How bad are New York City’s rat and rodent problems this summer? See this excerpt from the recent New York Times’ article on the NY Rat Academy’s classes on the Upper West Side:
Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, welcomed the students.
“The rats on my block, they don’t scurry anymore,” he said, noting that he lives on West 71st Street. “They walk upright. They greet me and say, ‘Good morning, Mr. Borough President.’ ”
This did not get a big laugh. Mr. Stringer turned serious, saying, “The West Side, in particular, is really going through a rat infestation.” He said that at recent town-hall-style meetings, “the No. 1 complaint I get from constituents is about the rat problem.”
and
“Any night when it’s not raining, you’ll see a ton of rats, 13 or 14 scampering back and forth,” said the president of a block association. “Next week I’m putting up signs that say, ‘Rat Crossing.’ It’s like ‘Deer Crossing.’ ”
For more see the full article in the New York Times.
Update August 30, 2012: The block association president really did put up those signs: see the above photo. See the New York Times and WNBC-4 follow ups on this story here.
Be warned, rodent problems may be prominent outdoors now in the summer, but they only get worse for buildings in the fall when rodents seek shelter as the weather gets cooler.