Harlem Rat Complaints Keep Rising In 2022, Data Shows

HARLEM, NY — Harlemites who had grown accustomed to dropping off their food scraps at Harlem Grown's 127th Street farm may have been dismayed to discover recently that the site had been discontinued. The culprit? Rats.

The neighborhood nonprofit decided last week to scrap the scrapping site, in large part because the heaps of organic material had begun attracting hordes of rodents — drawing complaints from neighbors, according to executive director Tony Hillery.

"When do you go from serving a small amount of households, processing household food scraps, to alienating the majority of your community because of these cat-sized rats running around?" Hillery told Patch.

Indeed, two and a half months into 2022, the rat problem in Harlem is as bad as it's been in a decade, according to city data. Through Thursday, 423 rat sightings had been reported in Harlem so far this year — the highest number during the same period since at least 2012.

Since the pandemic began, residents of Harlem and across New York City have described seeing more and more rats scurrying across sidewalks and popping up near residences. The cause has been attributed variously to cutbacks in the city's Sanitation budget, humid weather, and the city's age-old practice of dumping its garbage on the sidewalk.

Hillery subscribes to another theory: that Harlem's real estate boom is to blame.

"There’s a lot of building going up in Harlem. All this construction uproots colonies of rats," he said.

That explanation has been echoed by experts. One researcher told the New York Times in 2019 that the effect of construction on rats was akin to “stepping on an ants nest.”

The 423 Harlem rat complaints filed this year is nearly double the number filed during the same period of any year since 2012 — save for last year, when 405 had been filed through March 18.

When Patch mapped the complaints last summer, the sightings appeared to be distributed unevenly, with some streets seeing high numbers of rats while others emerged relatively rodent-free — including the busy 125th Street corridor.

One possible explanation for that discrepancy: 125th Street is overseen by a well-funded business improvement district that has prioritized trash cleanup and rat prevention. In 2017, the BID unveiled a set of new "Big Belly" trash cans on the corner of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue that leaders said would make it harder for rats to reach food.

Kristin Richardson Jordan, who took office in January as Central Harlem's new City Council member, told Patch that addressing the rat issue was among her top priorities, and planned to request similar rat-proof receptacles to be added throughout the neighborhood.

Related coverage:

• Rats Keep Plaguing Harlem, But Sightings Distributed Unevenly
• Pols Demand City Clean Up Harlem Trash, Rats As Complaints Soar
• Futuristic Trash Cans to Fight Litter And Rats In Harlem
• Rats Thrived As Trash Piled Up 14 Stories At Harlem NYCHA Complex