NYC Halloween display has Godzilla-sized momma pigeon perched in West Village walkup



The West Village is going to the birds.

A massive mother pigeon and dozens of her realistic-looking squabs have turned a Manhattan townhouse into their coop for Halloween — and New Yorkers are going wild for it.

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The home on Bethune Street went viral last week for the incredible and detailed decor, the most impressive of which involves the beast pushing its massive head through the second-story window.

A home in the West Village has gone viral for its extremely detailed Halloween display. Paul Martinka

“We take Halloween very seriously,” said Jessica Dean Schiffer, who had been brainstorming the idea with her husband since last year.

“Actually, this morning we were planning for next year already.”

The couple landed on the pigeon coop as a seize-the-moment opportunity, latching onto the relatively new love New York has seemingly developed for the birds they previously considered rats of the sky.

But the Schiffers aren’t shy to declare that they don’t feel the same way.

There are between 80 and 100 pigeons in the display. Paul Martinka

“What’s scarier than a ton of pigeons? We like to do something that’s frightening and I’m pretty sure a swarm of pigeons is terrifying.”

The pair even has costumes set up to match their West Village abode.

Dean Schiffer is planning on being the Pigeon Lady from “Home Alone 2,” and will have her family’s pup tailing her dressed as one of the birds from her flock.

Her husband, Rob Schiffer, is going to be “someone who had an unfortunate incident with a drive-by pigeon.”

Some of the pigeons are hunting decoys, others are feathered toys and some are simple cardboard cutouts. Paul Martinka

The couple turned to the properly-named genius Carl Tallent and his husband, Cristián González, to bring the pigeons to life.

“It’s very New York-y,” said Tallent, a Broadway set designer and Bergdorf’s window dresser.

“I actually wondered if they wanted to do something with the pigeons being bloody or picking bones or something. And they said, ‘No, we just want pigeons.’”

The massive project took weeks to construct in the couple’s Washington Heights apartment, with the mama pigeon being the most time-intensive.

The head and wings are foam and feathers, held steady with wooden backing and tension rods. Paul Martinka

The foam head weighs as much as 15 pounds, Tallent estimated. It’s completely covered in feathers and is supported by a wooden backing.

Because the Schiffers didn’t want the piece drilled into the home, the head and wings are held in place with tension rods — which proved to be a great move when the nor’easter blew through the Big Apple earlier this month and left the structure intact.

The house is also surrounded by between 80 and 100 smaller — and extremely realistic-looking — pigeons, which are a mix of hunting decoys, feathered toys and cardboard cutouts.

“We had some that we were ordering from China that never arrived!” Tallent laughed.

“We take Halloween very seriously,” said Jessica Dean Schiffer. Paul Martinka

“It was totally fun. They were really excited and supportive and totally game for our ideas. It was definitely fun to work on.”

Unsurprisingly, the home has garnered plenty of attention online, prompting many lookey-loos to trek to the home and set their sights on the avian absurdity.

“I’ve never seen something so New York like this,” one person wrote on Instagram.

“A true house of horrors,” said another.

A third joked that the abode “must be an MTA building.”

What will happen to Mama Pigeon and her babies once Halloween ends is yet to be seen — but Tallent tossed around the idea of giving them away to some of New York’s pigeon lovers.




Let’s be honest—no matter how stressful the day gets, a good viral video can instantly lift your mood. Whether it’s a funny pet doing something silly, a heartwarming moment between strangers, or a wild dance challenge, viral videos are what keep the internet fun and alive.

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