Ratdemic Grows on the UWS

Once Gale Brewer takes care of those pesky Canadian Lennon fans, she's got an army of rats to deal with. According to My Upper West the peaceful 87th Street block between West End and Riverside has been overtaken with the vermin, just in time for sandal weather! A local tipster told the site, “it is not uncommon to see between 10 and 12 rats running all over the place” at night.

Just as with other neighborhoods that have been plagued by the ratdemic, these rodents have frightened locals and even eaten through car wires. Calls to 311 have allegedly gone ignored, and now residents live in fear. One says the rats can be heard “screaming and hissing” at night.

We've heard separate reports of rats lurking near the playground on West 70th, and in February nearby Verdi Park was overtaken by the four-legged fiends. At that time, West 74th Street Block Association president said, "Forget poison. Send someone out with a gun. They walk around like they own a condo here.''

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

By Jen Carlson in News on May 25, 2010 4:21 PM

Comments [rss]

SuperWittySmitty

Put a bounty on rats ($5) and pigeons ($1) and let the fun begin!

djkampos

There once was a time when man was hunted by wolves and bears.

Ace

I blame Sad Rat. Vengeance is his.

John Clavis

I blame Obama.

handsomedevil

its not the rats fault it is humans fault people should just live and let live

handsomedevil

although really nobody should be surprised that they are taking over since we have rats in city hall and at the head of city council

dadoc

Need more owls and coyotes.

junglisticman

If this was in a poor minority community this would not be news, but I guess being wealthy and white has its perks. This article disgusts me, not because of the rats but the inherent institutionalized racism that it breeds.

theLtrain

I complained about this the last time Gothamist reported a similar nonstory (almost exactly a month ago) about rats on the UES.

THIS ISN'T NEWS. This isn't even nonnews, it's not even gossip, it's NOTHING.

Rats, prostitutes, drug dealers, drugs, muggers, rapists, they're EVERYWHERE, in every neighborhood in NYC. Rich and poor.

Stop blogging about this nonsense.

SuperWittySmitty

In live in Queens, near Woodside. We do not seem to have these problems. What are you talking about? There are areas that DO have infestations- if you do not want to read about them, maybe you should avoid these blogs. Getting the word out seems to be a good idea.

JenChungsBaby

If you know of a blog about a poor minority community that is writing about a rat problem and which Gothamist isn't covering then you'd be correct. But Gothamist is a lot like Transportation Alternatives -- all white bread all the time.

Gwinny

Actually, I live on W. 144th Street (that would be West Harlem/Hamilton Heights) and we had a beautification day on May 15 - in part to start getting rid of the rat problem here. Trust me, the problem here is much more severe than it is on the UWS...and I sent a press release to Gothamist and followed up right before the event and got no response or coverage from this site. Nor did any of the many other media outlets I sent the release to follow up or do any coverage, with the notable exception of WABC.

So, yeah, the media IS generally ignoring this problem in low-income areas, despite our attempts to publicize the problem.