Brooklyn Today: The war on rats ramps up

September 20, 2019 Brooklyn Today

Residents expect traffic outside the Pacific Park middle school will be heavy because Barclays Center and a police and fire station are nearby. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Barclays Center. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Share this:

THE LEDE: Happy Friday! A new report shows that the city has been increasing its efforts to keep rat populations down — particularly in Brooklyn, where inspections for the pesky rodents have quadrupled since 2015. New York City’s Independent Budget Office revealed that Brooklyn had the most initial rodent inspections by the city’s health department in 2018, growing from 14,929 in 2015 to a whopping 64,361 last year.

Think there’s something we should cover? Let us know. Also, if you like what we’re doing, tell a friend, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

THE RUNDOWN

~ PLANNED BUS CUTS WILL THROW RIDERSHIP INTO ‘DEATH SPIRAL’: RIDERS AND OFFICIALS: MTA’s service cuts to bus routes in Brooklyn will bring ridership down even further and will hit lower-income residents the hardest, riders and elected officials said at a rally in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday.

~ MENCHACA URGES COMMUNITY UNITY TO PREVENT ‘CAPITALISTIC ANIMALS’ FROM TAKING OVER INDUSTRY CITY: Councilmember Carlos Menchaca evoked the specter of corporate giant Amazon moving into Industry City and called on Sunset Park residents to unite behind a Community Benefits Agreement with the complex’s owners in order to keep the company out.

~ THE WAR ON RATS RAMPS UP AS BROOKLYN QUADRUPLES INSPECTIONS: The increase in inspections, according to NYC’s Independent Budget Office, is due to the expansion of rodent indexing — scouting for rats and signs of rats across targeted areas — prioritized under the de Blasio administration’s Neighborhood Rat Reduction Initiative in 2017.

~ OYSTERS AND ARTISTS: 10 THINGS TO DO IN BROOKLYN THIS WEEKEND: Pretty soon the leaves will be changing, pumpkin spice lattes will be in the hands of every hipster and summer will be all but an afterthought. But you can still cherish those last summer feelings this weekend. We’ve got lots of great outdoor events.

~ BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL: OUR GUIDES FOR FOODIES, FANBOYS AND MORE: The Brooklyn Book Festival isn’t labeled the largest free literary event in New York City for nothing. With so many events, it can be overwhelming to choose which ones to attend — so we’ve narrowed it down for you.

~ SUNSET PARK’S CRUMBLING STONE WALL HAS NEIGHBORS FEARING FOR SAFETY: “A little kid pulling on that, maybe after the next heavy rain — boom — that’s going to come down on that child,” said Sunset Park resident Michael Fleshman.

~ JERSEY MAN TRACKED EX-GIRLFRIEND’S CAR BEFORE MURDERING HER: PROSECUTORS: A New Jersey man who allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend in Canarsie in late 2016 spent the days before the killing tracking her movements after installing a GPS device on the bottom of her car, prosecutors said Thursday.

~ NO BAIL FOR COP ACCUSED OF MAKING SEXUAL ADVANCES ON 10-YEAR-OLD: A police officer with the NYPD’s building maintenance unit was arrested Thursday morning for making sexual advances on an acquaintance’s 10-year-old daughter while babysitting her, prosecutors said.

~ GUERRILLA ADS TAKE ON ANTI-FARE EVASION ADS IN CITY’S SUBWAYS: Snitches get stitches… or at least a gentle rebuke from a guerrilla ad campaign that’s been spotted on trains and subway stations around the city.

~ BROOKLYN DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS NARROW THEIR SIGHTS ON FOUR 2020 CANDIDATES: On the heels of a competitive effort in June’s Queens district attorney primary, during which they backed insurgent candidate Tiffany Cabán, the Democratic Socialists of America are beginning to solidify their 2020 priorities in Brooklyn.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ “Hezbollah scout was looking for attack targets in NYC: Feds” (NBC New York)

~ At this Fort Greene restaurant, there is no chef and no trash. (Grub Street)

~ Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine admits to selling a kilo of heroin in the borough. (AllHipHop)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: An American missionary tried to convert a hostile tribe to christianity. Despite pleas from his parents and friends not to go, he felt it was his god-given mission and went anyway. (GQ)

~ EAT: Here are the 26 best burgers in New York City, including five in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ CARTOON: A fall dilemma. (The New Yorker)

~ OPINION: “Barack Obama’s biggest mistake” (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

5:00PM — Secrets of Reading: In Conversation with Bahar Behbahani and Tishan Hsu at Asia Art Archive in America. Details.

6:30PM — 270: Debating the Electoral College at The Cooper Union. Details.

7:00PM – 10:00PM — TimesTalk: Mark Ronson at The TimesCenter. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1953, the Eagle reported, “Brooklyn’s parade and Borough Hall reception celebrating the Brooklyn Dodgers pennant victory, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been canceled so the team may be in ‘peak condition’ to meet the Yankees in the World Series.”

📔 IMPRINT
English singer Dua Lipa graces the October cover of Vogue España.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
“How Meghan Markle has changed royal family fashion” (E! News)

🏀 SPORTS
Tsai officially assumes full ownership of Nets

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Maggie Cheung, Dale Chihuly, Kristen Johnston, Sophia Loren, George R.R. Martin and Guy Lafleur!