At the Brooklyn novelty shop in 'surreal' row with Kelly Clarkson over mechanical bird

On a rainy Wednesday afternoon, a novelty toy and games store in a quiet part of New York City was seeing much busier foot traffic than usual. Inside, the shop was packed with cameramen and customers, while passersby in this Brooklyn neighbourhood of Cobble Hill looked inside, asking: "Where's the bird?" Art of Play has found itself at the centre of a social media storm since the weekend when Grammy-winning musician Kelly Clarkson complained online that the boutique store would not let her buy a singing and dancing mechanical bird that was perched on the wall. The Since U Been Gone singer claimed she was "looked at as if I couldn't afford" the bird - which she said had a price tag of $15,000 (£11,000).