City Tackles Rat Problem Where It's Worst: Bushwick And Bed-Stuy

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Rats. Bushwick and Bed-Stuy are the most vermin-infested neighborhoods in Brooklyn, according to officials who’ve decided to do something about the furry fiends.

The city has dedicated $32 million to wiping out rats in the New York City neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn, lower Manhattan and the west Bronx where the rodent problem is worst, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.

The money, which will pay for a slew of rat-proof, solar powered trash compactors and fund more frequent garbage pickups, could could reduce the rat population by about 70 percent, officials estimated.

The 336 solar-powered garbage cans — which go for about $7,000 a pop — will replace the wire trash bins that appear (sometimes) on city street corners, according to the statement.

Anti-rat action will also include tackling rodent-infestations in public housing by covering the buildings basements’ dirt floors with cement, officials said.

De Blasio is also calling for a new law to boost fines for illegally dumping trash and better regulate how large buildings throw out their garbage.

Other New York City neighborhoods can expect similar upgrades garbage should the new campaign prove successful in the original rat pack areas of Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and Grand Concourse, the mayor said in a statement.

“All New Yorkers deserve to live in clean and healthy neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in an official statement. “We refuse to accept rats as a normal part of living in New York City.”

The plan is expected to be in full effect by the end of 2017.

Photo courtesy of Ludovic Bertron/Flickr