Classes started early at the rat academy. Just as you listen.
New York City has expert teachers on the subject, from how to fight these rodents that have invaded the city.
According to Orkin, a company specialized in pest control, in September 2022, 21,600 sightings of rats were reported throughout the city.
Ramón Alonso has been fighting rats for 30 years, as building superintendent.
“In the other buildings that I managed, there was enough. I had to use all the chemicals there were to be able to destroy them, so much so that you had to walk carefully so as not to slip on them”, Alonso maintains.
In the building that he now manages, he does not give them any chance.
“The problem is that every time you leave food outside, they eat, so if your building leaves food outside, where they have access to eat, they can come from different buildings, from different areas,” Alonso says.
Precisely, the main advice they gave at the academy was not to feed them, avoid feeding the pigeons, and avoid leaving garbage cans with food exposed without a lid.
In addition to sealing the accesses of rodents either with silicone or cement, among others.
For his part, Mayor Eric Adams announced that as of April 1, 2023, the City of New York will change the hours in which homes and businesses can take their trash out for collection from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. :00 pm, and in containers with lids.
“Rodents shouldn’t be in our homes, they shouldn’t be running in our yards and, even worse, biting our children, as has already happened. It’s a health safety issue,” Adams said.
“For years, the Bronx County has suffered from rat infestation in our communities and in our apartments. And what we have seen is that things have gotten worse, more people have moved to Bronx County, which means that there is more garbage on the street,” says Councilman Rafael Salamanca, who also attended the classes.
Flor Sánchez managed buildings all her life and ensures that cleanliness is the key to everything.
“Cleanliness is number one. I don’t go to sleep unless the sink is washed,” he says.
Just this week he caught a rat in his building.
“The cats themselves are afraid of those mice now, because they are too big”, exolica Sánchez smiling.
