The pigeon statue on the High Line is in danger of being removed: a petition is calling for it to be saved.
Since its installation in October 2024, Dinosaur, the enormous hyper-realistic pigeon installed along the High Line, has become much more than just a temporary work of art. Located on the section between Tenth Avenue and 30th Street in Manhattan, the sculpture—about five meters high—dominates the elevated space of the park, establishing a direct and immediate dialogue with the city below.
Iván Argote is the first Plinth artist from the Global South and the youngest to date. His work as an artist and filmmaker focuses heavily on issues of social justice and historical processes, sometimes inspired by his childhood in Bogotá, where he grew up in a family with a long tradition of political and social activism, from the 1950s to the present day.
The power of Dinosaur’s installation lies precisely in its physical and symbolic presence: a very common animal, often ignored or considered marginal, is enlarged and placed at eye level, becoming a focal point of the route. The choice of location is not neutral: the High Line, inaugurated in 2009 and visited by millions of people every year, is one of New York’s leading laboratories for contemporary public art, and Dinosaur takes full advantage of this vocation, inserting itself into the daily flow of residents, tourists, and workers.
Dinosaur, like the pigeons that inspired it, bears witness to the evolution of the city and confronts us with our ever-changing relationship with the natural world and its inhabitants. These often overlooked and derided creatures, which seem to overpopulate the city, first arrived in the United States via Europe, probably in the 19th century. They were bred as pets and used primarily as reliable messengers. Pigeons have an internal GPS, known as “homing,” that allows them to always find their way home. This ability once made these birds indispensable in war: they served as military messengers in both World War I and World War II, saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers by quickly carrying messages to and from the trenches and the front lines. Many of these pigeons received medals for bravery and were celebrated as war heroes before technology made them obsolete.
In poco tempo, il piccione è diventato un vero landmark informale. Fotografato, condiviso sui social, citato in meme e iniziative spontanee — come un concorso di imitazione dei piccioni organizzato nei dintorni — l’animale monumentale ha finito per incarnare un’immagine ironica ma affettuosa della città. Come i carretti degli hot dog o i gatti delle bodegas, il piccione è parte integrante dell’immaginario urbano newyorkese, e la sua monumentalizzazione ha reso evidente quanto questi simboli “minori” siano in realtà centrali nell’esperienza quotidiana dello spazio pubblico.
L’installazione, tuttavia, è sempre stata concepita come temporanea. Dopo circa 18 mesi di permanenza, la rimozione è prevista per la primavera del 2026, in linea con la programmazione curatoriale della High Line, che prevede una rotazione periodica delle opere. Al suo posto dovrebbe arrivare una nuova installazione: una statua del Buddha in arenaria alta circa otto metri, firmata da Tuan Andrew Nguyen.
L’annuncio della rimozione ha però riacceso il dibattito, soprattutto online. In risposta, è nata una petizione su Change.org, promossa da Brett Tulip, che invita la High Line, il Dipartimento dei Parchi di New York e i partner coinvolti a valutare un’estensione dell’installazione o una sua trasformazione in opera permanente. Secondo i promotori, eliminare Dinosaur significherebbe privare la città di un’opera che, in tempi rapidissimi, è riuscita a radicarsi nell’esperienza collettiva e a ridefinire un tratto del paesaggio urbano.
Al momento, la petizione ha raccolto poco meno di cento firme. Un numero ancora contenuto, ma sufficiente a testimoniare come questa installazione — nata per essere effimera — abbia superato il suo ruolo iniziale, trasformandosi in un simbolo riconoscibile e, per molti, ormai indispensabile della High Line.
