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Glass Pigeons Created by Brooklyn Artist Nesting on NYC Streetlights

 A Brooklyn-based artist is installing glass pigeons on street lamps across the city, like this one on Washington and Front streets. This one has since been removed, but there are several others in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
A Brooklyn-based artist is installing glass pigeons on street lamps across the city, like this one on Washington and Front streets. This one has since been removed, but there are several others in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
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Instagram/@gb_pigeons_nyc

NEW YORK CITY — A kit of glass pigeons is popping up on street lamps around the city.

The pigeons, designed by a Brooklyn-based artist who requested to be identified only as GB, have been appearing on streetlights in Brooklyn and Manhattan since the start of summer.

The artist started designing the pigeons while selling New York-themed art at gift shops around the city.

GB, who also creates and sells larger commissioned pieces, decided to turn the pigeons into a personal project that would eliminate the need to focus on who would buy the work.

“The project started from my desire to create art without worrying what was going to happen with it after I was done,” she said.

GB creates the pigeons by cutting colored glass into the shape a bird and affixing it onto mesh. Once the mesh is cut around the pigeon, the bird is ready to take flight — or, rather, be glued to a street lamp.

The first glass pigeon went up in the artist's own neighborhood of Bay Ridge. 

So far, 63 others have appeared in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Red Hook, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Gowanus, the Lower East Side, Soho, Nolita, Chelsea, Union Square and the Meatpacking District. 

Each location holds a special meaning to the artist, who is a native New Yorker.

One special pigeon even made it all the way to Costa Rica. 

GB was able to save that pigeon — Number 8 — as it was being taken down from a DUMBO streetlight. It then went on a series of adventures that included tanning on Coney Island, feasting at Brooklyn Crab in Red Hook and ultimately enjoying a sunset cruise in Costa Rica. It was eventually installed on a street lamp in the beach town of Tamarindo.

The artist aims to mount 200 pigeons by the official end of summer on Sept. 21. 

She said the goal of the project is for residents and visitors to have fun by searching for the pigeons and tagging the artist on Instagram using her handle, @gb_pigeon_nyc

“It’s just really all about having a good time and spreading some color around the city,” the artist said.