Harlem Identified As Rat Hot Spot: Rodent Busting Crews Incoming

HARLEM, NY — Mayor Eric Adams' rat-busting crews are headed to a collection of New York City neighborhoods identified as popular rodent hangout spots, including Harlem.

Adams, along with the help of Harlem Council Member Shaun Abreu and other elected officials, ramped up the city's war on rats with four pieces of legislation to reduce rat residency across the city, including a new push to identify targeted "rat mitigation zones" by April 1.

Those eight mitigation zones were announced this week.

In Manhattan, the city identified the East Village, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and Harlem as rat hot spots needing increased efforts.

Those mitigation zones were selected by tracking the number of local violations for rat activity, rodent-related 311 calls and rat exterminators.

New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will report back at an unspecified time on the results of their ramped-up mitigation efforts in Harlem and the seven other zones, as well as detailed information on what exactly the planned mitigation measures are, according to the city.

"I cannot overstate how critical it is that Harlem is included as one of these zones," Abreu told Patch. "We have spoken to hundreds of residents struggling with infestations and even property damages. Despite the fact that folks are dodging swarms of rats walking through their own neighborhood, Harlem has not gotten any special treatment up until now from the Health Department."

Rats in Harlem and A Local Council Member's Push To Fight Back

The idea of identifying rat mitigation zones came in a piece of legislation introduced in the summer of 2022 by Abreu, who represents West Harlem, Manhattanville and parts of Washington Heights.

The legislation was part of the "Rat Action Plan" set of bills that aim to expand the power of city officials to target prime sources of rats: trash and constriction.

Abreu's mitigation bill allows for the sanitation department to set special times for trash collection in the mitigation zones.

The city on Saturday also moved to reduce the time trash bags can sit on the sidewalk, asking residents to put bags on the curb after 8 p.m. and trash bins at 6 p.m., instead of the previous 4 p.m. trash dumping time, according to NYC Sanitation.

Harlem has struggled with the rat issue as of late.

In the first two and a half months of 2022, Harlem had 423 rat sightings reported to 311 — the highest number during the period since at least 2012.

By June of 2022 that rat sightings number in Harlem had jumped to 954, which was also the most recorded in the neighborhood since at least 2012, according to 311 data.

Related rat coverage:

• Harlem Rats Could Be Contained By New Bills, As Complaints Keep Rising
  
• Harlem Rat Complaints Keep Rising In 2022, Data Shows
• Rats Keep Plaguing Harlem, But Sightings Distributed Unevenly
• Pols Demand City Clean Up Harlem Trash, Rats As Complaints Soar
• Rats Thrived As Trash Piled Up 14 Stories At Harlem NYCHA Complex