Did the Grinch Turn This New York City Fountain Bright Green

The holiday season is getting into full swing, which means we’ll all be seeing lots of red and green wherever we go.

Well, maybe just green if you were in midtown Manhattan on Friday.

According to Gothamist, a fountain in front of a building on Sixth Avenue, between 49th and 50th streets, was turned mysteriously neon green, and no one can seem to figure out why. The green hue was spotted around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.

The fountain in question is the Lilholts Pooley Pool, Gothamist reported. The pool does not typically display bright colors, whether it’s the holidays or not.

Gothamist contacting the building management, who told the outlet that, “Unfortunately, someone threw dye in it this afternoon and it turned completely green. We're draining it right now.” It is unclear why the prankster decided to do it in the first place, and so far, no one has taken credit.

The particularly Grinch-y green of the pool suggests that perhaps this was a holiday prank. Was someone trying to steal Christmas from all of the Whos down in Whoville (in this case, Midtown New Yorkers)?

Gothamist has several theories, including a confused person who thinks it’s St. Patrick’s Day, the famous “Midtown ooze” that plagued the city back in 2017, and an alien gender reveal. Since there is a lack of solid leads on this colorful vandalism, all of these seem equally plausible.

Several people on Twitter have spotted the blindingly green pool since Friday, and there are many other theories that people have posited over the weekend. Some have noted the bright green color is much like a movie green screen while others assume it came from some sort of evil mastermind like Joker or the Riddler.

As of Friday afternoon, the fountain had been drained and refilled in order to wash away the green dye.