RAT BOX: Rodent Feels Right At Home In John Jay Sandbox

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Your sand castle might be this rat's home.

A Friday morning stroll to John Jay Playground on East 78th Street and York Avenue turned into many New Yorker's worst fears.

Inside the sandbox, a rat, according to a resident who shared a picture of it on social media.

"Word of Caution," the Upper East Sider wrote, "there is a rat in the sand box."

"It looks like she made a burrow and is hanging out there," the neighbor wrote.

After reporting the rodent-ary condition to 311, she wondered if maybe the rat actually never wanted to be in the sandbox in the first place and was trying to escape the desert-like enclosure.

"I tried my best to brainstorm some ideas to build a ramp on limited supplies," said the rat snitch turned good Samaritan, "but she burrowed deeper into the sand."

Constituents reached out to Council Member Julie Menin's office, who said that the city's Parks Department swiftly dealt with the trespassing rat.

“My office was informed of an unsanitary condition in John Jay Park and immediately reached out to the Parks Department, who addressed the condition and will be subsequently baiting the entire park," Menin told Patch. "Park space is vital in our dense neighborhood and must be clean, safe, and accessible for all New Yorkers."

Now the new Rat Czar will add the city's public sandboxes to her list of places to abate rodents, a list that already include every other part of the city.