On November 2nd, a mysterious green sludge began bubbling up from the streets near the World Trade Center. And when we say green sludge, we mean fluorescent green sludge. Given this is happening in New York City, we’re certain this is some type of comic book chicanery.
Currently, our money is on this being the work of the Ninja Turtles, or a Gotham City villain.

Dan Pantelo first posted a photo of the green sludge to his X account. “So there’s literally green sludge bubbling up from the ground next to the World Trade Center right now,” Pantelo writes. Naturally the internet began making jokes about the situation. Gifs of the Ninja Turtles and claims of “It’s the ooze,” were quickly shared on the website. There was even an edited version of the picture with a Ninja Turtle photoshopped coming from a sewer cover.
Within a minute of posting the photo, Pantelo uploaded a short video showing the expanse of the sludge on the street. “Can anybody explain this or are we just living in a full blown Gotham rn,” he wrote. Pantelo would go on to upload more photos of the sludge on Friday, November 3rd. While no City of New York official would comment on what the substance actually was, other people would give legitimate ideas.
As you can see, others added context to the photos and video. Many claim that the sludge is actually a fluorescent green dye used to detect leaks in the plumbing and sewage systems. That would explain why people were walking through the stuff as if it meant nothing. At least we can breathe a sigh of relief that we don’t have to deal with a real life comic book villain. That’s the last thing we need in 2023.