The New York City sewer system is home to a variety of critters, including rats, cockroaches and, according to one urban legend, alligators.
In fact, the “sewergator” story has been around for decades and people have offered various explanations as to how the reptiles may have gotten there in the first place.
One popular version of the story claims that a young boy flushed a baby alligator down the toilet after receiving one for his birthday.
Shops in Florida also reportedly sold them in small tanks as souvenirs for tourists to purchase. Visitors to NYC would bring the reptiles home and attempt to raise them as pets before they grew too large and had to be flushed down the toilet too.
Photo Courtesy of Alias 0591 via Flickr (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
THE HISTORY OF THE SEWERGATOR STORY
While these explanations do sound a bit far-fetched, they actually have some grounding in history. In the 1930s, for example, a number of people claimed to have seen alligators swimming around in the Bronx River.
Then on Feb. 10, 1935, The New York Times reported the following:
"ALLIGATOR FOUND IN UPTOWN SEWER
Youths Shoveling Snow into Manhole See the Animal Churning in Icy Water"
As the story goes, a group of teenage boys spotted a seven-foot gator while shoveling snow in a manhole. They managed to pull the reptile to safety but had to beat it to death after it began to snap at them. In the aftermath of the event, the Times reported that the animal could have possibly been swept into the sewer while traveling on a steamer from the Everglades.
Another popular source for the urban legend is Robert Daley’s 1959 book "The World Beneath the City,” which included interviews with Teddy May, who was the Commissioner of Sewers in New York at the time.
According to his account, May went to investigate the sewers after his inspectors claimed to have seen alligators lurking inside. When he later verified the reports, he proceeded to kill the reptiles using rat poison.
SO THE URBAN LEGEND IS TRUE?!
Unfortunately, May had a reputation for embellishing the truth, so his interviews weren’t taken very seriously. City officials have continuously denied such claims over the years.
In a 1982 interview with The New York Times, sewer bureau spokesman John T. Flaherty stated, "I could cite you many cogent, logical reasons why the sewer system is not a fit habitat for an alligator. But suffice it to say that, in the 28 years I have been in the sewer game, neither I nor any of the thousands of men who have worked to build, maintain or repair the sewer system has ever seen one, and a 10-foot, 800-pound alligator would be hard to miss."
Whether or not Flaherty is correct, New Yorkers still find the urban legend worthy of celebrating. With such an established place in NYC history, it's only natural that Feb. 9 is now "Alligators in Sewer Day."
