7 NYC Stories That Sound Completely Made Up (But Actually Happened)

A surprised man in front of the New York Public Library Stephen A Schwarzman Building. By Kat Scaglione and ‍stock.adobe.com

New York City has never needed fiction writers to make it interesting.

For more than 400 years, the city has produced stories so bizarre they sound like urban legends. Giant alligators beneath the streets. A newspaper convincing thousands of readers that wild animals were loose in Central Park. A woman surviving an airplane crash into the Empire State Building.

As unbelievable as they seem, every one of these stories is rooted in real history.

Here are seven of my favorites.

1. Were There Really Alligators in the NYC Sewers?

Feet walking by an NYC Sewer manhole cover, historic newspaper article in foreground. By Kat Scaglione and The New York Daily News

Definitely... but probably not colonies of them.

The famous story dates back to the 1930s, when newspapers reported that teenagers discovered a live, 8-ft, 125 lb, alligator in a Harlem sewer. It was likely an overgrown pet that had be released down a storm drain. The story spread quickly, and before long, New Yorkers were convinced enormous reptiles were thriving beneath the city.

In reality, there have been a handful of documented alligator sightings in New York over the decades. Escaped or abandoned pets occasionally found their way underground before being captured.

So, while the image of giant breeding populations lurking beneath Manhattan belongs firmly in the realm of myth, the legend wasn't entirely invented.

2. A Metropolitan Opera Singer Died During a Performance... and the Same Opera Was Performing

Portrait of Armand Castelmary and Leonard Warren, the Metropolitan Opera in background. By Erwin, James Seidelman, and the Metropolitan Opera

In 1897, French bass-baritone Armand Castelmary collapsed while performing Martha at the Metropolitan Opera. Believing it was part of the performance, many audience members didn't immediately realize something was wrong. He died backstage shortly afterward.

Then history repeated itself.

Nearly seventy years later, in 1960, legendary baritone Leonard Warren suffered a fatal stroke while performing La Forza del Destino. He collapsed on stage in front of a stunned audience, and the performance was halted immediately.

Two different performers. Two different productions. Two tragic medical emergencies at one of the world’s foremost opera companies.

3. A Woman Survived an Airplane Crashing Into the Empire State Building

Historic images of Betty Lou Oliver after recovery and damage to the Empire State Building. By Bettmann Archive/Getty and People Magazine

On July 28, 1945, a U.S. Army B-25 bomber became lost in thick fog and crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building.

Fourteen people were killed.

One survivor was elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver.

The explosion severed her elevator cables and she plunged roughly 75 stories. 

Remarkably, she survived that fall, thanks in part to air pressure in the shaft and the pile of broken cables beneath the elevator. She was pulled from the basement with a broken neck, back and both legs. She was released from the hospital just 4 months later. She still holds the Guinness World Record for surviving the longest elevator fall.

4. Albert Einstein's Eyeballs Spent Decades in a New York Safe Deposit Box

Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, with safe deposit boxes behind the photo. By Arthur Sasse/United Press International (UPI), and jonnysek stock.adobe.com

When Albert Einstein died in 1955, the pathologist who performed his autopsy, Dr. Thomas Harvey, removed both his brain and his eyes.

The eyes were later given to Einstein's ophthalmologist, Dr. Henry Abrams.

For decades, Abrams kept them preserved in a safe deposit box in New York City.

It's one of those facts that sounds like internet fiction, but it's well documented. Somewhere in New York, behind an ordinary bank vault door, rested one of history's most famous pairs of eyes, and maybe still does.

5. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Accident

A historic photo of a Macy’s balloon floating above rooftops. Historic newspaper headlines are superimposed on top. By Macy’s Inc. and The Waterbury Democrat.

In the early years of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the giant helium balloons didn't end their journey back at the warehouse. Instead, they were released into the sky, with an attached return-address tag offering cash prizes to anyone who recovered one.

The promotion inspired an especially dangerous attempt in 1932.

Student pilot Annette Gibson spotted the 60-foot Tom Cat balloon drifting overhead. Following the example of a pilot the previous year, Gibson steered toward the balloon in an attempt to catch it.

The balloon wrapped around the wing, sending the aircraft into a spin toward the rooftops below. Her instructor, Hugh Copeland, climbed into the pilot's seat, regained control, and pulled the plane out of the dive just moments before impact. During the frantic seat swap, Gibson was nearly thrown from the open cockpit, saved only when her foot caught in a safety strap.

The near-disaster convinced Macy's that releasing giant balloons was no longer worth the risk. After 1932, the tradition came to an end, and parade balloons are safely deflated on the ground.

6. A Newspaper Convinced New Yorkers that Zoo Animals Were Rampaging

Historic newspaper headline with illustrations conveying the New York Herald Zoo Hoax. By Harper’s Weekly, 1893

In 1874, readers of the New York Herald opened their newspapers to horrifying headlines.

Wild animals had escaped from the Central Park Zoo.

According to the article, lions, tigers, bears, and other dangerous animals were roaming Manhattan, leaving dozens dead.

None of it was true.

The entire story was an elaborate hoax written by the newspaper itself. Only a small disclaimer at the very end revealed the truth.

The stunt reflected the fierce newspaper competition of the era, when shocking headlines sold papers and publishers were willing to blur the line between reporting and entertainment.

7. Grand Central Has a Secret Train Platform Built for VIPs

Track 61 of Grand Central Terminal. By Shutterstock / Felix Lipov

Most commuters passing through Grand Central have no idea there's a hidden train platform beneath the terminal.

Known as Track 61, the platform sits below the Waldorf Astoria and was originally built as part of Grand Central's rail yard. When the hotel opened in 1931, it was connected to a massive freight elevator capable of carrying passengers, luggage, and even automobiles directly between the platform and the hotel.

One of its most famous users was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR, who had lost the use of his legs after contracting polio, made extraordinary efforts to keep his disability out of the public eye. During at least one documented visit in 1944, he arrived by train at Track 61 and used the private elevator to reach the Waldorf Astoria without passing through the busy terminal or being seen by crowds. It offered the president a discreet way to travel at a time when public figures rarely acknowledged physical disabilities.

Today, Track 61 is no longer in regular use, but it remains one of New York City's most fascinating hidden spaces, tucked away in one of the busiest train stations in the world.

New York Has Plenty More Where These Came From

These stories barely scratch the surface.

New York's history is filled with newspaper hoaxes, improbable survivors, forgotten scandals, and larger-than-life characters whose true stories are often stranger than fiction.

That's one of the reasons I love sharing them. You don't have to exaggerate New York's past. The facts are usually unbelievable enough.