Rat-Filled Harlem Lot Must Be Cleaned Up, City Says

HARLEM, NY — A judge has granted an emergency request by the city to clean up a vacant Harlem lot that has become infested with rodents, court records show.

The city's Health Department filed papers last week in state court seeking access to 58-62 East 125th St.: a large, privately-owned lot between Madison and Park avenues.

The request came after sanitation workers inspected the lot three times between October and November, finding "active rodent signs, including gnawed black and white plastic bags," the city wrote in its court filing.

Photos taken in November by health inspectors and submitted in the court filings show the lot strewn with garbage and overgrown with weeds.

On Oct. 15, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi sent a letter to the lot's owner, Brukha Assets, demanding that the filthy spot be cleaned up. But by November, the owners had not addressed the conditions or responded to the city's request to enter the lot, forcing the Health Department to take legal action, according to the court documents.

A judge granted the city's request on Monday, allowing the city to enter the lot and clean it up.

The lot has sat empty since around 2017, when the four-story building that once stood there was torn down. Brukha Assets, the listed owner, shares an address in Great Neck, Long Island with the real estate company ABCNY.

Rats remain a major nuisance for Harlem residents. Complaints about rodent sightings surged over the past year along with gripes about worsening sanitation service during the pandemic.

The filthy critters are enough of a headache that Kristin Richardson Jordan, the new City Council member for Central Harlem's District 9, told Patch this week that tackling rat infestations was among her top priorities.