PIGEON P00PED: Cops try to control the crowd of people waiting on line trying to snare a pair of Nike Pigeon (NYC) Dunk sneakers on Orchard Street yesterday after a riot broke out.
Photo: Jun Sugai

Customers on the Lower East Side were duking it out in the street yesterday over a limited-edition Nike Pigeon (NYC) Dunk skateboarding shoe.

Not even Big 'Twoine — the 300-pound bouncer hired to keep order — was able to control the dozens of "sneakerheads" who rushed the door at The Reed Space store at 10:30 a.m. yesterday.

When tempers flared, cops were called to restore order.

It was all in the name of target marketing and the desire to be the first.

"It was kind of crazy," said Nico Reyes, a store manager.

Reyes said a fight broke out after a bunch of people tried to skip the line that snaked outside the Orchard Street store.

Dozens of people had camped out for two or three days in freezing temperatures and a snowstorm in hopes of snaring one of what were only 150 pairs manufactured.

Cops said no arrests were made in the scuffle, although a man was cuffed, and cops found a knife and a baseball bat at the scene.

Although 70 people were waiting, only 20 people walked away with the prize, a pair of the rare Dunk skateboarding shoes with an exclusive New York twist — a pigeon on the heel.

Although Nike's suggested retail price is $69, The Reed Space sold its small supply for $300 a pair. Sneakerheads are selling them for as much as $1,000 on eBay.

Staple Design, which owns and operates The Reed Space, was tapped over a year ago by Nike to design the shoe, and chose a pigeon to represent New York.

"It's innate to New Yorkers," said Jeffrey Ng, Staple Design's founder and creative director. "No other bird in the world will let you walk that close to it. It's tough, and it's brave."

Gabriel Paulino, 22, of Jamaica, Queens, waited for two days, driving home only once to change and eat.

But in the melee for tickets, he came away empty-handed.

At least one sneakerhead walked away with a unique souvenir, Ng said, when a real pigeon left its mark on his shoe.