NYC’s rat czar hits the streets to rally residents in 'war' on rodents

Inside NYC's new anti-rat campaign

Mayor Eric Adams may have declared his Brooklyn home rat-free, but the war on rodents across New York City is far from over. FOX 5’s Richard Giacovas joined the city’s newly appointed Rat Czar, Kathleen Corradi, on a public "rat walk" in Lower Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY - Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared he had won the "War on Rats" after no evidence of vermin was found at a Brooklyn row house, but can the rest be said the same for the rest of the Big Apple?

Local perspective:

The city’s newly appointed rat czar, Kathleen Corradi, led a public "rat walk" in Lower Manhattan on Thursday. The group joined what she calls an elite squad of anti-rat activists – the newest members of the New York City Rat Pack.

"We want New Yorkers, we need New Yorkers thinking about this in a different way and joining us in collective action," Corradi said.

Corradi is leading the new initiative across multiple rat mitigation zones in the city. They're called "rat walks," where city officials educate the public about rats, their behavior and how human actions contribute to their presence in the city.

For example, how the oil from a discarded empty bag of potato chips can allow a rat to thrive for over a week. 

Extermination, it turns out, doesn't work. So, it's public habits that allow rats to keep populating. Columbus Park in Lower Manhattan is filled with rat-proof garbage cans, which Corradi says only work if New Yorkers get with the program.

"People would open it up, stick a pizza box inside, no longer rat-proof," Corradi said.

What they're saying:

But still, Corradi says the new hands-on approach to rid the city of its rats is working, with rat sightings on the decline.

"We're seeing decreasing in rat siding complaints and, more importantly, we're seeing increases in compliance," Corradi said. "More properties are passing health department inspections in 2025 than they were in 2020."

What you can do:

If you want to join the rat pack, the city has scheduled a bunch of rat walks over the next few weeks throughout the five boroughs in specific rat mitigation zones. The goal is to take away the fascination and sometimes fear over rats and educate the public on how to deal with them.