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Extra Extra: On the frontlines of NYC's war on rats with Rat Daddy
By
Emily Nadal
Published Sep 29, 2023
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@nyc_kb via TikTok
By
Emily Nadal
Published Sep 29, 2023
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It’s Friday afternoon in New York City, and the rain hasn’t stopped yet.
It’s been an absolutely wild day so far in the New York City area. Streets have flooded, pipes have burst, trash has spewed all over, streets have caught fire (?), sparks have flown, MTA buses have flooded, and worst of all: there's a lot of water in the subway stations. We gathered a compilation of our own.
Stay safe out there. Here’s what else is happening:
- In New York City’s war on rats, this group is on the frontlines. Volunteers with the Ryders Alley Trencher Fed Society (a.k.a. R.A.T.S.), go around the tristate area and use their dogs to hunt rats. The group, which has been around for three decades, allegedly used to catch 30-40 rats a night, but that number has decreased recently. Could we be winning the war?
- Another one of our brave rat soldiers has a much better name. Rat Daddy goes out every night to give “rat tours” for his followers on TikTok, bringing awareness to areas with high rat traffic.
- Hopefully all this rat talk didn’t ruin your appetite because today is National Coffee Day and there are many places to get freebies from.
- Nothing says romance like proposing at a Bronx gym.
- A 70-year-old Brooklyn man was dubbed New York City's king of pawpaws in for having one of the very few pawpaw trees in the city and for eating up to 100 of the fruits each year.
- Speaking of fruits, I thought I was the only one who couldn’t get the right amount of bananas delivered through Instacart, but apparently, it’s a widespread issue.
- Mayor Eric Adams is back with another idea: This time, it's for a street team that will be on-call to do crowd work at events around the city by supporting him and pushing his policy goals.
- And finally, rain is no problem for sea lions:
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Emily Nadal
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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