February 23, 2007
West Village Restaurant Rats Shock and Awe
You know what's awesome in high definition TV? Seeing images of huge, fat rats run around a fast food restaurant in the Village! WABC, WCBS, and WNBC descended on a Taco Bell-KFC location on Sixth Avenue at 4th Street. The restaurant had been open until 11PM last night, and someone called in a tip when they saw rats running around. While people have seen rats in restaurants, they probably haven't seen something that looked this close to the Rats of NIMH. This story also made the Today Show, in a broader piece about "Is food from your restaurant safe?" Which makes us wonder about the pros and cons of e. coli and rats.
We spoke to someone who has eaten at that location, who first said, "Holy Jesus," thought for a moment, and then said, "The sad thing is, this probably wouldn't deter me from eating there again." And WNBC linked to the Taco Bell-KFC's Health Department inspection: The restaurant passed, though there was "Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility's food and/or non-food areas."
Are there any restaurants where you see rats?
Update: The Health Department has officially closed the Taco-Bell KFC at 6th Avenue and West 4th Street. The Health Department spokeswoman said that the restaurant passed inspection in December because "Evidence of rats" meant there were only rat droppings. Maybe the Health Department needs to increase the severity, because obviously, where there are droppings, there are rats. If anyone can shed light on the hours Health Inspectors work, please tell us, because we wonder if the Health Department should be visiting more locations at night, when garbage has accumulated.
WNBC reporter Adam Shapiro has an account of covering the story: A tip was called in at 2:30AM, and he and a crew were the only news station on the scene between 3:30AM and 6:30AM.
It was one of the more disgusting things I have covered in my career because there were so many of them...He adds that the fact the Health Department didn't respond to calls or emergency pages was "troubling." Sadly, that is not surprising, given that the Health Department has a serious lag when it comes to responding to reports of rats (though the pest and restaurant divisions are different, one would imagine). WABC 7 has a statement from KFC and Taco Bell, which reads, "This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our high standards. We've talked with the franchisee who is actively addressing this issue as is evident by the preventative construction in the basement yesterday that temporarily escalated the situation. This store will remain closed until this issue is completely resolved."These were big rats too! Some were easily a foot long.
One of the rats actually climbed up on the counter, then on to stools that were turned upside down and dangled from the stool's chair like a gymnast. Others kept darting out from under the restaurants two garbage containers with bits of food in their mouths while a horde of them ran back and forth from the kitchen.
Here are Gothamist posts on rats. We highly recommend reading Robert Sullivan's opus about rats in New York City, Rats.
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I eat at this taco bell all the time. I've never seen any rats, but the hygiene and cleanliness there is the same as at most other taco bells and I think that's the problem.
On a more personal note, they don't make cinnamon twists and I think that's a problem worth reporting too.
holy crap that is some big rats. really gross.
Why do people continue to eat at fast food restaurants? High in calories, low in nutrients, and now chock full of rat feces. Does that sound appetizing? There are plenty of other affordable food options out there. It's just a little crazy to me that people keep going back for more of this low-quality, unhealthy dreck.
Have you ever had a cheesy gordita crunch?
"Seeing images of huge, fat rats run around a fast food restaurant in the Village!"
Why is anyone surprised? The Village seems to have the biggest rats in NY. I've seen rats near St Marks that are equal in size of some small dogs.
Risa, I think it's because people are lazy. It's just as cheap to go to the supermarket and buy fresh ingredients and make tacos for the whole week... but that takes effort.
Because it's yummy, Risa. Sure it ain't healthy, but you don't have to be healthy 24/7, Slim Goodbody. Not worth getting on your high horse.
Speaking of horse, I'll be at White Castle.
So if the presence of rats won't make a restaurant fail the Health Department inspection, what will?
The Village seems to have the biggest rats in NY. I've seen rats near St Marks that are equal in size of some small dogs.
There is very little size variance in adult rats. They weight about one pound, give or take no more than an ounce or two.
So if the presence of rats won't make a restaurant fail the Health Department inspection, what will?
The Village seems to have the biggest rats in NY. I've seen rats near St Marks that are equal in size of some small dogs.
There is very little size variance in adult rats. They weight about one pound, give or take no more than an ounce or two.
It's new york folks, there are going to be rats EVERYWHERE!
Incidentially, the hugest rats I've ever seen are at the fresh vegetable stand at the corner of Houston and Broadway. Makes you reconsider the fresh tacos thing a bit...
A lot of customers at these places have neither the time nor the money to make their own food.
No rats on Park Ave
after watching the video of this earlier in the morning, i'm not sure i need to eat the rest of the day. so nasty!
I'm sorry, but I don't see the problem.
Rats need to eat too you know.
