Large Snakes Spotted In NYC’s Columbus Circle Fountain
Everyone came out to enjoy the scorching hot weather this week – including the snakes. Intrepid photographer Matthew Evanusa spotted three snakes in the Columbus Circle fountain on 59th Street in Manhattan, swimming around and cooling themselves off after a hot day.
Evanusa stopped to take a photograph and was confused about the snakes and where they came from. He then realized that a group of teens used the snakes as a way to make some cash.
Evanusa, a Hunter College graduate and a Jazz musician, said that he “walk[ed] by, then [stopped] and process[ed] what [he] just saw and slowly backtrack[ed].”
Evanusa said that when he saw the snakes at 3 pm on Monday, they were just enjoying the water like everyone else.
It gets very muggy and humid in the city during the summer, so people were splashing in the fountain to stay cool.
Evanusa described the snakes, saying two had a dark brown and black pattern, and the other was white. He said that he realized that the snakes were placed in the fountain as a way for teens to make some extra cash.
From what I could tell, it was a few people (maybe late teens, early 20s) who were trying to make some spare change by placing giant snakes in the fountain.
Evanusa posted the image to Reddit, but his picture and the actual spectacle itself didn’t get the attention that Evanusa was hoping for.
He said that, while some people were concerned and confused, some people were so calm that they were in the fountain next to the reptiles.
I think a lot of the people who were standing around were visiting NYC and didn’t appreciate the weirdness of what they were seeing!’ he said.
I’ve lived in NYC for my entire life and I love seeing things like this.
Elite.
