Newest Residents of Desirable Nabes Have Tails
We get a lot of stories comparing of districts and neighborhoods: South Brooklyn has higher crime than North Brooklyn, one report said; Williamsburg properties have been selling for more than those in Park Slope. But the NY Daily News today reported that Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights have more of something than their central and…
We get a lot of stories comparing of districts and neighborhoods: South Brooklyn has higher crime than North Brooklyn, one report said; Williamsburg properties have been selling for more than those in Park Slope. But the NY Daily News today reported that Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights have more of something than their central and south Brooklyn competitors: rats. The reason may simply be density — “There’s more people living in those areas,” said Health Department Assistant Commissioner Daniel Kass, and more restaurants, too. Construction also seems to contribute to their proliferation, along with, predictably enough, poor garbage pickup and disposal. “Neighborhoods in North Brooklyn including Fort Greene, DUMBO, Clinton Hill, Greenpoint, Bushwick and Ridgewood — had 175 or more sightings of rats or signs of the rodents by Health Department inspectors in 2006 and 2007,” they write. “The neighborhoods with the worst problems are Bushwick/Ridgewood, with 770 rats, and Bedford-Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Heights with 595 rats.” Park Slope, Sunset Park and Coney Island have a rat problem, too, but much less of one than Bed-Stuy and Bushwick. The Health Department has launched what they’re calling a “rat information portal;” creatively enough, it’s http://www.nyc.gov/rats. There you’ll also find info on how to get rid of them. Happy reading. And, yes, we know, you don’t like greeting the day with a big rat photo.
Creepy Tails of the City [NY Daily News]
Photo by <:3(----)~~~.
Ben, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I’ll never be alone
And you, my friend, will see
You’ve got a friend in me
(you’ve got a friend in me)
Ben, you’re always running here and there
You feel you’re not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don’t like what you find
There’s one thing you should know
You’ve got a place to go
(you’ve got a place to go)
I used to say “I” and “me”
Now it’s “us”, now it’s “we”
I used to say “I” and “me”
Now it’s “us”, now it’s “we”
Ben, most people would turn you away
I don’t listen to a word they say
They don’t see you as I do
I wish they would try to
I’m sure they’d think again
If they had a friend like Ben
(a friend) Like Ben
(like Ben) Like Ben
So far as mice go..that one is adorable!
That’s no rat… it’s a cute little mouse. If you wanna see some serious rats, check the alley behind J&R (Park Row). They are big and bold.
This is a photo of someone in a striped shirt holding their pet mouse. If it is a rat, and the muzzle and shape of the head doesn’t really look like one, it’s a pet. A far cry from the Norwegian sewer rats we have all over. Those are greasy looking, much bigger and scary.
That said, rats carry disease. Just because we’re living during the second Fall of Rome doesn’t mean we need all of the acutrements. I hope some of our disappearing city dollars are going into vigorous extermination.
there is a TERRIBLE mouse problem in Carroll Gardens this season. i had none last year and this year I’m infested. My tenant is about to kill me. I think my exterminator has FINALLY gotten it under control after 3 visits.
Isn’t that black and white striped thing in the lower left a snake? Perhaps the rat is waving goodbye.
Is there anyway to calculate the neighborhood crime rate per rat ratio?
It will really tie this statistics together.
cobblehiller…i grew up in Albany. We didn’t have rats. We had nuns!!!
ok, pete. we’ll keep this in mind in the future. thanks for your diligence!