The 'simple thing' to help reduce the NYC rat population

PROSPECT HEIGHTS - Residents in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn say using trash cans with tight lids has greatly helped to diminish their neighborhood’s rat population.

Jesse Hendrich, of the Sterling Committee on Rat Awareness and Mitigation (SCRAM), organized the local rodent-fighting campaign a little over a year ago.

The small group began doing monthly "rat" walks in days and evenings and used their findings to come up with a game plan.

Prospect Heights residents say using trash cans with tight lids has greatly helped to diminish their neighborhood’s rat population.

"We would kick the garbage bags, and at that time, every third time, if you kicked it, it would erupt in all sorts of motion because there were five or six rats or maybe eight or 10 rats in there having a feast," Hendrich said.

RELATED: NYC taking simple steps to wage 'War on Rats'

Mayor Eric Adams seems to agree the best way to fight rodents is by getting rid of their food source.

In a new public service announcement launched this week, Adams toured rat burrows with the Health Department’s Pest Control Director, Rick Simeone, to figure out the best way to mitigate the problem

Simeone encouraged New Yorkers to put out their garbage closer to the time it’s collected. 

The Department of Sanitation has now set up a schedule to pick up garbage bins with lids starting next week, so long as they’re smaller than 55 gallons.

Beginning April 1, the time to put out bins is being pushed back to 6 p.m., and for trash bags – 8 p.m.

Beginning April 1, the New York City Department of Sanitation says the time to put out bins is being pushed back to 6 p.m., and for trash bags, the time is even later: 8 p.m.