By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
Schoolkids in East Harlem should beware of alligators as they shovel off the sidewalk during a rare New York City snow day Wednesday.
A group of boys shoveling snow into a sewer at E. 123rd Street discovered the alligator in the murky waters of a manhole 75 years ago, according to a well known city legend.
The discovery, and breathless account in a Feb. 10, 1935 New York Times article, spawned the legend of albino lizards roaming city sewers, occasionally munching on unlucky sanitation workers.
The original article speculated about the origins of the animal.
"Plainly, a steamer from the mysterious Everglades, or thereabouts, had been passing 123rd Street, and the alligator had fallen overboard," the article said.
The famous 8-foot-long Alligator did not last as long as its legend, the animal was beaten to death by the group of youngsters when it started thrashing around violently on the sidewalk.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer designated Feb. 9 as "Alligators in the Sewers Day" in honor of the find Tuesday.
At the proclamation ceremony Tuesday, Vincent Sapienza, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, calmed any fears about alligators returning.
It seems the likelihood of an alligator surviving in today's sewer system are slim to none, he said.
