The streets turn sticky in New York

Published 1:15 am Friday, July 1, 2005

My flight to New York was a pleasant one. I was anxious to get to New York, plus, I was meeting my daughter and a friend for dinner at my favorite sidewalk cafe. I could hardly wait.

I’ve heard about a lot of strange things in New York City, but this one tops them all.

The first day of summer definitely was not the day to visit Union Square in Manhattan. Why not? Because Snapple, the soft drink company, was attempting to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records by erecting the largest Popsicle in the world. But the day was a little too hot for the job. Needless to say, it didn’t work.

Imagine a gigantic frozen Popsicle that stands 25 feet tall and weighs 35,000 pounds. Now try to imagine how you are going to raise this gigantic Popsicle to an upright position before it melts.

A giant crane was in place ready to do the job, and the 171/2 ton Snapplesicle started to rise to a standing position when all of sudden it began to melt.

The gigantic Popsicle had only moved to about a 25 degree angle when it started melting in the 80-degree heat. Suddenly it was too soft to pull to a complete standing position and claim the world’s record for the largest Popsicle in the world.

Now they had to get the melting Popsicle back into the freezer truck before it collapsed and hurt someone.

They also were afraid someone would slip and fall on the sticky liquid.

Those who came to watch the publicity stunt, which had gone so badly, started fleeing to higher ground away from the icky, sticky, gooey mess that came pouring out of the Popsicle as it melted.

It was like the movie “The Blob,” with people scurrying away from the slush. But they weren’t afraid; they just laughed as they tried to get away from the sloppy mess, which was now running down the street.

You can’t imagine in your wildest dreams the terrible mess it made. The shop owners weren’t happy campers at this point.

The police and fire department were called in, and they closed off the gooey streets where much of the sugary fluid was running.

They tried to contain the mess and wash it down the drains with fire hoses.

The New York Times reported that Snapple made the Popsicle from their newest flavor, Kiwi-Strawberry.

They molded it and froze it into a gigantic Popsicle at a temperature of 20 degrees below zero, and then transported it in a freezer truck at 15 degrees below zero. That was quite a project in itself.

There were a couple of theories as to why it melted so fast. First it was thought that the heat melted the inside of the Popsicle leaving it hollow.

But the Snapple representative, Lauren Radcliffe, theorized that it may have gotten a little mushy while being transported and the vibration of the truck could have caused part of the problem.

Whatever the cause, it was a gigantic mess for Manhattan. Funny? Yes! Costly for Snapple? Oh yes! And they didn’t beat the world record for the biggest Popsicle in the world.

At least, not this time.

It could only happen in New York City – and it did.

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Betty Kuhn lives in Boardman. She can be reached via e-mail at bkuhn_1@msn.com.