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Video: Rat Rodeo in Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 9, 2009
Modified Oct 9, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 9, 2009
Modified Oct 9, 2009
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It's been a while since we've had any quality rat rodeo video, so get some popcorn (or not) and enjoy this footage of big fat rats feasting in a Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck parked in Chelsea. It's actually kind of cute how pumped these rats are about being alone in the truck, and, to be fair, it is pretty good pizza... which we will never eat again.
WNBC obtained the cell phone footage, which definitely belongs in the rat rodeo hall of fame alongside the infamous Taco Bell-KFC rat stampede of 2007. This Vinny Vincenz truck (there are four) stays parked on 27th street between 10th and 11th Avenues, which WNBC notes is right in front of the Pink Elephant, "which just last week hosted celebrity couple Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon!" Carey could not be reached for comment, but the reporter did talk to passers-by like one "Reggie," who opined, "He shouldn't be out here selling that. It's a dangerous part to the health of the people, out here selling rat pizza."
True, that. Owner Salvatore Olivella quickly motored to the news crew after they contacted him but did not seem up to the impossible task of damage control. He blamed the rat-infested neighborhood and an employee who forgot to throw away leftover pizza, but says insists Reggie shouldn't fear his pizza because "at 700 degrees you kill everything when it comes out you don't touch it anymore."
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inside
pizza truck
rat rodeo
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Salvatore Olivella
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Vinny Vincenz
John Del Signore
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.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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