Metropolis Council strikes to place the kibosh on rodents with passage of ‘Rat Motion Plan’

Oh rats!

The City Council on Thursday passed a package of bills aimed at tackling the swarms of rodents that roam the city’s streets and subways.

The package called the Action plan for ratsincludes legislation that would designate more so-called “rat reduction zones” — areas prone to rat infestations, direct the city health department to report annually on its efforts to curb the rat problem in those zones, mandate buildings with several rodent-specific health facilities, and place violators in their trash in covered containers, forcing developers to prove they hired a rodent killer in order to get planning permission.

The bills on rat reduction zones, lidded trash cans in buildings and construction sites all passed the council by a 44-6 vote, with the panel’s five Republicans and councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) voting “no,” while the bill called for an annual report adopted unanimously on rat control efforts.

The Rat Reduction Zone Bill – Introduction. 459a — paves the way for the city’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to enact new rules that would shift the time people can dump their trash from 4pm to 8pm, what Mayor Eric Adams revealed last week along with Department of Health and Human Services (DSNY) Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

During a press conference ahead of the state meeting, City Council spokeswoman Adrienne Adams said the legislation was necessary because the increasing number of rats in the city is affecting the quality of life and everyday health of New Yorkers.

“New York City is currently experiencing a severe rat problem that is affecting all communities,” spokesman Adams said. “The increased number of rodents is leading to increased property damage, food contamination and disease transmission, as well as an overall reduced quality of life for New Yorkers. The council is focused on improving the health and safety of our neighborhoods, and this legislative package will support efforts to combat increases in rodents across the city.”

City Council Speaker Arienne Adams during City Council meeting. Thursday 27 October 2022.Photo courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit

The cadre of councilors behind the package, dubbed the Rat Pack — named after an informal group of entertainers from the 1950s and ’60s — gathered on the steps of City Hall ahead of the state assembly for the bills on Thursday morning. The group included council members Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn) – who chairs the panel’s sanitation committee, Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan), Chi Ossé (D-Brooklyn) and Erik Bottcher (D-Manhattan).

“Now New Yorkers say we’re more than just the pizza rat,” Nurse said, referring to a viral image of a rat with a slice of pizza in its mouth.

“Our icon wasn’t supposed to be a rat lugging a pizza down the subway,” she continued. “And New York is dirty, our streets are dirty, we’re fed up with mountains of garbage. So we’ve been very, very focused for the past six months putting together a package of bills called the Rat Action Plan to be really aggressive and relentless in responding to New Yorkers’ concerns.”

City Council members Sandy Nurse (left), Chi Ossé, Erik Bottcher and Carlina Rivera demonstrate on the steps of City Hall in support of the Council Action Plan bills package. Thursday 27 October 2022.Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller

Nurse said the package responds in part to a recent exponential spike in 311 rat-related complaints.

The rule change, which instructs residential and commercial buildings to dispose of rubbish by 8pm instead of 4pm, aims to reduce the time rubbish sits on the street overnight – often up to 14 hours – before its 8am pickup time . Abreu said the daylight saving time change, coupled with the shift of more pickups by the sanitation department — now about a quarter — to the midnight schedule should help reduce the amount of time black garbage bags clog the city’s sidewalks.

“This will keep our streets clean and starve rats from the midnight snacks that sustain their explosive growth,” Abreu said. “Families no longer have to navigate through so many mountains and rubbish mazes piling up in front of their homes. New Yorkers don’t have to worry about as many rats hiding in the shade late at night or more often rampaging fearlessly through our subway system and sidewalks.”

Some have criticized the rule change, saying it’s not an effective strategy for reducing the number of rats on city streets because the four-legged furry creatures are nocturnal and do most of their feasting after 8 p.m., the allotted time being pushed back four hours won’t make much of a difference. But Abreu said this rule change is just part of a broader strategy to reduce the city’s rat population.

“This won’t make them die out, I already said that,” Abreu said. “It’s important to increase the stress on them. This is a war we’re getting into, right? So we’re using everything we have to make it a reality.”

City Council Members Shaun Abreu and Sandy Nurse during the official meeting. Thursday 27 October 2022.Photo courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit

The council also passed a legislative package Thursday to expand services for domestic violence survivors, which included a bill directing the Adams administration to provide financial housing assistance to survivors through a grant program.

They also passed legislation directing the city’s transportation and parks departments to develop a “city-wide greenway master plan,” with the goal of establishing a greenway network in the five boroughs and reporting on locations across the city where additional public toilets can be built.

“The lack of public toilets in the city has many facets,” said Councilor Rita Joseph – who sponsored the legislation. “It’s about justice, public health, sanitation and basic human rights. By passing the bill, we are showing that New Yorkers want to live in a city where clean, easily accessible public restrooms are a reality.”