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Police apprehend 5-foot-long rogue snake in Upper Manhattan, NYPD says
By
Phil Corso
and
Bahar Ostadan
Published Jun 5, 2024
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Courtesy NYPD
By
Phil Corso
and
Bahar Ostadan
Published Jun 5, 2024
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Police said a snake was spotted slithering its way through the Upper West Side on Wednesday morning.
A concerned citizen called 911 around 8 a.m. to report that the 5-foot-long snake was crawling up an exterior gate and trying to enter a basement apartment on West 87th Street, NYPD officials said.
The NYPD said its emergency service unit secured the reptile and put it in the hands of the ASPCA animal welfare organization, which said the snake had been placed with a foster guardian outside of the city, since they’re illegal in the Big Apple.
Police said they were still trying to determine where the snake came from.
Police proudly secure the snake in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Courtesy NYPD
Alex Noschese, a resident of the reptile's temporary home on West 87th Street, said he watched as police wheeled a stretcher out of the building.
“I thought someone had been bitten by the snake,” he told Gothamist.
In reality, one of the responding police officers fell down the stairs during the operation and was injured, according to Noschese.
PIX11 reported that the snake had snuck into a kitchen sink on Wednesday morning. But the resident who first spotted the snake, and declined to be named, said the visitor never made its way inside the apartment.
“It was incredibly shocking,” he said.
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
animals
Upper West Side
Phil Corso
Phil Corso is the evening news editor at WNYC/Gothamist. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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