By Associated Press, 06/20/01

NEW YORK -- If the alligator sighted in a Central Park lake is caught, it should be placed in "its natural habitat, the New York City sewers," the city's Department of Environmental Protection says.

DEP Chief of Staff Charles G. Sturcken made that "demand" on Tuesday in a one-paragraph statement that sounded like a joke or a hoax. But Sturcken insists he's serious.

"That alligator would never survive the winter in the Harlem Meer, which is stagnant water with no outlet," he said Tuesday.

About two dozen people, including an off-duty police officer and several city employees, reported spotting the 18-to-24-inch reptile lurking in the lake.

Serious or not, Sturcken offered a rationale for the DEP's plan: "The sewer system is much warmer, and is the city's answer to a natural swamp, with 6,000 miles of tunnels and a billion gallons of water, replenished every day."