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Listen: Mayor Adams fights rat ticket in NYC administrative court
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 31, 2023
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By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 31, 2023
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Newly released tapes from the city's administrative court offer a look into Mayor Eric Adams' effort to fight tickets he received for a rat infestation outside his Brooklyn apartment building.
Since last fall, Adams has been hit with three tickets for rat-related violations at the brownstone he owns in Bed-Stuy. Two were dismissed, but a $300 fine he contested at last month’s court hearing was upheld. The court said messy bags of recycling outside his brownstone sprouted “a nesting of rats.”
Adams went to court last month to fight his ticket — which was issued by a city worker tasked with enforcing the mayor’s war on rats. In the hearing, she described an alleged rat burrow “along the ledge of the fence line.”
“The burrow is a small hole that is on my neighbor's property, it’s not on my property,” Adams replied. “I have photos that I could send to you as evidence.”
Adams is one of more than 34,000 New Yorkers who were charged with rat-related infractions in 2022, according to a spokesperson for the city’s administrative court. The violation is one of the most common types of citation issued by city agencies.
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new york city
Politics
brooklyn
sanitation
Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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