Norwood: Man Reportedly Seen with Snake at Woodlawn Subway Station

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A man was reportedly seen with a large snake around his neck near Woodlawn subway station in the Norwood section of The Bronx on Sunday evening, May 31.

Norwood News visited the station later on Sunday and asked some bystanders / taxi drivers if they had seen the man or the snake. Two taxi drivers said they didn’t see either the man or the snake on May 31, but had seen them about a month ago at the same location.

One taxi driver said the snake appeared to be the man’s pet. Asked how big it was, he indicated a diameter roughly equal to the size of a coffee mug.

Another taxi driver said when he saw the man previously with the snake, he had it around his neck and also said the man was carrying the snake affectionately as if it were a pet.

He added that the man was walking up the stairs of the elevated subway station and the taxi driver said to himself, “What are you going to do – bring the snake onto the train?” He said people were sure to freak out.

As he had been working, the taxi driver did not know what happened after that. Asked if he could describe the man with the snake, he said he was young, around 20-25 years of age.

Norwood News asked the NYPD if a report had been filed about the alleged snake sighting on May 31, which was referenced on social media on Sunday, and will share any feedback we receive.

As reported, a snake that looked like a python was reportedly seen in a wall in the Wakefield section of The Bronx at East 233rd Street in October 2024. One month earlier, police had removed a snake found in a shopping bag in the Olinville section of The Bronx. In June of that year, the NYPD shared a video of the removal of a snake from a home in Manhattan.

As also reported more recently, a Bronx Zoo keeper was recently hospitalized after he was bitten by a reptile while feeding it.

According to 311, New Yorkers can report people keeping wild or illegal animals as pets. “Where applicable, you must provide the landlord’s or property owner’s name,” a 311 website extract reads. “By law, most farm, wild, and exotic animals cannot be kept as pets in New York City.”

Animals Allowed as Pets

New Yorkers can keep the following animals as pets according to 311:

Domesticated cat or dog
Rabbit
Horse
Gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, chinchilla, and other small animals
Parakeet, parrot, pigeon, canary, hen or female chicken, other small birds
Non-snapping turtle larger than 4 inches
Certain reptiles
Honeybees

Pigeon coops are also allowed if they are properly maintained and constructed.

Animals Not Allowed as Pets

New Yorkers cannot keep the following animals as pets, according to 311:

Wolves, foxes, coyotes, hyenas, dingoes, jackals, and other undomesticated dogs
Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, panthers, mountain lions, cheetahs, cougars, bobcats, lynxes, and other undomesticated cats
Ferrets, weasels, minks, badgers, wolverines, skunks, and mongooses
Squirrels, raccoons, and bats
Bears, elephants, zebras, rhinoceroses, giraffes, and hippopotamuses
Tarantulas, black widows, and other venomous spiders
Iguanas, Gila monsters, and many other lizards
Monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, and gorillas
Vipers, cobras, pythons, anacondas, and many other snakes
Alligators, crocodiles, snapping turtles, and other turtles less than four inches in length
Eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, emus, ostriches, and other large or predatory birds
Roosters, ducks, geese, and turkeys
Bees (other than honeybees), hornets, wasps, and other venomous insects
Gophers, woodchucks, beavers, hedgehogs, porcupines, and other large rodents
Deer, antelopes, llamas, and camels
Sheep, goats, pigs, including potbellied pigs, and most farm animals
Kangaroos, opossums, koalas, and other marsupials
Dolphins, whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, and other sea mammals
Sharks and piranhas

Learn more here. An extract from the 311 site reads, “NYC health department will only respond to a snake complaint if the pet is venomous or a constrictor.”

Turning in an Illegal Animal

If New Yorkers have an illegal pet, they may drop the animal off at any one of the Animal Care Centers of NYC shelters in each borough, according to 311 and will not receive a violation for dropping off an illegal animal.

Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) locations are closed on the following holidays:

New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

New Yorkers are advised to call before arriving with a stray animal. Find an ACC location. Call 311 or 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675) for help. Read more here on what to do if you encounter a snake, according to the Humane World for Animals.

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office has a specific unit which prosecutes animal cruelty cases.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.