The setting sun drops behind the Statue of Liberty. You are sitting on the grass taking in the beauty. You put another dollop of cheese on your cracker and take one last sip of your solo cup once filled with red wine. Nothing can ruin this moment.
You hear the bushes ruffle from behind, likely a sign of the ocean wind taking over the city as it does every evening. You keep focused on the fleeting light along the horizon.
There is branch movement in the bushes again, but this time you look back. It is darker now, and it all looks grey. It’ll be a few more moments before the air chills. You want to take in every last second of this serenity.
Again, a sound emanates from the bushes. You look back and see nothing. This time, the bush has your focus. As you are about to look back towards the water, you see the scurry. You do not want to bother your partner, and you remain silent.
You now see there is not just one furry foe. There is a second, third, and fourth moving around.
“Ok... Let’s pack up!”
This week, 2xParked, will take a look at our unwanted guests, rats.
The Current Rat Trap
There are some rankings where I am ok that NYC is not number one. Orkin ranked New York City the third most rattiest metro area in the United States, behind only Chicago and Los Angeles. Chicago and LA, you can have that title.
There are an estimated 2 million rats living in the city. Although we outnumber rats 4 to 1, it does not mean you are very far from a rat. Here is your average distance from a rat at any time by borough. Staten Island looks a whole lot better now, New Yorkers.
There is rat data provided by Open Data NYC. We can see where the 311 calls for rats have originated. Below is a heat map based on the calls since 2017. Eastern Brooklyn/ Queens and upper Manhattan have the highest rat calls, while Staten Island has not had many rat complaints.
The Changing State
The current state of where there are rats does not show the shifts in rat calls. Although eastern Brooklyn and upper Manhattan have the most rat related 311 calls, their metrics have mostly been unchanged in that area. Here is how NYC rat related calls have changed over the past decade.
We see a whole different story. The affluent area of BoCoCa and Park Slope have seen the highest increase in rat related calls, as have the residential areas of Queens. Below are some specific zip codes where we see the highest increase:
What to Do
We have a lot of control over the rat population, so much of the blame falls on us.
In 2018, the Upper West Side removed 5% of its public trash bans due to “misuse”. In the subsequent year, the area saw a 20% increase in the number of 311 rat calls. This is an incredibly high elasticity. What this means is that little actions on our end can make a huge difference.
Rats are very similar to us. They appreciate the NYC food scene, from pizzas to bagels to babka. They will eat food waste. This means:
Reduce the amount of food waste you make. Try not to buy more than you actually can eat, and if you compost, it means less food on the street.
Do not make it easy for rats. I remember the line at Haagen-Dazs in the Upper West side was several blocks long when they were giving out a free scoop. Imagine what littering will do for hungry rats.
Make it tougher for rats. You can’t prevent all the waste, but limiting how much trash (or how much time) is put on the curb and making sure it is in a harder container will help.
If rats are your major issue, it is hard to beat the credentials of Kathryn Garcia. Garcia. The former Sanitation Commissioner has been on the forefront of fighting off these pests for as long as anyone in the public sphere.
MayorModel
If someone were to give you a study that “proves sugar is healthy” and is funded by a candy company, would you trust that study? Then would you trust a political poll funded by a organization who’s mission is to “support progressive activists and causes”?
This week, Data for Progress, a progressive think tank, released an updated mayor poll. It would be irresponsible to discuss the results as fact (they were not included in the updated modeling data), so I will not comment any further on the numbers.
Just like the findings of a candy study might be correct, the polling results might be accurate. Without being able to look under the hood, you have to have trust that there are no underlying motives when aggregating numbers. As we have seen candidates negatively branded by how left they are or aren’t, I find an organization like this difficult to trust for this particular political race. According to 538, this poll tends to skew left by 3.3 points.
What is interesting is that the most credible polls (Quinnipiac, Siena, Marist) are barely polling. In 2013, there were over a dozen polls by these institutions at this point in the campaign. I asked Sally Goldberg, City Hall bureau chief at POLITICO New York, why this might be. She said, “great question and one I don't have the answer to. I think polling for ranked-choice is more expensive, and I think everyone has been distracted with national politics, state politics and Covid.” There was Siena/AARP poll, but with a limited subset of the population.
What this means is that we are flying blind going into primary day, and your vote will matter.
“Highline Rats” and "Pizza Party" were drawn by Ink&thyme, drawing life's unforgettable moments. For unique art drawn just for you, check them out on Facebook and on Instagram.
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Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Email me at 2xParked@gmail.com.