Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC's 'rat czar' leaves job as mayor faces bleak re-election odds
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 24, 2025
Modified Sep 24, 2025
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 .
Liam Quigley
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 24, 2025
Modified Sep 24, 2025
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
New York City’s “rat czar” is scampering out of City Hall.
Kathleen Corradi, who was hired by Mayor Eric Adams in April 2023 as the citywide director of rodent mitigation, will resign from her post effective Oct. 10, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday. She was heralded as the worst enemy of New York City's rats when she took the newly created role.
Corradi will move to a new job overseeing resident services as a senior vice president at NYCHA, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed. She will manage about 200 people at the public housing agency, with a core mission of connecting residents to economic opportunity.
Adams credited Corradi with a citywide drop in rat sightings, though the exact scope of her $176,000-a-year position was never made clear. The mayor’s office billed her job as one that coordinated several city agencies around the sanitation department’s effort to containerize the city’s garbage and eliminate the piles of trash bags on sidewalks that act as a major food supply for rats.
Corradi also led the city’s “rat pack,” a program designed to educate New Yorkers on rat behavior and techniques to reduce the rodents' presence. She hosted the city’s first ever rat summit last year, which brought together leaders from across the country to trade notes on killing rodents.
A freedom of information law request by Gothamist seeking Corradi's daily schedules has gone unfulfilled since June 2024.
Adams said in a statement that Corradi “is not going too far.” Spokespeople for his office wouldn’t confirm where she would be working next, or if her role would be left vacant.
“Hats off to Kathy [Corradi] for this incredible work, and we wish her the best in this future endeavor — thankfully, she is not going too far and will still be working to serve the city in a different capacity,” Adams said.
Her departure comes as Adams faces a longshot re-election bid as an independent candidate in November’s mayoral election. Adams, who ranks fourth in the polls behind Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, has repeatedly said he plans to stay in the race.
Corradi previously rose through the ranks in administrative jobs at the city education department. From 2015 to 2023, she worked as a sustainability manager at the department and later became its director of space planning.
Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who previously led the Council’s sanitation committee, said the “rat czar” position was more about fanfare than substance.
“It's not a clear job. It's a made-up job,” Nurse said. “This is not against [Corradi], but I just am unclear what the deliverables were for that role and what accountability there was in achieving it.”
At an event earlier this month announcing the expansion of the city’s trash containerization program, Corradi sidestepped questions about whether she’d stay on as "rat czar" into the next mayoral administration.
“ I think the value of this role in this central coordination, really helping to vision, set, bring agencies together,” she said. “It is not a job of one. It's a job of many. That's from all the agencies, from all the staff.”
“I think there's nothing but success proven in this role from public perception to operational changes and I certainly hope that it continues forever,” she added.
This story was updated with information on Corradi's new job at NYCHA.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
sanitation
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Former Mount Vernon police official accused of attempted murder in Bronx shooting
A source with knowledge of the case said Jennifer Lackard was acting as her son's getaway driver.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Aug 4, 2026 at 4:40 p.m. ET
The sun is going away, New York. Enjoy it while you can.
"While you can" means before 8 p.m.
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Apolline Lamy
News
The sun is going away, New York. Enjoy it while you can.
"While you can" means before 8 p.m.
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Apolline Lamy
Summer of smell at Sunset Park: City creates de facto dump at Brooklyn greenspace
By
Liam Quigley
Safety blitz finds lapses at 19 NYC jobsites by firms tied to near-collapse
By
David Brand
ICE pepper-sprayed NYC woman, 72, in the face. Gov. Hochul is peeved.
By
Arya Sundaram
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 .