Pizza Rat Plushie

By this point, you are all familiar with Pizza Rat, the little rodent that could, made world famous for his or her New York-style moxie in dragging a whole slice of pizza down a flight of subway stairs.

Now Tina Trachtenburg, a.k.a. "Mother Pigeon," creator of soft sculpture pigeons and other urban vermin that she sells in the parks, has revealed her Pizza Rat plushie. (In addition to the following photo, there is also an inspirational video on Tina's Facebook page, complete with dramatic accordion music.)



Rats, pizza, and the subway. It doesn't get more authentic New York than that. And in a time when authentic New York is vanishing fast, we need Pizza Rat more than ever.

Has Pizza Rat become a symbol of all that is being lost in the sanitized city? The filth and grit, the moxie, the unpredictability that is meant to be inherent in urban life?

On her Twitter page, Tina says you can see Pizza Rat in person in Union Square Park this Friday. She can often be found selling her critters on the west side of the park. (P.S. You might also know Tina from the wonderful Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.)

I asked Tina how Pizza Rat came to be. She answered:

"I make urban soft sculptures. I already had a pizza and rats. My art collaborator Lippe saw the video of pizza rat. We made the video the next day since we had my props. You can buy/adopt them at my street exhibits. My rats are $80. My pizza is $20."