Alligators in the Sewers Day!

I can't believe I missed it.

Metro - Blame the Times for alligator myth: "Who’s responsible for the enduring urban legend that alligators live in the bowels of New York’s bacteria-laden sewer system? Apparently, you can blame The New York Times.

The Grey Lady printed an article 75 years ago today that tells the tale of an 8-foot, 125-pound gator discovered in an East 123rd Street sewer by teens, who rescued the animal and then promptly killed it.

The article suggests the animal fell from a boat in the nearby Harlem River, perhaps “a steamer from the mysterious Everglades.” It then swam toward shore and into the sewer.

“I will not, on record, say there are alligators in the sewer system today,” Manhattan Borough historian Michael Miscione said at a ceremony marking yesterday “Alligators in the Sewer Day.” “I will say there is strong evidence of at least one alligator found in a sewer.” The legend gained traction after a 1959 book, “The World Beneath the City,” mentioned alligators “serenely paddling around."