Locals Shrug, Visitors Fret at Bright-Green Slime in NYC

What is it? Where did it come from? Is it dangerous? Those are the three questions Insider posed Friday after a strange, neon-green slime oozed into lower Manhattan this week, worrying tourists even as locals walked right past it without much concern. "So there's literal green sludge bubbling up from the ground next to World Trade Center right now," tweeted Dan Pantelo on Thursday, showing a pic of the brightly colored substance emerging from grates and manholes. Pantelo's post soon went viral, and social media jumped into speculation mode.

Jokes about Ghostbusters, Batman, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soon ensued. "Happens to my car all the time. Just turn the World Trade Center off for a few minutes until you can take it to a mechanic," one observer riffed. New Yorkers didn't seem to care, for the most part, with one telling Insider, "Knowing New York, stuff happens. Weird stuff happens. People just walk by and don't pay attention to it." Tourists, however, seemed more concerned. "Maybe it's Freon," a man visiting from Texas said (Freon is a refrigerant used in AC units). "I have no idea what it could possibly be. But it's definitely not good, whatever it is."

Some local businesses wondered if the green slime was tied to reported sprinkler or other tests in the neighborhood, though the FDNY didn't seem to have any info on that. A Community Note on Pantelo's tweet also suggested it could be a harmless green dye used by plumbers to detect leaks. The mystery of the strange substance, which eventually melted into liquid on the streets and sidewalks, still hadn't been solved as of Saturday morning. Insider contacted the city's Department of Environmental Protection, which told the outlet to check with utility Con Edison, as well as with the Port Authority. No answers emerged from there, either.

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The New York Post similarly reached out, touching base with the city's Department of Sanitation ... which pushed it off to the city's Department of Environmental Protection, which in turn passed the buck to Con Ed. It's not the first time Manhattan has seen such a green-tinted substance. In 2017, there were at least two incidents reported, which were eventually tied back to green dye and antifreeze (probably). A visitor from Los Angeles, meanwhile, shrugged off the sight. "I've been here a few times and this is hardly anything," they told Insider. "Compared to LA, this is a lot cleaner." (More strange stuff stories.)