You thought we had enough of the rats in NYC, what with our rat map, rat app—even the city’s very own rat czar, but no. This fall NYC will host the Inaugural National Urban Rat Summit.
Mayor Eric Adams, the New York City Department of Health, and New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University will work in unison to bring the best of the best to discuss proper practices on rodent mitigation and further the science on urban rat management.
Though NYC has seen progress with a 14% decrease in rat sightings at Rat Mitigation Zones year over year, “The best way to defeat our enemy is to know our enemy,” as said by Mayor Eric Adams.
A wide range of participants will attend the summit, including researchers and municipal experts from Boston, Seattle, and New Orleans. According to Citywide Director of Rodent Mitigation Kathleen Corradi, there’s shockingly very little known information on managing urban rat populations. Therefore, the summit will be an opportunity to build upon that knowledge and better understand urban rats.
Already this year, the Adams administration is working on eliminating 70% of all rat-attracting street trash in the city by the use of containerized bins. In addition to these efforts, NYC Parks is limiting food supply for rodents and targeting burrow zones, while the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) is distributing 45 exterminators to handle NYCHA public spaces.
⏰ September 18-19, 2024