'Rat Academy' To Teach Upper West Siders How To Beat Infestation

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A growing number of rat sightings on the Upper West Side has the city taking action, local elected officials announced.

The Parks Department has tripled garbage pickups in Riverside Park to three per day and is expediting delivery of "Big Belly" trash cans to areas affected by growing rat populations, City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal announced. Rosenthal's office is also hosting a rat-prevention seminar — or "rat academy" — later this month.

Locals concerned by rats can attend the seminar on Thursday, Sept. 28 at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on West 83rd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. The Health Department will provide tips on safe and effective methods of rat prevention and raffle off rodent-resident garbage cans.

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Recently, Upper West Side political rivals have turned to finger pointing over a sudden panic about over-aggressive rats the neighborhood. City Council challenger Mel Wymore made criticizing incumbent Rosenthal's policies on rat prevention a center-point of his campaign in August when he labeled her record on rats "four years of inaction."

Following video of a rat rummaging around in a Riverside Park playground's sand pit, first reported by the West Side Rag, Upper West Side parents and politicians have proclaimed a neighborhood crisis. The Wall Street Journal even claimed that rats are "boldly jumping in strollers."

"The Upper West Side is facing a worsening rat infestation that threatens our health and quality of life. Rats in playgrounds are unacceptable," Wymore said in a statement.

Rosenthal spoke with Patch to defend her record on fighting rats. While the incumbent council member refused to directly respond to Wymore's comment — saying she "really can’t speak to what my opponent says or does" — she did tell Patch that her office works with neighborhood residents to mitigate rat problems year round.

"Like every issue that our office gets notified about, or that we see going on, we use every tool in the toolbox to address the issue," Rosenthal told Patch in August.

Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim via Flickr/Creative Commons