Author: Brittani
Gladden
 |
| Photo from thatpetplace.com |
New
York City is known to be a fun and interesting place to be. It is known for its
extravagant landscape with some of the biggest skyscrapers, as well as being an
amazing shopping district. But among all the hustle and bustle of this
incredible city, there is something mysterious lurking below these busy
streets.
In
the 1920’s and 30’s, New Yorkers vacationing to Florida would bring back baby
alligators, for their children to keep as pets. However, when the alligators
grew to uncomfortable sizes and no longer were considered cute, they were
flushed down the toilet. When flushed, they ended up in the sewer system, where
they would manage to live and breed. Since there is little to no sunlight in
the sewer systems, the alligators are said to have become albino, where their
hide would fade to white and their eyes would turn red.
The story goes that their descendants are there still till this day.
According
to a newspaper article from the “New York Times”, in 1935 youth boys assigned
to throw snow in the sewers, found an eight-foot alligator lurking in the
chilling waters below. The alligator was claimed to have swam from the Harlem
River. Several years later according to
Robert Daley’s 1959 book, “The World Beneath the City”, a colony of alligators
had settled comfortably into the sewers of New York. In 1935 it was proposed to
the Superintendent of Sewers, Teddy May that the alligators lived in the sewer.
May refused to believe the reports at first. He says that he believed the guys
down there when the eight-foot alligator was spotted, was drinking. When Teddy
May finally decided go into the pipes to have a look, what he found was very
shocking. An excerpt from Daley’s book showed what May said about the
situation:
Alligators
were serenely paddling around in his sewers. The beam of his own flashlight had
spotlighted alligators whose length, on average, was about two feet. Some may
have been longer. Avoiding the swift current of the trunk lines under major
avenues, the beasts had wormed up the smaller pipes under less important
neighborhoods, and there Teddy had found them.
(Daley)
After the sighting May
supposedly had a change of heart. Teddy May was known to exaggerate his
stories, so no one knows if he actually saw the alligators.
Many
YouTube videos show alligators living in the sewer systems. Although these
sewer systems are not necessarily those in New York, it does show that
alligators somehow can manage in the sewer. In a documentary video found on
YouTube, researchers sent a robot into a sewer system in New York to hunt down
the alligators. The robot never found an alligator in the sewer, but it did
find enough vegetation for an alligator to survive on if needed. Another
discovery pointed out was a salamander living in a New York sewer. Salamanders
are much like alligators in the fact that they need warm environments to
thrive. Since sewers are usually very cold especially during winter, and
alligators require warm environments year-round, there could be no way they
could survive in the sewers for long amounts of time. If they do not die from
the cold, they would certainly die from the polluted water.
Since
there is not much evidence that alligators live in the New York sewer systems,
and you decide to go through a New York sewer system, you should not have too
much to worry about, other than the occasional smell and bug.
Works Cited
“Are
Alligators Living Under New York City” YouTube.
Google. 4 Mar. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
Clark,
Jerome. “Alligators Found in Uptown Sewer.” New
York Times. 10 Feb. 1935. Print.
Emery,
David. “Alligators in the Sewer.” About.
The New York Times. Nd. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Indiviglio,
Frank. “Fishing for Alligators.” Photograph. The Reptile Blog, Blogspot. 23 Oct. 2009. Web. 18 Oct.2013
Krystek,
Lee. “Allegations of Alligators in the Sewers of New York.” Unmuseum. N.P. N.D. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
Mikkelson,
Barbara. “Gatored Community.” Snopes.
Np. 12 July 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
“The
World Beneath the City.” Sewergator.
N.P. N.D. Web. 18 Oct. 2013
Links for further research:
Live Science
This website discusses the legend of
alligators living in the sewers of New York City.
The New York Times
This website talks more about what Teddy
May had to say about the findings of the alligators in the sewer system.
Cryptomundo
This website discusses more about the
legend of Alligators living in the sewer systems of New York
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