Prospect Heights Ratsperts Say Rat Czar Needs 'Science, Not Swagger'

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A neighborhood psychotherapist who made major progress with Prospect Heights' rodent problem by analyzing local rats has a message for city officials looking for a "bloodythirsty" rat czar.

"Science, not swagger," Jesse Hendrich said, "will ultimately solve this problem."

Hendrich — a member of the Rat Task Force in his City Council District — cheered City Hall's efforts this week to appoint a rodent-focused ruler, but was taken aback by the focus on humor over urban ecology.

The Prospect Heights ratspert said Mayor Eric Adams — who famously held a press conference to ladle rat corpses from boozy poison soup — is focusing on image when what New York City needs is "a systemic analysis to produce better policies and practices."

Hendrich's caution comes in response to a recent posting the city unveiled for a Rat Czar, filled with gruesome puns guaranteeing a viral reaction.

A City Hall spokesperson told Patch that while rat experience would be a plus for any applicant, they were open to anyone to apply.

But the tongue-in-rat cheek tone didn't quite pass muster with Prospect Heights residents who have been fighting for years an epic rat battle.

Carol Morrison, long hailed as the founder of the anti-rat movement in the neighborhood, thought that without a comprehensive strategic plan in place, the position seemed misguided.

"The rats are smarter than we are," she told Patch of her skepticism.

Numerous experts told Patch that the language posing the czar as a killing machine was unsettling, and that the position ideally should include expertise in rats, science, urban ecology or biology, in addition to the listed requirements of stagecraft, urban planning and project management.

As the saying goes, experts like to quip, you can't kill your way out of a rodent problem.

But the mayor's office told Patch that whoever the czar is will approach the problem from multiple angles and would be able to coordinate actions across agencies that are often competing for resources.

And the czar will be working closely with rodent experts already employed by the city, the mayor's office added, like the well-regarded head of pest management at the Department of Health, Caroline Bragdon.

Rodent expert Matthew Frye, of New York State Integrated Pest Management program at Cornell University, was initially taken aback, but then decided a rat czar might provide a more elusive talent: the ability to get agencies to work together.

The Health department can't tell the Sanitation department how to allocate resources to fight rats, Frye said, but perhaps a new rodent(-fighting) overlord might.

The successful candidate, said Fry, should be "someone from an executive office to ensure that funding is available and that objectives are met."

"While it might seem counterintuitive, I think some of these objectives are achievable by someone with experience in urban planning, project management, and government policy," Frye told Patch.

It's an objective that he said can be better realized "if they work closely with the experts in the various departments to understand the challenges and particularly the science of municipal rat management."

An alternate job listing might read: City seeks Rat Czar, rodent experience not necessary but must express willingness to learn.