Sad Rat In Sidewalk Forever

When Gothamist reader Wayne sent us a picture of a rat stuck in a sidewalk, apparently trying to emerge, others readers decided it was depressing, hilarious, tempting, disgraceful, an opportunity for considering ethics and morals, and time to bait other commenters. Finally, we have an update from Wayne plus a number of Photoshop renderings of the Sad Rat:

It was on my block on the Upper West Side. 82nd Street between CPW and Columbus. I thought it was alive, but after getting up the nerve to poke it with a (long) stick, I realized he was dead. I did what any wonderful caring masculine New Yorker would do, I told the doorman about it and ran off to work. That night the sidewalk with spic and span. I hear the Eulogy was beautiful and moved some to tears.

So there—he did check out Sad Rat's condition!

If you saw a rat struggling to emerge from a sidewalk, what would you do?(trends)

And thank you to all the readers who spent some time on their Friday nights and Saturday mornings creating ways we can remember Sad Rat forever.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on October 24, 2009 3:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Zod!ac

Kitchen prep is the only one that made me laugh, so I'll need to go with that one.

jllg15

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4442/djsadratt.jpg

PARTYYY!!!

FunChop

The meme lives on, more new photoshops here:

http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/stuck_rat/#c

hubcap

kick it's dirty head off

invisibleman

obvious troll is obvious.

Shilpa Bhatnagar

Hopping over from Londonist. The responses are hilarious! But I do hope somebody rescued the poor little fellow...any updates on that?

TrippinJoJo

so what happened to the lil guy? did anyone free him of his misery or just left him for dead?

Jesse

Poor guy :( I hope his family will remember him.

Mr Mel

Kudos to our artists and their imaginations. However, in the survey I voted to kill it.

Mr. Shankly

Very well done, sirs.

jibbly

This thread is better than the repeat Megan Fox SNL I just watched.

unsunghiro

best. post. ever.

augustojr

Maybe he likes cheesecake

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7051/200910saddestjrscheesec.jpg

jimmy

these pictures are amazing, i'm rolling on the floor laughing over here!! hahaha!

pudeljung

somewhat offtopic... but I was just over at the NY Post, reading reader comments there - and have you guys ever noticed that a whole lot of people are really racist? And seem to not realize it, I mean they betray a racism/ sexism/ bigotry that is alarming! Yikes!

Gwinny

well, it's the Post... what did you expect?

Spirit of 76

Oops. So poor "thefacts" is proven wrong yet again. Yesterday he was writing that it wasn't an NYC sidewalk and that "IT'S A HOAX. IT'S A HOAX. IT'S A HOAX." He was so absolutely sure, just like he's so sure about everything else. I bet he wouldn't admit he was wrong even if he went up to W 82nd and inspected the sidewalk to see that it is stone and that the crack exists.

pudeljung

DLEE'S LAST SUPPER WINS!!

LOL!

valeriob

Joe ades ftw!

NannyState

Agreed!

leepresson

Interesting the number of votes for "help it" considering how many times I see people stepping over the homeless on the sidewalks of new york city.

felixthecat2

The same old false statement- that having compassion for other species means you don't have any compassion for your own but in fact it has been proven that people who committed murders were also animal abusers.

Dead Himmler

Felix, as usual you are wrong. I am an occasional or "opportunistic" animal abuser and I have never killed anybody. Please refrain from making stupid and senseless statements.

felixthecat2

NO, I am right. You have no morals which is why you defraud the MTA and the taxpayers with your fake workers comp and why you wife let you since you probably abused her as well. I hope one day you met you just end.

Snakefist Von Thunderplug

I know, right? You're a naughty man, Himmler.

Whether we'd help the rat or not, I'm sure we can all agree on one thing. If that SOB Bloomberg would pass some anti-bullying legislation already, rats probably wouldn't feel the need to get caught in the sidewalk anymore. It's science. Duh.

eyekantspel

in fact it has been proven that people who committed murders were also animal abusers

no doubt that there is some overlap between the groups of people who commit murders and people who abuse animals. But not all murderers are animal abusers, or that all animal abusers are murderers.

leepresson's point is valid, at least superficially. There are probably more people who would go out of their way to help this rat than help a homeless person. Then again, it's a different situation. Most of us recognize that giving a dollar to a homeless person isn't really going to "help" them. Their problems go way beyond that. If a homeless person was on fire, or stuck the way this rat was, I think more people would assist with that immediate situation. There's probably also a moral component to it. Animals and small children deserve help, because they are blameless. Grown people, on the other hand, probably were complicit in getting into dire straits. There have been times when I've tried to help people in bad situations, only to regret getting involved.

felixthecat2

and they are also the most vulnerable which is why it is our moral responsibility to protect them

Guest

Let's put you in a cage full of the 'most vulnerable' and see just how you fare with your moral responsibility to protect them...

dimadelux

I am not giving money to every homeless that I see...

SeasTooFarToReach

I certainly wouldn't step on a person or animal... with the random exception of a bug.

Maybe those people voted for "Kill it".

felixthecat2

Poor Guy, I wish I found you before you met your fate.

Guest

Please save them all. I will provide you with a map of where you may find them. (hint: it will be in a dark, dank area filled with all other kinds of beasties that I'm sure you will love.)