DEP Invoice or Financial Record, September 30, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Gator evades capture ■ Reptile has moved in to Clove Lake By DAVID ANDREATTA ADVANCE STAFFWSITER

The mythical alligator of New York City’s sewer system has ap­ parently slithered its way to a new ZIP code in Glove Lakes Park. ,; > A young alligator about 18 to;^J inches long was seen lurking yes^ terday along the shoreline pf^' Clove Lake near the World War H Veterans Ice Skating Pavilion/ : ; The little gator was spotteftY around 3 p.m. by Phil Sinclair Port Richmond, who was pieiucfe^ ing in the park. The 34-year-oW.;:, city bus driver alerted officials at ■- the nearby Parks Department': Borough Office. f : “I went in there and said, Thope you don’t think I’m crazy, but do you know you have a baby aHiga- ' tor in the lake?’ ” Sinclair said. Police officers from the 120th Precinct, carrying a lasso-like re­ triever, attempted to apprehendj^ the elusive reptile, without suc-y cess. As many as 20 people:' watched as the leathery little creature bobbed in the water evading its would-be captors. It was still at large last night. . , Sightings of a two-foot caiman, a member of the crocodile family, in Central Park in June caused . quite a media sensation. After five days, a Florida man and woman who wrestle alligators for a living - flew to New York and caught the reptile in less than 30 minutes. Parks Department Enfo^- y ment CpI. Rob Simon specul^ed ' siPdiono? yesterday that the Clove L^-es gator was a pet that was dumped after its novelty wore off. 994-0/ “People pick these things up in Florida as babies and they bring them up here. When they get too big, into the lake they go,” Simon said.

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