Bad Bunny's Halftime Show Caused a Bizarre Toilet Flushing Phenomenon in NYC

When you gotta go, you gotta go — unless Bad Bunny is performing, according to the citizens of New York City, apparently.

The 2026 Halftime Show is officially one of the most-watched Super Bowl performances of all time, despite countless boycott threats from critics of the Puerto Rican rapper. The performance was so well received, in fact, that hundreds of thousands of people across the city — and likely millions nationally and internationally — held in their pee to watch the full set, featuring cameos from Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and a moving salute to all the nations of the Americas.

According to a new statistic from NYC's Water Department, the city saw "a significant reduction in water usage throughout the five boroughs" during Bad Bunny's 13-minute set. However, in the 15 minutes right after the show ended, there was "a spike in usage," equivalent to 761,719 toilets flushing around the same time.

Isn't that normal for a big TV moment, like the Super Bowl? Actually, no. According to Vice, this flush phenomenon is a 300,000+ increase from the previous year, when Kendrick Lamar was the headliner. If you're a New Yorker and your plumbing isn't so good this week, it's not Bunny's fault. The city has maintained that the wastewater infrastructure managed this change perfectly fine.

Although the Drakediss-fest had slightly more eyes on screen than this year's performance, New Yorkers were clearly glued to their screens — so much so, they were happy to hold it in and sit with some discomfort during the reggaeton extravaganza.

This can be partly explained by the fact that the New York City metropolitan area has the highest concentration of Puerto Rican citizens outside of the nation of Puerto Rico, at around 1 million citizens of Puerto Rican descent. Although Florida overtook New York for having the largest Puerto Rican population overall from New York State, the Big Apple still holds the title for the highest population for a city or metro area.