Brooklyn Boro

Spike in rat complaints prompts BP Adams to hold Rat Summit

June 27, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
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Thursday at 6 p.m. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, there will be a “Rat Summit” hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. In a town hall meeting forum, Adams will offer statistics that back up an urban legend: No matter where you are in NYC, you are within 15 feet of unseen rats and roaches.

Now, rats are becoming more visible. Adams is alarmed at statistics from 311 calls, indicating that Brooklyn logged 7,253 rat complaints or sightings, compared with 4,507 for Manhattan during the same period.

From tony Brooklyn Heights to neighborhoods still being gentrified, rats are “right at home,” according to a longtime resident of Montague Terrace. 

“I see them romping around in flower beds in front of my building,” he said.

Parks give rats space to make burrows, and several of the Brooklyn addresses mentioned in the survey as having a heavy rat population, such as 407 Lincoln Place and 95 Eastern Parkway, are within a few blocks of Prospect Park. Neighborhoods with large numbers of reported rodents include Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Bushwick and Williamsburg. 

But Bed-Stuy, where Adams is holding his summit tonight, was found to be the neighborhood with the city’s largest number of rat complaints, with 1,265 in 2017 alone.   

The Rat Summit is being co-hosted by Councilmember Robert Cornegy Jr. and Community Board 3 at Restoration Plaza in Bedford Stuyvesant. 

In addition to voicing their concerns, Rat Summit attendees will learn about rat mitigation, obtain free city resources, and receive a “Rodent Academy” short course conducted by members of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), who will share steps on preventing rat infestations. 

There will also be representatives present from the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU), New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), New York City Department of Education (DOE) and New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), who will be available to answer questions from the audience. 

Adams will emphasize the urgency of combatting the rat infestation problem and the need for communities to come together to learn about this important issue.

 

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