LOWER MANHATTAN (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams has found a general in his war on vermin, filling his administration’s “rat czar” job opening, according to reports.
The mayor, who has been battling rats both citywide and at his Brooklyn townhouse, reportedly confirmed Thursday that the position had been filled after a monthslong search, but declined to identify the person who fit the listing’s call for a “somewhat bloodthirsty” director of rodent mitigation.
But the rat czar, as the vermin vanquisher has been more informally called, will be tasked with clearing the rodents from New York City’s streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces.
To help, Adams is also rolling out free “rat academy” seminars to empower everyday New Yorkers and pest management pros alike to take up the fight. The sessions will be held both virtually and in-person in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
As rat complaints surge, the Adams administration has taken other steps to clean up the city, including implementing new trash pickup rules set to take effect on April 1. Residents will be required to take out their garbage later in the day — 6 p.m. for lidded trash cans, 8 p.m. for bags — in an attempt to reduce the availability of food for rats.
The war is a personal one for Adams, who last month was hit with a $300 fine by a hearing officer for failing to remedy “the presence of several bags on the ground could provide shelter or protection for rodents, which amounts to a harborage condition” at his Brooklyn townhouse, which he rents out. In the same hearing, a second summons was dismissed as the officer credited Adams’ attempts to fight the scurrying scourge.