Is it wrong if I think the rats are a little cute? Hehe. Not that I'd want to be anywhere near them or have them near my food.
I like it when rats just lay on their backs and take a drag on their fag instead of taking a nosh on a Gordita Supreme.
www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/08/30/one_last_cigarette.php
Rats and Mice are everywhere, and in every resteraunt, sad but true. I had lunch recently @ Frank in the east village one day, and walked into what I thought was the bathroom, but was their food storage room. Saw 5-6 mice on the floor scurrying around. Don't think owners care, although it makes me sick.
Would you like fries with your bubonic plague ..?
You may think these rats are big, but take a trip to Providence, and you'll see just how big they can be.
Seriously, the size of cats, and out in broad daylight.
Which is one of the many reasons Providence sucks giant asses.
Them are some pretty big rats. Makes me wonder where they are coming from, construction in the area?
Are they trapped inside trying to get out to a food source?
How does one kill one of them giant suckers? I got queasy shooting a pellet into a lil mice on a glue trap.
i'm shocked, shocked, to see rats at that taco bell. it makes me wonder what the rat situation is next door at all the restaurants on cornelia street.
Are the people who eat at KFC really going to care about rats?
When I lived in the Village I once saw the fountain in Washington Square Park FULL of rats. It was like a moving rat carpet. Another small park with a major rat problem is the triangle on Broadway near 110th street.
i saw the largest cockroach i've ever seen indoors stroll confidently from behind something in that location some years back.
i've been tempted to give the place another chance 'cause it's conveniently located but so far, i haven't.
thanks for reinforcing my resolve.
From the excellent book "Rats" by Robert Sullivan:
"Most likely, if you are in New York while you are reading this sentence or even in any other major city in America, then you are in proximity to two or more rats..."
As in, they are all around us -- closer than you think.
"No rats on Park Ave". Those holes dug in the median dirt ain't from gophers, Gramps.
#15
It's not wrong. Rats are cute and make great pets. The problem is that wild rats make great pests.
In terms of restaurants, I've seen roaches (Cafe Gigi, B&H Dairy) and mice (California Pizza Kitchen, don't ask) at many. Even though you know they are there, it is always gross to see them while you are eating.
So, is the Taco Bell-KFC open today?
Hey, now we know what that mystery meat is in the "beef" burrito.
Hey, now we know what that mystery meat is in the "beef" burrito.
Honestly, why do people live in NY? (and this is coming from someone who lived in NY for 14 years before coming to his senses).
Sorry Gramps but there are plenty of rats on Park Ave. The food court on the lower level of Grand Central has a chronic rat problem. It's not so much a cleanliness issue as the fact that the railroad tracks are right there and the restaurant kitchens are wide open and exposed.
Also Brian: why are you still reading Gothamist if you are so over NYC?
i have a fuckin' mouse in my room, and it was eating my marshmallow bar in my backpack 4 am 2 days ago... fuck!
fuck! fuck!
Honestly, why do people that don't live in NY read gothamist?
quote "Which makes us wonder about the pros and cons of e. coli and rats."
What, pray tell, does this mean?
I would have to argue that there are some adult rats that are definitely bigger than others. We're not dealing w/ regular scientific conditions here... this is NYC. I've definitely seen rats that could be chihuahuas if they had longer legs and shorter tails.
#34 - "Honestly, why do people that don't live in NY read gothamist?"
I don't live in New York. I read Gothamist because I used to live in New York, and New York didn't fall off the map when I moved away. I'm still interested in what's going on there. I still read the NY papers, and I still read Gothamist.
Anyway. With regard to the "Why don't you just go to the grocery store and get fresh ingredients?" comment -- I'm not commenting on relative nutritional value, but there are rats in the grocery stores too. I haven't seen them scampering up and down the aisles, though my roommate did, but there were a number of times when I'd pick up a bag of bread or bagels and it would have a big chunk gnawed out of it.
I've eaten at that Taco Bell, so -- ew. I'm pretty grossed out. But I'd lay you ten to one that the grocery stores in my neighborhood were nearly as filthy. I always ordered from FreshDirect so I didn't have to see it and therefore didn't have to think about it.
Also, drunk people go to fast food restaurants, especially when they are so close to the West 4th station. Kind of like I did last nite. Eek.
What, pray tell, does this mean?Sing it with me:
EVERYBODY JEN CHUNG TONIGHT!
I'll have a Taco Supereme and a bucket of Buffalo Wings.
Hey, my taco's a little too salty. Are those beans on my Buffalo Wings?
Aren't all the rats in Washington D.C.?
"The restaurant had been open until 11PM last night, and someone called a tip when they saw rats running around."
Someone called a tip?
