All Photos and Video By Gail

Hey, you know what would be crazy fun idea? What if you took 2,000 trained pigeons and attached tiny, lightweight LED lights to their little legs, and then set them free into the night sky, where they would fly around and put on a light show? How much would that rule? I can tell you the answer: It would rule so much, because it is a thing called Fly By Night, and you can see it for yourself!

Weekends through June 12th, 2016, Creative Time and the Brooklyn Navy Yard will present Fly By Night, artist Duke Riley’s public artwork of unprecedented scale and beauty. Fly By Night is Riley’s largest project to date.

Friday through Sunday evenings at dusk, a massive flock of pigeons will elegantly twirl, swoop, and glide above the East River, as Riley orchestrates a series of performances occurring regularly throughout late spring. At the call of a whistle, thousands of birds will emerge from their home in a grand, converted historic boat docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The pigeons will circle above the river as the sun sets over Manhattan, and small leg bands, historically used to carry messages, will be replaced with tiny LED lights, illuminating the sky in a transcendent union of public art and nature.

Let’s Go To The Video!

OMG so cool. I took this video as I watched Fly By Night with my neighbor, Lorrie, from the lower Manhattan waterfront adjacent to the East River Park Amphitheater.

Cross the highway at the overpass one block south of Grand Street and the Amphitheater is right there.

Find a bench to rest on and look south toward those two tall concrete towers with the red lights at the top. That’s approximately were the pigeons will be flying. We got there just at 8:00 PM and the pigeons probably took off around 8:15 PM. Your mileage may vary. They fly for about 45 minutes, and it is a pretty good show for free. You should check it out

Find out more about Fly By Night by visiting Creative Time Dot Org at This Link!

“Fly By Night Away From Here…”