Sewer 'gators - [Urban legend|Cryptid|Critter]

NYC Sewer 'Gators - [Cryptid|Critter|Urban Legend.] 

•About this Critter: Aggressive Alligators once kept & sold as pets, but where eventually flushed or let free for one reason or another into the sewers under New York City, surviving on rats in the sludge and waste under ground for so long they became mutated, big, blind & albino!!!

• History & More: a classic urban legend and well known myth, Alligators living in public sewer systems has to be one of the most enduring urban legends, seeming to date back over 100 years to the 1870's. -Though the modern iteration of the myth especially boomed in popular traction & consciousness starting in 1935 when the New York Times ran a somewhat iffy article about 3 teenage boys battling a sickly sewer 'gator in uptown New York, coverage of that singular encounter gave rise to a belief that alligators populated could populate city sewer systems. - Although accounts of fully grown sewer 'gators are unproven, smaller baby alligators have on occasion been rescued, maintenance workers & alligator experts insist that long-term survival is simply not possible for gators, due to the low temperatures & fecal matter. - Of course this isn't accounting for florida's sewer gators (and elsewhere) which are much more commonly reported (as american gators are native to the area & the southeastern united states below the missisippi.)

[Clipping of the popular 1935 article, Full articles can be read on sewergators.com ] 

[1907 baby sewer gator encounter.]

Despite this, Febuary 9th has been dubbed "Alligator in the Sewer Day" & celebrated by enthusiasts annually since 2010! - The 'gator myth is also officially recognized with two public art statues in the subway and park since 2014 & 2023 respectively.

[image source CNN]

I'll keep this short because as said its a well known one is still wide spread in pop culture though in modern day it is much more common knowledge that it is a just a myth, i like to think that perhaps the amount this myth has been spread might've changed peoples minds about the responsibility of having getting gators as a pet? But who knows if it’s worked reguardless, if you think about "common sewer level enemy's" in modern games and cartoons? 'gators & other reptiles are probably at the top of the list.

[a titaneous sewer gator as it appears in resident evil.]

• Further Reading: I could go on, but I feel that Geoff Melton has done the ideal job of preserving articles and finding more related to the history of sewer gators, and has done so since 1999! - if you wish to find more info about the legend both historically and pop-culture wise - I'd highly suggest you check out their websites press page here.

[Mad Magazine 2001. - sewer gators among other popular legends, note the jackalope cameo]

Ps: Also about that green ooze..

sticker art by @samkalensky (yo thats me!) part of my urban legends series of stickers, check my shop and consider supporting on patreon for many more! :)