Before he goes, Mayor Eric Adams is making sure New York City never forgets what truly kept him up at night: rats. As a final, deeply on-brand parting gift to the city, Adams has created an official Office of Rodent Mitigation, turning his long-running rodent fixation into a permanent city agency.
Formalizing his years-long war on rodents, Adams is ensuring NYC’s most controversial residents have an office dedicated just to them, because if there’s one thing he isn’t leaving to chance, it’s the rats. He stated:
New Yorkers know there is nothing I dislike more than rats, and that’s why we have made it our mission to significantly address this intractable problem that has plagued New Yorkers for decades.
On Tuesday, December 16, Mayor Eric Adams officially established the Office of Rodent Mitigation, a new agency designed to coordinate efforts across city departments and community organizations to tackle NYC’s relentless rat problem.
The office will also partner with residents, academic institutions, and pest management experts, while leading public outreach and education initiatives aimed at reducing the city’s rat population.
Like any agency, the Office of Rodent Mitigation will, of course, require someone to lead it.
The agency is currently budgeted for a single leader, but there is one major problem: the position is vacant. The city’s first-ever Rat Czar, Kathleen Corradi, resigned her $176,000-a-year rodent wrangling responsibilities in September to join NYCHA. Since her departure, some New Yorkers fear the rodents have regained the upper hand.
Now, the burden falls to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani who, upon taking office, will face a critical choice: appoint a new Rat Czar to lead Adams’ new office and potentially expand the office’s budget and headcount, or rescind the executive order entirely.
Community groups, including the District 35 Rat Task Force, have already sent a letter to Mamdani urging him to keep the position filled, according to the NY Post. They stated:
Without an interagency approach our beloved city faces a rat infestation that will only worsen, jeopardizing our quality of life and health.
Despite NYC’s reputation, recent data suggests the tide might be turning. According to the 2025 Mayor’s Management Report:
- Rat sightings have decreased for 12 consecutive months
- Active rat signs are at a five-year low (19.7%) due to new 8 pm trash set-out times, public education initiatives, & even rat birth control
- Response times for rat complaints at NYCHA properties have improved by double digits
While New York was surprisingly not named the rattiest city in America in recent studies, the new office ensures that even as Adams exits City Hall, the battle for the streets of New York is far from over.
Though New York may be losing a mayor, but the rats are gaining an office. Adams stated:
With this new executive order establishing the Office of Rodent Mitigation, we are ensuring our ‘War on Rats,’ and the smart policies we put in place to coordinate across city agencies, has a permanent home. I am proud of our legacy on a major quality-of-life, public-safety, and public-health issue, and am excited to see this work continue to make our city more livable for all.
If you like to plan your commutes around NYC solely to avoid rat encounters, be sure to keep NYC’s Rat Information Portal on hand to see where rats are likely to hang out, and avoid these rat-infested subways.