In lieu of Pied Piper, New York battles rat invasion

Construction projects have stirred up millions of rats in New York City

July 24, 2000
Web posted at: 10:44 p.m. EDT (0244 GMT)

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York City's rats have become restless, appearing more often from their hidden underground nests and attracting emergency measures from municipal leaders.

Experts blame the rat uprising on an increasing number of construction projects around the city, unearthing nests by digging and excavating under the centuries-old streets.

	VIDEO
CNN's Brian Palmer investigates the growing rat infestation in New York City Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

City lawmakers have proposed legislation that requires developers to institute rat-control programs that kill the disease-carrying vermin.

The proposal "is not a silver bullet," said New York City Councilman Stephen Fiala, a Staten Island Republican.

"The Pied Piper can play all day long. He's not going to get rid of 50 million rats," Fiala said.

Actually, no one knows how many rats currently infest the Big Apple. According to the "Cambridge Factfinder" almanac, rats have a normal gestation period of just 21 days, which, given the age and size of New York holds the potential for a large number of offspring.

"I think they are doing all they can possibly do," said city resident Glenn Cruzado. "Because they can't put somebody on 24-hour watch to stand there and kill them. But there are a lot of rats."

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani shows the size of a rat he saw run across the porch of Gracie Mansion

In 1997, the infestation crossed a psychological threshold when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told reporters that he'd witnessed a large rat run across the front porch of his official east Manhattan residence, Gracie Mansion.

It may be no coincidence that since that mayoral rat sighting, the city's pest control budget has more than doubled, rising to $13 million.

To combat the rat invasion, extermination and trash-collection efforts have been stepped up in some of the most-infested areas. And a second "rat hotline" started taking complaints from residents last week.

But New York also is trying to build a better mousetrap by looking to non-traditional ways to fight rats.

"We're reaching out to exploring grants for the scientific community to see what we can do to make the rat infertile," said Richard Sheirer, director of the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management.

CNN Correspondent Brian Palmer contributed to this report.

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New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
New York City Health Department
University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Controlling Rats

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