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Mayor Bloomberg Does Not Think We Have A Rat Problem
By
Garth Johnston
Published Apr 5, 2011
Modified Apr 5, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Apr 5, 2011
Modified Apr 5, 2011
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The city's Health Department has short-staffed its Pest Control team and the number of rat complaints are reportedly rising, so naturally Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called a press conference today to talk about the problem. Specifically he wanted the city to man up and "reclaim the honor of being a national role model for rat control." But that bit of grandstanding by the mayoral-hopeful did not sit well with the guy who is currently not-actually-living in Gracie Mansion.
"I'm hearing story after story about people walking down the street and seeing a rat," Stringer said today before calling on the city “to do the right thing and hire enough pest control workers to wipe out this infestation once and for all.” Because, as far as Stringer is concerned "You can't reduce inspectors and think you're going to reduce the number of rodents."
But Hizzoner does not agree! "The city is doing a great job as a matter of fact," Bloomberg said this afternoon of the rodent situation. "It's a question of how you look at the numbers. It is true that complaints for rats went up something like one and a half percent. It's also true that complaints for everything go up something like five, six, ten percent on 311 because more people start to use it. That doesn't mean the problem is any worse. I think the problem probably is a lot better."
And just in case you weren't clear that Bloomberg didn't like Stringer's move, he gave a little civics lesson on what he thinks the job of Mayor of New York is: "The job is not to shove as many inspectors out there costing us as much money as you can. The job is to do what the public needs and do it as efficiently as you can...Anybody can spend more money."
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