigeons can make any environment habitable. They have taken the ledges and the corners of buildings and nested on them as they would have on cliffs in the wild. They are still able to search for seeds, insects, and other foods to feed themselves. Like pigeons, people are resilient and can adapt to any situation. We can take one problem and create the best solution possible that will allow us to prosper.
To finish off, the name of the sculpture reminds us that most of us are immigrants just like the pigeon. Naming the pigeon “Dinosaur” allows New Yorkers to think about their ancestors, since dinosaurs are ancestors of the present-day pigeon.
Most of them have traveled here from other continents, which is the same for the pigeons’ ancestors. Pigeons originated from Europe and moved to America mostly between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. They have watched NYC develop from small towns to the metropolis it is today. Therefore, the statue demonstrates how intertwined the histories of pigeons and NYC is.
The pigeon statue perfectly encapsulates the past and present of New York City. Make sure to catch “Dinosaur” before it flies away in the spring of 2026.
