Author: Cameron Hasty
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| "Albino Alligator" climbing from manhole. |
We
all know New York City to be a fun and mysterious place, full of strange and
exciting things. The landscape is marked by some of the tallest buildings in
the United States, including the Empire State Building. The traffic on the
streets of New York is a trademark of the “Big City”. As interesting and
monumental as these things are, something even more interesting may be lurking
below the streets of busy New York City.
In the late 1920s, families from New
York would normally take summer vacations to Florida, often getting pet
alligators to bring home. However, once these alligators got too big for
comfort, they would be flushed down the toilet. This is where the myth comes
into play. According to several sources, once these alligators were flushed
down the toilets, they would then go down into the sewer system. Once in the
sewer system, the alligators would grow and breed. These alligators are said to
be albino because of lack of sunlight, causing their hide to fade to white and
their eyes to turn red. Is there any truth to this myth?
A.G. Sulzberger of The New York Times wrote an article
about the book written in 1959 that sparked much interest in this urban legend,
“The World Beneath the City” by Robert Daley. In this book, Daley interviews
the former superintendent of city sewers, Teddy May. For a long time, Mr. May
rejected the idea of there being any alligators in his sewer systems, and
denied the reports of such. An article from February 10, 1935, reported the
finding of an alligator in an uptown sewer. This report turned out to be true;
however, the likelihood of the alligator actually living down in the sewer
system is widely doubted. Teddy May grew tired of the banter about the
alligators in the sewers, so he decided to go down there himself to put this
myth to rest once and for all. However, we was shocked at what he found when he
entered the underground pipes. This is an excerpt from Daley’s book of what Mr.
May had to say:
Alligators serenely paddling around
in his sewers. The beam of his own flashlight had spotlighted alligators whose
length, on the 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. The colony appeared to have settled contentedly under the very
streets of the busiest city in the world. (Daley)
Teddy May was then
convinced that the legend was true. However, it is known that Mr. May has a
tendency to “stretch the truth” when it comes to his stories, at times. So, did
he really see little alligators swimming around? We will never know. There are
those who are very skeptical of the idea.
Manny
Fernandez of The New York Times interviewed a long-time employee of the
New York City sewer systems, Luis Baerga. Baerga describes the layout of the
sewer systems, as well as his hypothesis for the beginning of the urban legend.
He believes the stories originated from a photograph of an alligator being
removed from the sewer that hung in the old Bureau of Sewers. Many who saw this
photo assumed the city to be New York City. However, Baerga suggests the
picture was actually taken in Florida. According to this article, there is not
much truth to the myth of alligators being in the New York sewers. There is
still no real answer to the question: “Do alligators live in the sewers of New
York City?” There has, however, been a number of sightings of alligators in
sewer lines.
Numerous
videos on YouTube display fully grown alligators in sewer lines. Granted, these
gators are not necessarily in the New York City sewers, there is proof that
they can live down there. In the particular video I watched, a robotic camera
goes down below the city streets of Leeds, England. This robot was launched in
order to carry out a routine inspection of the sewer lines. The robot travelled
down the main line and right away, a large alligator was laying in the moving
waters. As the robot travelled further down the main line, there was a circular
opening to the left with a growling noise emerging from the pipe. The robot
stopped, turned to the left, and captured the sight of an angry alligator lying
in the pipeline of the sewer, jaws opened. Although the color of these creatures
could not be fully determined through this video, I can tell the color is not
quite as dark as normal alligators. This could confirm the theory of the loss
of deep color of these underground beasts. However, there is a lack of evidence
showing the cause of the alligators being there due to being flushed down the
toilet.
In
another YouTube video I watched, NY Post
reports a caiman alligator being found on the sidewalk after crawling out of
the sewer. A caiman alligator is a small species of alligator. The caiman in
this video was only about a foot and a half long. This is eerily similar to the
alligators Teddy May described seeing on his trip down there. In this video,
the officer holding the animal said it was most likely a pet somebody had
dumped near the sewer. He went on to say that if this caiman had been left in
the city, it would not have survived due to lack of nutrients needed for
survival. If this is true, there would not be much hope for a small alligator
to survive for a long period of time in the deep, dark sewers of New York City.
I
believe there are and were alligators in the sewer system of New York City.
There is strong evidence to prove that alligators can survive in the sewers,
but not enough evidence to suggest they can remain down there for long periods
of time. Because no evidence has been provided to suggest the real reason for
the alligators being in the sewers, I cannot assume they were flushed down the
toilet. So, in the words of Mythbusters, this myth is busted.
Works Cited:
Daley, Robert. The World Beneath the City.
New York, 1959. Print.
Fernandez, Manny. “Miles of Sewer Lines, and He
Knows Them Well.” The New York Times.
16 Feb. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
Kleen, Michael. “aprilfool.” Photograph. Legends and
Lore of Illinois. 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.
New York Post. “Sewer Gator-Aid- New York Post.” Youtube. Web. 23 Aug. 2010. 15 Oct.
2012.
Sulzberger, A.G. “The Book Behind the
Sewer-Alligator Legend.” The New York
Times. 23 Nov. 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
Yorkshirewatertube. “Crocodile Submerged in bowels
of Leeds city sewer.” Youtube. Web.
31 Mar. 2009. 14 Oct. 2012.
Links for further research:
