Green Liquid Oozing Onto New York Streets Puzzles Internet. Here's The Truth

A mysterious, green liquid oozing out of the manholes and sewers in New York surprised the social media users this week. The fluorescent liquid was dubbed "slime" or "sludge" by many users on X (formerly Twitter), where the video first appeared. Others started offering 'Batman' references along with the green goo from the 1990s phenomenon 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. "Am I too late with the reference?" one of the users wrote, along with a GIF of Dr Ray Stantz from 'Ghostbusters'.

However, a disclaimed on the original post on X added some context that it was a water full of green dye. "Plumbers frequently use harmless, fluorescent green dye to detect leaks in plumbing and sewage systems," the disclaimer added.

According to the National Park Service, "dye tracing" is also used to "help scientists visualise how water moves from one place to another".

Despite the reasonable explanation, reactions kept pouring on the post.

"It's probably part of the district heating system. They literally add antifreeze to these systems. Maybe the green stuff to make it easier to see. Does it smell?" commented one X user.

"As a Gen Xer, here's what I know about underground sludge in New York: green = cool mutants, pink = angry ghosts," said another.

One of the viral images showed white smoke coming out of the manhole from which the green slime was oozing out. One user gave reference to the Vatican's tradition of releasing white smoke at the selection of a new Pope - saying in an X post that a "new Ninja Turtle has been elected".

This is not the first time that such a thing has appeared in New York. Earlier this year, subway riders had to step over streams of fluorescent green slime on their way to their trains in Prospect Heights, according to New York Post.