There are many stories about New Yorkers flushing tiny pet alligators down the toilet and the alligators growing to full size in the sewer pipes beneath the city streets. There were, in fact, several stories about New York alligator sightings in the local papers during the l930s and “Smelly” Kelly, a noted city worker who smelled out gas leaks in the underground tunnels, claimed he encountered one. True or not, the tales are part of New York City folklore. So are New York “rats as big as cats” in the subway tunnels, but these could simply be raccoons, hundreds of which commute on foot in the tunnels every day along with the 3 ˝ million people who prefer to use the trains.