Alligators in the Sewers Day (2/2)

Manhattan Borough Historian Michael Miscione held a press conference on the City Hall steps to commemorate the birth of the urban legend about alligators in the New York City sewers. Unlike most urban legends, this one has a definite origin: On Feb. 9, 1935, several teenagers in East Harlem were shoveling snow into an open sewer manhole when they spotted movement below. They got clothesline from a nearby shop and fished out a seven-foot-long, 125-pound alligator. Despite the alligator’s weakness, it snapped at the boys, who then beat it to death with their shovels. No alligator has been spotted in the sewers before or since, yet the legend persists. As Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s proclamation notes, the legend has inspired several depictions in the media, including Tom Otterness’s sculptures in the 14th Street/8th Ave subway station and others. Stringer proclaimed the seventy-fifth anniversary of the alligator incident to be “Alligators in the Sewers Day“ in the Borough of Manhattan.