Join NYC's 'Rat Pack': Mayor Adams’ new plan to fight rats on city streets
NEW YORK CITY - NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced a new initiative to get rats off city streets.
He wants New Yorkers to join the "Rat Pack" to "educate, engage, and take action on all things rat mitigation."
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"Now we're doing something new. We're recruiting an entirely new generation of the Rat Pack. As was sung when I walked up, you don't have to be Frank Sinatra in the crew. It's just a different type of leader to fight the rats, and we want you to join up and become a member of our Rat Pack. You don't need to sing," Adams said during a press conference.
"We want them out of our neighborhoods, out of our homes, out of the streets, and we can do it together. This war is so important," Adams said.
To become an official member of the group, you need to fulfill the three following requirements:
- Sign up for a two-hour virtual or in-person session hosted by New York City Department of Health Rat Academy to learn how to deal with rodents.
- Explore the relationship between the city environment, humans, and rats by participating in a Rat Walk hosted by the city's own rat czar, Kathy Corradi.
- Join your community in an NYC Service Volunteer Project to help keep the city clean and rat-free.
Adams said participants will be emailed a form to certify their participation in the above tasks. Once they are certified, they will be able to get Rat Pack swag which includes a t-shirt or a hat.
"From cutting our rats' food supplies to closing down rat havens, Rat Pack members will be able to defend their communities from rodents, and achieve our goal of making New York City the least rat-friendly city in America," Adams said.
Rats are seen in a street of New York, United States on October 19, 2022. New government statistics show that there have been 71% more reports of rat sightings in the city overall since this time in 2020. There were almost 21,000 reports by the end o
Adams said the city will have a 70% containerization of waste in November.
According to a press release, rat sightings reported to 311 declined. Rat sightings have seen a decline in 12 out of the past 13 months following the launch of innovative initiatives by the administration aimed at clearing trash from the streets, coinciding with Mayor Adams' appointment of Kathy Corradi as the citywide director of rodent mitigation.
Over the covered period, there was a 6.3% reduction overall, with nearly a 14% decrease specifically within the city's Rat Mitigation Zones, the NYC Department of Sanitation said.
For more information on the "Rat Pack" click here.