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<\/a><\/p>\n(Reuters) – New York City’s unending war on rats has a new commanding general.<\/p>\n
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced that Kathleen Corradi, an education department employee, has been appointed New York\u2019s first-ever “rat czar,” part of Adams\u2019 effort to combat a growing rodent population in the county\u2019s most populous city.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll be seeing a lot of me – and a lot less rats,\u201d Corradi, whose official title is \u201ccitywide director of rodent mitigation,\u201d said at a news conference. \u201cThere\u2019s a new sheriff in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams, who has often expressed a deep hatred for rats, posted the job last year, seeking someone “somewhat bloodthirsty” with a “general aura of badassery” and offering an annual salary between $120,000 and $170,000. <\/p>\n
Corradi, a former teacher, is not new to the fight against rats. She previously oversaw rat mitigation efforts in the city\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n
Rat sightings have jumped in recent years, according to city data. Some officials have said the proliferation of sidewalk dining \u2013 a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the city\u2019s restaurants \u2013 contributed to the problem.<\/p>\n
The size of the city\u2019s rat population is unknown. A 2014 study put the figure at around 2 million, or one for every four residents.<\/p>\n
Adams has implemented other measures aimed at what he called New York\u2019s \u201cNo. 1 enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent months, his administration has limited the number of hours that trash bags can sit on sidewalks awaiting pickup and launched a curbside composting program intended to reduce food waste.<\/p>\n
But the brown rat, which likely arrived in New York sometime during the Revolutionary War era, has proven a crafty adversary, thriving despite numerous attempts to eradicate it from the city\u2019s warrens of subway tunnels and alleyways.<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)<\/p>\n
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