"So this alligator was crossing 9th Ave in #Inwood...no, really" (with unhappy update)

UPDATE: The news is not good (see link below)



by Ken

Probably everyone is familiar with the urban legend about alligators flourishing in the sewers of NYC, descendants of baby alligators that were abandoned and left to their fate. We're always told that this is just an urban legend, that there aren't really alligators in the NYC sewer system -- although goodness knows what else may be lurking down there.

Now here's an alligator reported -- with picture, and by the NYPD (34th Precinct) -- to be slithering its way on Ninth Avenue, at 205th Street, in Inwood, the northernmost neighborhood on the island of Manhattan. As it happens, I live not far from Inwood. The formal boundaries aren't defined, but since I live near the bottom of the slope that descends down the northern slope of Washington Heights, I always figure that once the slope reaches bottom, a few blocks up from me, you're in Inwood. And now if you're in Inwood, there's maybe alligators lurking. I don't consider this a happy state of affairs, but then, my opinion on the state of affairs is rarely sought and even less often listened to.

All my information about the alligator sighting comes from Lindsay Armstrong's DNAinfo New York report this morning:

Uptown Manhattan got an unlikely visitor on Thursday.

An alligator was spotted crossing Ninth Avenue near 205th Street, according to a tweet from the 34th Precinct that featured the hashtag #whatnext.

According to the precinct, police took the reptile to Animal Care and Control, the nonprofit that manages the city’s shelter system.

Lindsay goes on to report the setting off of "a string of alligator-inspired jokes on Twitter":



Finally Lindsay notes:

This is not the first unusual animal sighting of the year in Inwood. In April, a harbor seal took up residence in the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, making several appearances to sunbathe on a local dock.

Do I have to be the one to point out the obvious difference between a harbor seal and an alligator? You know, that the seal is a seal while the alligator is, you know, and alligator.


SATURDAY UPDATE: The news is not good

"The streets of New York are not a healthy place for young alligators"

#