...I screamed, ran inside, and refused to go back outside to get the mail. I am absolutely horrified. I've seen rats in the park before, and by construction sites, but to have two race right by the door. . . I'm shaking! I am going to post a sign
begging my building-mates to be more careful taking out the trash, make sure the bags are all closed, etc., but other than that, what can I do??? Can anyone give me any suggestions-- I'll try anything and everything!"
Where to file a complaint:
File a complaint with 311 here
More resources from NYC.gov:
Preventing Rats: Who is Responsible?
How to Inspect, Prevent and Respond to Rats
PSP Resources and Related Reading:
Member advice about RATS:
"I am well acquainted with the world of rats. My block has been dealing with them for the past year or so. It's awful. We found a couple of dead ones in the area under our stoop (just as you described). A couple things we
have done:
1) Take a look up and down your block to see if anyone is leaving garbage out in bags and not in cans (Does your building have enough garbage cans? Make sure everything goes inside a can). Call 311 repeatedly to report them.
They can be fined for not stowing garbage properly. Talk to your neighbors. Get them to call 311 too. A volume of calls make a difference; we've seen health dept inspectors on our block as a result of the calls.
2) Call an exterminator. They set up a couple of child-proof bait stations and also showed us where we needed to seal up an area under our stoop. We also ended up getting a new hatch door for our basement since there were gaps around the old door.
Are you near 4th Ave? I know all the contruction along 4th Ave causes rats to move around, so unfortunately there's a not a lot you can do about that. After my first panicked encounter I called the exterminator and actually felt a lot better after I felt I was doing something about it.
Good luck! Remember -- we're smarter than the rats!"
"We had a problem on our block (Union between 6-7, south side) during the spring and summer. From what I understand, the neighbors really need to make a combined effort to hire exterminators and put out those black boxes. One of my neighbors called 311 and they said they wouldn't come inspect unless we knew where the burrow was (we didn't at the time), which seemed odd to me. There are several businesses on the block so I emailed them directly and they all were wonderful and responsive and had either already hired exterminators or hadn't seen any evidence. I also just went up to neighbors if I spotted them and let them know what was going on."
"You can report it at the DOHMH Rat Information portal. I have done this with good effect!"
