Rats swarm in every corner of the Big Apple, but Manhattan has been crowned the haunt of undesirable rodents, at least for now.
The county just earned the not-so-honorable distinction of having the most rat sightings and complaints per resident, according to a new study from Renthop.com. But the other districts are not far behind in a city where rodent sightings have increased by 29% in one year.
As of November 10, 2021, the New York 311 hotline has received more than 25,000 reports of rat sightings in all five boroughs, up 28.7% from 2020, according to the Renthop study. 60% of the city’s neighborhoods saw increases in reported rodent complaints and sightings.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, New York and other large cities across the country have seen a drastic increase in rat populations, attributed to several factors, from restaurant closures forcing the pest to find new sources. from food to inspectors too busy with other tasks in the wake of the pandemic.
Whatever the reason, rats are everywhere and they are multiplying. Manhattan tops the list of rodent complaints per resident, with 7,217 complaints equal to 4.26 rat sighting points per 1,000 residents, a 34.7% increase over the same period last year.
Brooklyn reported 9,749 sightings. It also reported a 37.8% increase in sightings as of 2020, the largest year-over-year increase of any county.
In third place was the Bronx, with 4,682 complaints, an increase of 29.5% compared to 2020.
In Queens, there were 3,596 complaints, just a slight increase from 2020. Staten Island came in last and was the only county to see a decrease in complaints.
Although rat complaints generally increase in the summer, October 2021 marked the worst month in the past six years, according to Renthop, with 3,282 complaints, 62.7% more than in October 2020.
THE NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE GREATEST NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS WERE:
- Harlem, Manhattan: 357 rat complaints in 2020, 822 in 2021
- Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley, Manhattan: 351 rat complaints in 2020, 440 in 2020
- Prospect Heights, Brooklyn: 208 rat complaints in 2020, 304 in 2021
- Upper East Side-Yorkville, Manhattan: 242 rat complaints in 2020, 361 in 2021
- East Village, Manhattan: 194 rat complaints in 2020, 416 in 2018
Here you can read the full report.
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