'We Have A Rat Crisis:' Eric Adams Defends Boozy Death Traps

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams defended his support of boozy death traps that animal rights activists call cruel and ineffective, saying rodents have become in black and brown communities he'd gladly prioritize over rats.

"I have mothers in my office that talk about waiting up to rats gnawing on their babies," Adams told listeners on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer show Thursday morning. "I have a crisis that has been identified in this community and I must respond to that crisis."

Adams first made headlines with his rat plan of attack last week when he hosted a live demonstration of new traps that drown rats in alcohol at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Animal rights groups quickly united against Adams and the traps, which they argued where inhumane and didn't get to the root of infestation problems: the city's inadequate sanitation system and rampant construction digging up burrows across the borough.

"I was horrified, there were just no words to describe it," Allie Feldman Taylor, board member of Voters For Animal Rights, told Patch at the time. "To see this was really like a punch in the gut."

But Adams defended his animal rights credentials — noting he's a practicing vegan who's marched against goose slaughter — accused the activists of ignoring the plight of black and brown communities (such as Bushwick and Bed-Stuy) where the city's rat problem is worst.

"We can never put rats over children," Adams said. "Rats coming through our stoves, coming through our toilets. Families are traumatized."

One listener, Nadine from Harlem, called in to tell Adams she found the traps "sadistic and barbaric."

And animal rights groups have vowed to unite against the Borough President, who's officially announced plans to run for Mayor, if he pursues plans to install them in New York City.

"He holds up this bucket full of a dozen dead rats and says, 'Here I solved the problem?'" Feldman Taylor said. "We need to let our supporters know that."