Rats: New York already has ‘ratslayer in chief’ | Climate and environment

The four million rats that live in New York – one for every four inhabitants, a calculation based on rather myopic estimates – have their hours numbered. As of this Wednesday, the city has the first “director of the rodent reduction program” in its history, Kathleen Corradi, who will occupy a newly created position in the municipal organization chart due to the aversion that the mayor, Eric Adams, feels towards the rats. Adams, and it could be added that any resident or visitor to the city, who comes across them on a daily basis with the same ease with which passengers mix in a subway car.

They abound in the suburban, but also in parks, in play areas for dogs and children or in the basements of buildings, without forgetting the storerooms or the back rooms of restaurants. They are so ubiquitous that, after numerous attempts by the city to stamp them out, Adams announced four months ago, with much fanfare, the appointment of Chief Ratslayer. It will be a Boss, the sheriff Corradi, the new Rat Terminatrix. In announcing the job position, Democrat Adams emphasized the “bloodthirsty” nature of potential candidates.

The adventures of New York rats are fortunate on the internet, it is not for nothing that the Big Apple is, they say, the most instagrammed of the world. A video showing a rodent running down the stairs of a subway station with the loot of an entire slice of pizza in its teeth went viral in 2015, much to the chagrin of city tour officials. “New York may be famous for the Pizza Rat, but rats and the conditions that help them spread will no longer be tolerated: no more dirty sidewalks, abandoned spaces, or blatantly dug burrows. [en solares y edificios en construcción]”, Corradi said in a statement.

The new person in charge of the deratization of New York is a former teacher who is an expert in waste management and will receive 155,000 dollars a year, according to the newspaper The New York Times. Judging by the requirements of the position, Corradi musters radical motivation, determination and killer instincts for “the large-scale killing” of pests. According to a persistent urban legend, in New York there are as many rats as inhabitants: almost nine million, hence the very modest figure of four million is not believed by anyone. The English novelist Charles Dickens already complained about his appearance when he visited the city in 1842.

The last attempt to keep rodents at bay has been a municipal proclamation to make residents aware of the advisability of taking out the garbage late in the afternoon, to prevent the bags from multiplying on the sidewalks. So the containers are in the corridors of the apartment buildings, and there are many numbers in the cubes of the plastic base or brass shapes, so that you can face them in the bugs. In addition, the closure of restaurants during the most restrictive phase of the pandemic left them without food, and the rodents developed a particularly aggressive behavior that continues: they stop at nothing. He does not know if Mayor Adams’ edict for New Yorkers to refrain from taking out garbage in broad daylight has had any results, since it went into effect on April 1.

As the debate rages over whether or not it is ethical to slaughter millions of rats in the American megalopolis – ethics aside, some scientists considering it would break the natural chain of species – Mayor Adams is getting, if not ending the rats, yes tailoring the city to your dislikes… and preferences. A convinced vegan -he assured that the change in diet restored his health and vitality after being diagnosed with diabetes-, he has instituted the so-called school menus four vegan, as follows for the introduction to alternative food supplies. The ex-policeman is known for his media effect hits.