Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll find out about the departure of a giant sculpture of a pigeon that has been perched on the High Line for almost 18 months. We’ll also get details on a first step that could lead to the dropping of a case that accused a Turkish bank of evading sanctions against Iran.
“Dinosaur” the pigeon has had more than 15 minutes of fame. For almost 18 months, “Dinosaur” — a hand-painted cast aluminum sculpture that is closer in size to the Tyrannosaurus rex in “Jurassic Park” than to the pigeons in any New York City park — has towered over the High Line. Now the residency of “Dinosaur” is ending. It will depart the way it landed, with help from a giant crane and a trailer. First, though, on March 21, there will be a farewell party, a send-off with the D.J. Tommy Sparks and Miriam Abrahams, who won the pigeon impersonation pageant at a High Line event last year. You can’t do an exit interview with a sculpture, so when I heard that “Dinosaur” was leaving its perch on the High Line, I did the next best thing. I checked in with Cecilia Alemani, the director and chief curator of High Line Art. “The most unexpected thing that happened was how the sculpture attracted a — I want to call it a subculture of pigeon lovers that we were not necessarily aware of,” Alemani said. People who keep pigeons as pets showed up — sometimes with their pigeons on their shoulders, but “often in a bag with a diaper on, which I didn’t even know existed, but I guess for domesticated pets, that’s what you do,” she said. Something else that was unexpected was how “Dinosaur” became “a monument to what has usually been pushed away in our city,” she said. “Normally New Yorkers — me included, probably — spend so much time dodging pigeons in the street,” she said. “Dinosaur” could not be dodged: The statue put a giant pigeon — and, by extension, all pigeons — “on a pedestal” like the ones where heroes usually stand. So are pigeons admirable? “People either love them or hate them,” she said, “but those who love them really love them aggressively.” It’s not mutual: “They don’t really care about us,” she said. She said real pigeons had come to appreciate “Dinosaur,” perhaps not as quickly as human passers-by did. “I noticed they were looking at the sculpture and were kind of skeptical,” she said. “You know, pigeons have this very authoritative behavior. They puff up. They look skeptically around them. And then, after a few days, I noticed how they started hanging out on the plinth, and maybe recognizing ‘Dinosaur’ as a giant mother pigeon that is their own goddess or god, because it’s actually asexual, or polysexual.” Iván Argote, the artist who created “Dinosaur,” told me in 2024 that the sculpture’s size was a tribute to pigeon ancestors “who millions of years ago dominated the globe, as we do today.” He added that “like them, one day we won’t be around anymore, but perhaps a remnant of humanity will live on — as pigeons do.” “Dinosaur” had its fans. The High Line had said from the beginning that “Dinosaur” would occupy its perch for only 18 months. But more than one petition called for “Dinosaur” to stay permanently. The High Line is sticking to its schedule, and “Dinosaur" will be supplanted by “The Light That Shines Through the Universe” by the sculptor Tuan Andrew Nguyen. It’s a 27-foot sandstone sculpture that is a homage to the Bamiyan Buddhas, two sixth-century statues in Afghanistan that the Taliban destroyed in 2001. Nguyen’s work is essentially a copy of one of the Buddhas as it looked before it was wrecked, but he has imagined new hands made from melted-down artillery shells taken from the war-torn landscape. WEATHER Expect showers this morning with temperatures rising into the mid-50s and then turning cooler. Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low around 34. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until March 20 (Eid al-Fitr). QUOTE OF THE DAY “This small tick bite has affected me more than a shark bite or cancer.” — Scott Curatolo Wagemann, a marine biologist on Long Island who developed alpha-gal syndrome, an increasingly common allergy to red meat triggered by a tick bite. The latest New York news
We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. A judge takes a step toward dropping a case against a Turkish bank
There was no mention of the U.S.-Israeli attacks in Iran in court papers that could lead to the dropping of charges against Halkbank, a state-run Turkish bank. It had been accused of laundering billions in Iranian oil and gas revenues while evading U.S. sanctions. On Wednesday, Judge Richard Berman took a step toward a potential dropping of the charges when he approved a request for a 90-day pause in the case. The request was made jointly by the U.S. government and the bank. The bank must now pass an independent review that confirms that it is longer evading sanctions and anti-money-laundering laws. Halkbank, Turkey’s second-largest state-run bank, must also show that it now has internal controls to prevent future violations. After the independent review is finished, the government can ask Berman to dismiss the indictment against Halkbank that was filed in 2019 and accused the bank of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has long criticized the U.S. for bringing the case. Prosecutors had said in the indictment that billions of dollars’ worth of gold and cash were illegally transferred to Iran in exchange for oil and gas. But in court papers filed with the request for the 90-day pause, the government said that Turkey deserved leniency because of the help it had provided in negotiating the release of hostages after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023 and in bringing about a cease-fire in the war that followed. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said in a letter to Berman that the agreement with the bank furthered America’s “compelling interests in combating terrorist financing and financial support for the government of Iran.” METROPOLITAN DIARY Folded sheets
Dear Diary: I was on the subway sitting near a heavily tattooed artist who was drawing intently on lined paper. When we were approaching 42nd Street, he moved toward the door to get off, leaving several folded, clean sheets of paper behind. Another guy sat down and picked up the folded paper. As the train pulled into the station, he yelled to the artist: “Hey, buddy! Got a pen?” The doors opened. The first fellow fumbled through his pockets as he stepped out of the car. Just in the nick of time, he found a ballpoint pen and threw it to the second guy. In what seemed like one fluid motion, the second guy caught the pen, opened the folded sheets and quickly became engrossed in making his own drawings. — Susan Larson Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. Hannah Fidelman and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
