NEW YORK TIMES (New York) 26 November 06 Whither Those Gators (Michael Pollak)
Q. How often does the city get inquiries about alligators in the sewers? Does it have a form response? And were there any recent “sightings”? Stuart Goldenberg
A. This column declines to take a position on a question that, for some people, approaches the spiritual. Those who believe, believe. One cannot prove there have never been alligators living and breeding in the sewers, as opposed to gators illegally raised to large sizes in apartments and then transported to places suitable for publicity.
This newspaper did not help matters when it published an article on Feb. 10, 1935, dramatically recounting three teenagers’ finding of a seven-footer in an icy sewer beneath East 123rd Street. Other newspapers published follow-up articles, but none to offer proof that the alligators, real or not, had ever actually been in the sewers of their own accord for any length of time.
The Department of Environmental Protection receives 8 to 10 inquiries each year about alligators in the city sewers, according to Charles Sturcken, a department spokesman. “The inquiries come from all parts of the globe,” he said. There have been no recent sightings of alligators.
The department does not have a form letter on gators, Mr. Sturcken said. “But we do have T-shirts with a sexy alligator coming out of the sewer with the line ‘The legend lives.’ ” The shirts are sold at the CityStore (http://a856-citystore.nyc.gov).
Paperboy Note: This link brings you right to the ad[http://a856-citystore.nyc.gov/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductName=Alligator T-Shirt (Adult)]
Whither Those Gators
