New York City is so fed up with rats that the city has named its first-ever “rat czar” to help reduce the area’s growing rat population. The situation has gotten so out of control that it has become a “major quality-of-life and health issue.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams appointed former school teacher Kathleen Corradi to be the city’s first director of rodent mitigation, otherwise dubbed “rat czar.”
“New York City has done a lot recently when it comes to fighting public enemy number one: rats. But it was clear we needed someone solely focused on leading our rat reduction efforts across all five boroughs and today I’m proud to announce Kathy Corradi as New York City’s first-ever ‘rat czar,'” Mayor Adams said.
He added: “Kathy has the knowledge, drive, experience and energy to send rats packing and create a cleaner more welcoming city for all New Yorkers.”
Corradi is now responsible for handling the problem and must create a rat mitigation plan. This will involve coordinating city agencies to detect the rats, cutting off their food sources and exterminating them.
An additional $3.5 million investment was announced by Mayor Adams, which will go toward 19 full-time staff and 14 seasonal staff, along with bait, traps, sensors and fumigation machines. The money will also be used to harden floors in public housing to prevent rat burrowing.
“Rat mitigation is more than a quality-of-life issue for New Yorkers,” Corradi said. “Rats are a symptom of systemic issues, including sanitation, health, housing and economic justice.”
“As the first director of rodent mitigation, I’m excited to bring science — and a systems-based approach to fight rats. New York may be famous for the Pizza Rat, but rats, and the conditions that help them thrive, will no longer be tolerated — no more dirty curbs, unmanaged spaces or brazen burrowing,” Corradi said.
In 2021, the city received nearly 21,600 rat complaints through the end of September, which was an increase of 74 percent over the same time period back in 2020.