Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

Rats Bite Baby in Crib, Mom Sues Landlord, We're Not Sleeping


By

John Del Signore

Published Aug 5, 2009

Modified Aug 5, 2009


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .


By

John Del Signore

Published Aug 5, 2009

Modified Aug 5, 2009


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Rats are still keeping it real in the Bronx, where a two-year-old girl was taken to the hospital with five rodent bites after her mother heard her screaming in her crib. Jonnique McKinney tells the Daily News, "She was sleeping in her bed and she woke up screaming." Exterminators had plugged up the radiator with steel wool in her Clay Avenue apartment, but nothing can stop a hungry rat with an appetite for human babies. While hitting the Google machine for this story, we learned about a horrific incident that happened last month in Louisiana, where an infant girl was found dead in her crib after rats ate away at her face and limbs, then left bloody rodent footprints all over her sheets. Anyway! McKinney filed a lawsuit against her building owner last year, when her daughter was bitten, but it's only come to light now because the landlord sued the exterminator this week. Still, aren't you glad you finally know about all this? Sweet dreams!

Tagged

baby

bronx

landlord

lawsuit

rats

suing


John Del Signore

Twitter

Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

By

Rosemary Misdary

Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET


Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max

News

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max


Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

By

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

By

Jessica Gould

NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them

By

Clayton Guse


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .