Rodent sightings are up 30% citywide since 2019 – ABC7 wrote on November 8 – and on the date of publication, the greatest number of Manhattan sightings (based on stats from the Department of Health) were taking place on the Upper West Side, in Morningside Heights and in Manhattanville.
Many attribute the increase in rodent sightings to factors including emptier streets since the onset of the pandemic, outdoor dining cafes, and a lack of responsiveness from the sanitation department.
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Several neighborhoods – including the Upper East Side – saw the biggest year-over-year increases. But the Upper West Side still comes in with a higher total, at least so far this year.
From the beginning of 2021 through October, a total of 1,345 complaints were made to 311 within zip codes 10023, 10024, 10025 and 10069. During the same period last year (January through October, 2020), there were 1,118 complaints, with 1,255 during 2019 and 1,207 during 2018.
So while our numbers are pretty bad, the UWS is essentially used to this.
READ MORE: Remembering the Nightmare: the 74th Street Rat House
Here’s a breakdown of complaints made by month (through October):
- January: 91
- February: 62
- March: 101
- April: 132
- May: 132
- June: 166
- July: 180
- August: 166
- September: 151
- October: 164
And here’s a breakdown by zip code (also through October):
- 10023: 162
- 10024: 381
- 10025: 797
- 10069: 5
A November 8 write-up by the New York Times – which mentions the Upper West Side in its third paragraph – also notes that during the pandemic, “city inspectors who hunt for evidence of rats were assigned elsewhere, including mass vaccination sites and restaurants, where their mission was to see that customers’ proofs of vaccination were being checked.”
Maybe we just complain a lot?
That’s what I was thinking. My own anecdotal evidence suggests the number of rats is increasing. I see them everywhere. But what this story perfectly illustrates is that what we think we are measuring isn’t actually what we are measuring. All we really know is that the number of complaint increased, which could simply be that people are complaining more frequently. From the data presented, we can’t even say that the number of sightings increased, only that the number of complaints about sightings increased.
So last night I was eating in the outdoor shed at Mamoun’s on Columbus. The whole inside smells like a barn so right away you know there’s something wrong. After a few minutes sitting there a very large rat came out from under the bench seat with something in its mouth, ran the length of the shed and jumped back inside through some hole. I went inside to tell the employees and the guy kept apologizing to me and said “It’s NYC that’s what happens.” I said don’t apologize, just do something about it. There are probably all kinds of rats and garbage under that thing.
Another reason for the presence of rats is the incessant feeding of pigeons on the UWS, mostly by well-intentioned but foolish older folk. They think is it “nice” to feed the birds, not realizing (or perhaps caring) that whatever the birds don’t eat (which is quite a bit) attracts the rats later in the day and into the evening.