Exterminators look underground to explain city's growing rat population

By Kylene Kiang and Abe Lebovic

Let’s face it. New York City is a paradise for rats. From midtown to Jamaica East, it’s not hard to spot a garbage can overflowing with a tasty meal. In a city of more than eight million people, rats have been said to outnumber city residents seven to one. Other figures hover around one rat for every 36 people, or 250,000 rats.

Even with all the projected figures and population studies, we can never really know the exact number of rats in the city, said Gil Bloom of Standard Exterminating Co. in Astoria, Queens.

"Easily there are more rats than people in the city of New York...and it really doesn’t matter how many rats there are," said Bloom, who has consulted city agencies on pest control. "There is a serious rodent problem in New York, and with every generation of the new rat patrol, if you will, it doesn't really seem to go anywhere."

The city’s record-high rat population is still not under control, according to an annual city report card released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this month. Because the department of health’s Pest Control Services is not responsible for keeping a "rat census," they gauge the seriousness of the problem by the number of complaints received.

Harlem resident Ivan Hodge, 49, said the rats in his neighborhood don't even flinch anymore when he walks by. "They're here all the time," he said pointing out several rats rummaging in a nearby garbage can.

Rats will eat just about everything from old diapers to a half-eaten bagel with lox. They can chew through glass and concrete and wreak havoc on electrical wires.

Hodge said many of the rats are coming from an adjacent and newly-renovated building on 113th Street and 8th Avenue. Breaking ground for construction work often unearths underground nests for rats.

"When they opened up that building, you wouldn't believe what came out of there," Hodge said as several rats climbed in and out of a small crack leading to the building's basement.

Taking care of a rat infestation can be a complex job in New York City. Because there are pest control workers in several agencies – the parks department, subways, housing and sanitation – knowing who takes care of the job can be unclear if the problem spans a large area.

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