Yeah, there are a lot of pros with E. Coli and rats - extreme weight loss and free furry little pets.
The stock's only down 1.1% so far today:
I guess the investors are already familiar with the consumers and figure they won't be put off by a few dozen rats.
Swing by the perpetual construction site ("the big dig") on 6th Ave and 13th St and see tons of rats scurrying about, minding their business and trash. Especially after sunset!
Have you ever had a cheesy gordita crunch?
Alex wins the thread.
Why can't they have in-n-out here?
One of the best fast foods I've ever had. I like the double double animal style.
www.in-n-out.com
There are mice in the suburbs and country too. Almost every apt. I have ever lived in has had at least one mouse sighting; from a country farmhouse to a Brooklyn basement apartment to a lovely Westchester development. Dem mieces is everywhere!
In N Out will never expand out of the West - so far they have only expanded to Northern California and Las Vegas. This is because they want to keep all their ingredients fresh and local (mmm, fresh produce from the San Jaoquin Valley!) and transportation distances prevent that.
Why do I read Gothamist if I don't live in NY anymore? Good question--it's not like there is anything interesting that happens in the city that I'd want to read about. I also subscribe to NY magazine...why on earth would I do that if I don't live here anymore?
Genius.
Honestly, between the cost of real estate, the hell that is the subway system, the complete inability to drive or park anywhere, the crowds, the smell, the crime...the rampant, mutant rats running free everywhere--why on earth does anyone live in NY?!
I don't think there is a taco bell in the city that is sanitary. I've had disgusting experiences at just about all of them (the one near union square being the least offensive). When I go to a fast food joint outside of NYC, it's like a gourmet meal compared to what you find here. One by one I have stopped eating at just about all of them, and seeing this might have gotten me to give all of them up for good. Making your own food is a pain in the ass, but I think it's worth it.
Honestly, between the cost of real estate, the hell that is the subway system, the complete inability to drive or park anywhere, the crowds, the smell, the crime...the rampant, mutant rats running free everywhere--why on earth does anyone live in NY?!
Go away, troll. There are plenty of better places for you to sound off on the Internet than in this forum. Meanwhile, I'll just say that the subways aren't hell; people shouldn't drive in New York City; and we seem to have gotten read of one of the rats when you left the city. Enjoy.
Taco Bell is so meh, I wish NYC had Baja Fresh!
NYC = safest big city in America. You're safer here than you are in Des Moines.
Rats in a Taco Bell five feet away from a subway entrance? Shocking!
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Thanks to those video's I'm cured of Taco Bel and KFC.
I wouldn't ever dream of telling people what they should or shouldn't eat but given the amount of shit they have experienced lately, I think it's pretty safe to say that it's a risk eating there at all. If I were Taco Bell I would start having my patrons sign a liability waiver before ordering.
"I ________ realize I am eating Taco Bell food at my own risk. If or when I get sick eating here, I hereby waive my right to sue."
Oh, also. Two things I took away from the WABC Web site:
1). "I like mexican food, so I come to Taco Bell sometimes," customer Shelly Vinson said. "But never again. That's disgusting."
I don't presume to know much about authentic Mexican food, but is Taco Bell REALLY considered Mexican? For some reason I imagine a lot of Mexicans might be appalled by that common confusion.
2). Don't rats have sex like every minute? That video was like 2 minutes long. Why didn't any of them get their hump on? What a let down. No rodent sex, just a bunch of scurrying.
I will take 5 rats instead of 1 roach...at least rats are cute.
taco bell is an illegal immigrant.
Again, the subway system is hell. NYC is bearable only if you don't *have* to use. You can choose to use it if you don't want to take an alternative method you can easily afford (towncar, cab, etc.), but for those who don't *have* that choice it's hell.
If everyone could walk to work, they would. Of course if everyone didn't *have* to work (or specifically, work where they do), they wouldn't. Pretty simple eh?
-OY
i live on cornelia street, which is directly behind 6th avenue in the location where taco bell is. as i walked home i passed the front of taco bell - dark and quiet. however, the back entrance is on cornelia street and there was an army of laborers/employees quickly filling up a truck full of taco bell appliances, garbage etc.
Can't wait to see what happens when they "renovate" the sewer that those rats all call home...Washington Square Park.
"taco bell is an illegal immigrant."??
...
Do the NYU Republicans Know???
;)
I know what the problem is! These are obese mice starting to cold turkey on the New York trans fat Ban!!!!!
I love NYC, and hate Los Angeles, but can this city please start grading restaurants like LA does?
Imagine how much harder restaurants would work at cleaning up and keeping rats out if they knew an easily visible letter grade, from A-F, would be placed outside the store by the health dept.