Mar 09 2006
Who Remembers the Smith-9th St Chickens?
WNBC had a story about an errant rooster waking up the neighbors somewhere in Brooklyn, which had me remembering the toxic fowl that used to live in the wired-off area underneath the Smith-9th Street subway line (which is now the entrance to Lowe’s). They had strange growths on their bodies, but always looked content and happy in the mud pits they called home. I assumed someone from the area was feeding them, but soon after the Lowe’s went up, they disappeared. Anyone remember them or know the back story?
10 Responses to “Who Remembers the Smith-9th St Chickens?”
turns out that Brooklyn isn’t the only borough with marauding urban roosters. Other parts of New York City are home to the noisy birds as well.
Sounds like some sort of gang from West Side Story.
“Sounds like some sort of gang from West Side Story.”
I was thinking The Warriors, but yeah.
Either way, I wouldn’t want a whole gang of feral marauding roosters to corner me in a dark Brooklyn alley.
There used to be a rooster up here in Washington Heights. It used to get up pretty late though, around 10 am. It was HUMUNGOUS. Scared all the alley cats and squirrels. Probably was up all night fighting. Maybe it was a friend of theirs?
Two words: Bird Flu
They hung out a bit after Lowe’s was built, the fenced off area at the rfront. I think some bored cashier must have been slipping them bagels laced with DTD or something. They were freakier than the jellyfish in the Gowanus.
We actually have a neighbor who has chickens in their backyard, though I’ve been wondering where they went for the winter.
About a year ago I saw a large rooster walking along the sidewalk at 5th and Smith, but I thought it belonged to the residents of the apartment on the corner and had escaped. I chalked it up to a neighborhood cock-fighting ring that I really didn’t want to know about. Wow, that’s weird there was a colony of wild chickens.
There’s a Lowes (and not a theater) now?!
I believe the 5th and smith street rooster mentioned above by (dirtgirl)was Johnny, our land ladies rooster. He was something of a Steve Mcqueen when it came to escaping his pen and prowling for ladies. On this day the 5-0 had tracked him down.
Unfortunately, our land lady also reported that he was very tasty. RIP Johnny.
More at 423smith.com
I bet he made a good cock soup!