Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Move Over, Move Over: All The 'Move Over, Pizza Rats' Ranked
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 26, 2019
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 .
(Christopher Robbins Private Collection)
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 26, 2019
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
When an animal eats human food or does a human thing, you must publish a photo and invoke Pizza Rat. This is one of those immutable rules of journalism—like reminding people at parties that a group of top law enforcement officials are "attorneys general," and holding your smartphone horizontally, never vertically, while you are capturing video of anti-bike lane activists screaming in a church basement about how pedophiles support bike lanes.
No other animal doing human things can come close to touching the brilliance of Pizza Rat. Taco Shell Squirrel is cute and all, but compared to Pizza Rat, he is a pathetic, diseased charlatan in a ceaseless parade of pretenders.
But you still have to do a story on the photo of the animal because it's a little cute and besides, it can't hurt to remind people of Pizza Rat, a viral animal from four years ago. (Also: have you seen these 17 child actors who are totally hot now?)
The best way to accomplish this: Tell Pizza Rat to "Move Over," because there's another funny animal in town. This never fails.
Today, the New York Post honored the tradition with...Nutella Squirrel!
This got us thinking about all the times we read and enjoyed the idea of Pizza Rat having to "move over" for some other inferior, time-wasting animal. Turns out, there were quite a lot of them.
Google search results for "Move Over Pizza Rat."
screenshot
Because we are forced to choose, here are the very best uses of the phrase to date:
6. Move over, Pizza Rat - Milkshake Squirrel is the hero the internet actually needs
This is a bold claim for the reasons stated above (Pizza Rat is the Alpha and Omega, there is no one making Sexy Milkshake Squirrel Halloween costumes) but that's what makes it hilarious. The internet obviously needs a hero, because everything needs a hero, and saying that this squirrel diving into an expensive milkshake is "actually" better than Pizza Rat? I angrily clicked again and again.
5. Move Over Pizza Rat, Meet Lollipop Raccoon
Aww
screenshot
The phrase "lollipop raccoon" is just funny, but it's even funnier considering that this video shows a raccoon tearing through a trash can and emerging with a lollipop.
4. Move over, Pizza Rat – Mouse Spider is the stuff of nightmares
Clicking this link, you come to learn that this "mouse spider" is actually a massive huntsman spider from Australia, killing and eating a mouse. So, a carnivorous animal eating a mouse. Not exactly human-like behavior. But this spider sure drags that mouse like a piece of pizza down some subway stairs, right?
3. Video: Move Over Pizza Rat, Here's Pizza Rag
"Rag" sounds a lot like "Rat," but don't let that fool you: this is a video of a rag dragging a piece of pizza down the subway stairs. It's a whole lot like Pizza Rat, in that the rag does exactly what Pizza Rat did, but it's completely different because rags aren't usually creatures that are found in the subway, nor are they really creatures, for that matter.
This amazing headline teaser links you to a story that literally has nothing to do with Pizza Rat. It is merely an attempt to get people to pay attention to a 130-word wire services story about a rat that was previously thought to be extinct. We love it!
1. Move over, Arthur Miller. #PizzaRat
OK so this isn't a news article and is just a tweet of a person REACTING to a different Move Over, Pizza Rat story. But this shows a mastery of the form. Move Over, Headline Writers.
Tagged
pizza rat
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
Spoiler alert: It's still 26.2 miles.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 2:36 p.m. ET
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
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 .