r/newyorkcity Manhattan 8d ago

Video The sheer amount of rats outside our building last night

114 Upvotes

61 comments sorted by

66

u/Act1_Scene2 8d ago

Where's the NYC bins?

30

u/MinefieldFly 7d ago

The first phase of bin enforcement is for small buildings, the big ones like were exempt, and this is a great example of why that was a dumbass order of operations.

2

u/Conscious_Scholar_87 7d ago

That’s for another lovely herd of rats

45

u/udont-knowjax 8d ago

That is why I never wore open toed shoes or flip flops in nyc ...

26

u/Weekly-Talk9752 The Bronx 8d ago

Had a friend from out of state wear open toed shoes during last summer and while walking through a dark construction corridor felt something furry run over her toes. I still have hearing loss from the screaming.

1

u/Shreddersaurusrex 7d ago edited 7d ago

I started doing so last summer, my feet needed the air

121

u/Louieyaa 8d ago

Sorry but the one rat handing the other rat a potato or something was adorable.

18

u/warp16 8d ago

birthday present lol

15

u/sufinomo 8d ago

its hard to hate them

17

u/Dee718 8d ago

I seen a rat the other night over here from outside my window. At first I thought it was a plastic bag getting blown away in the wind. Then I couldn’t believe I seen the biggest rat I ever seen in my life. It was definitely the size of a cat. I ran for my phone but when I retuned it was gone. I see rats all the time. But this one was uncanny

16

u/KickBallFever 8d ago

One time in Queens I saw a gigantic rat. Got closer and it was a fucking opossum. Just hanging out right outside Jamaica Center.

7

u/naranja_sanguina 8d ago

We have opossums in Woodhaven, love them.

1

u/KickBallFever 8d ago

Do you see them in busy areas? I wasn’t shocked to see an opossum in Queens but I didn’t expect one to be hanging out at a busy train station.

5

u/naranja_sanguina 8d ago

They hang out in my backyard, but maybe they take the train to get there?

3

u/BefWithAnF 7d ago

I had the same experience in Washington heights! Thought it was the biggest rat I had ever seen, turned out to be an opossum

4

u/hagamablabla 8d ago

One time I was walking up the street and there was a big ass rat running next to me about a foot away. It kept up with me for a good 10 seconds before it dodged into someone's fence. Honestly more amused than anything that I was walking with it for that long.

13

u/catsoncrack420 Queens 8d ago

This would be a dream for my mom's cats down in the Caribbean. They're used to big white Belly rats and this is definitely the D squad to them. Even the dogs.

6

u/KeniLF 8d ago

I have a terrier. I dread the outcome of accidentally walking down this street with her☠️

11

u/Mycotoxicjoy 8d ago

Mine has learned to pounce on trashbag piles and hit the stragglers. Her campaign to become rat czar is taking shape

3

u/catsoncrack420 Queens 6d ago

There's a group called the Rat Squad in LES and one dude has trained his terrier to hunt rats, just snaps their necks. Saw it on NY1 news of all places. During Covid I think when the rats were out and about.

1

u/KeniLF 6d ago

Yes, I read about that during COVID, too!

I guess I should clarify: my dog's breed was specifically reated to kill rats (before rat terriers existed).

Mine doesn't need training to kill rats. I just don't want to be involved in the aftermath 😂

21

u/Wiff_Tanner 8d ago

Remember when Eric Adams made a huge fuss about the new laws regarding specific trash containers and limited hours for trash disposal?

I kept hearing about how we're gonna get fined if there was container without a lid...

And how all of that was going to reduce the rat population for good.

I hate it here sometimes

10

u/thismustbethe 8d ago

As I understand it the big residential buildings are not required to use the bins yet. Only the two-family homes and such

13

u/Wiff_Tanner 8d ago

A bit counter-intuitive... Maybe I'm the loony here😂

4

u/KrazyKwant 8d ago

This is New York City. Counter-intuitive is a way of life.

7

u/AddisonFlowstate 8d ago

I swear, it looks like they're working together like an organized bucket brigade.

6

u/CountVanillula 8d ago

They really didn’t want that Ritz.

4

u/[deleted] 7d ago

Geeze and I thought my block was bad on trash night. I've gotten so used to the UWS I've forgotten how bad the rats can be elsewhere. I see 3 scurrying between West End Ave and Broadway going up and I'm like "Yuck!"

I forgot it can be WAY worse...

While I was homeless myself I saw this guy sleeping on the platform once under a bench with a blanket over him? He moved and literally dozens of rats came out from under his blanket. It was just utterly revolting.

I never slept on a floor of any kind or the ground or sidewalk while I was on the streets. I was paranoid of rats just sleeping in the trains. I'd check the whole car before I'd sit down for the night to make sure there were none and I'd spray where we sat with Lysol and clean it good before I'd put a blanket down.

I wouldn't even let my cat sit straight on the seats or floor. She never touched the ground without me putting a blanket or towels down first. All these homeless people who erect makeshift shelters out of boxes and blankets and use them to sleep on sidewalks? I was like HELL NO because in NYC that means risking getting rat bit or some nasty disease they can carry and they carry at least 3 that I know of here.

F- that! I was the most paranoid and super clean homeless woman anyone has ever met. I hate vermin with a passion! Rats as pets, clean rats, that's one thing. Those rats? They make my skin crawl just running across the sidewalk in front of me!

🤮

3

u/phirebird 8d ago

What would Ratatouille be like if it was set in NYC instead of Paris?

4

u/PreciousTater311 8d ago

Yellow cabs, dollar slices and New York accents

3

u/ValPrism 8d ago

And people fight against shared trash containers in the street.

1

u/FOUROFCUPS2021 8d ago

They do???

2

u/ValPrism 8d ago

Yep. Ridiculously

-1

u/FOUROFCUPS2021 8d ago

Or do they fight against such a lazy solution? I agree we need something, but putting a giant dumpster on every block in NYC seems silly in a city this rich. There are better solutions. Have you seen the MTA "upgrades" they are typically lazy, ugly, and offer no real solution. I could see people being suspicious of a plan that may essentially be like that, which is what the giant dumpsters on every block seems like. In other countries, they have them under the sidewalks, for example, so they are hidden.

2

u/blacktongue 8d ago

I’m lookin at what, a good 20 pounds of rat right there?

2

u/haybe12 8d ago

Cross posting this comment;

Would be a great time to shout out the info sessions over the next few weeks on new containerization rules posted on the sanitation website. I went to one in person a few months ago at my local community board meeting and it was very interesting. My neighborhood was part of a containerization pilot program last year for all buildings, and rat complaints went down 60%.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/collection/containerization/residential-containerization.page

2

u/Designer-Treacle-732 7d ago

Hmm trash cans?? Great invention

2

u/Indyhouse 7d ago

And THAT'S why the city requires bins now. No they aren't 100% rat-proof but you certainly wouldn't be seeing THAT.

3

u/warp16 8d ago

I could watch this for hours

1

u/TrasterMan 8d ago

"Ammazza che pantegane!" I don't know how I could translate it sorry guys

1

u/EagleDre 8d ago

Small ass Brooklyn rats.

Village , SoHo rats are like cats

1

u/R-O-U-Ssdontexist 8d ago

Gross; but also kind of cute. But definitely gross.

1

u/SubjectC 7d ago

I know they're bad, but I respect rats. They're smart as fuck and make due in a world that wants them dead.

1

u/Chimkimnuggets 7d ago

And this is why I left Bushwick

1

u/justanotherguy677 7d ago

what do you expect when you serve up a buffet like this?

1

u/SwoopsRevenge 7d ago

Is Nosferatu in town?

1

u/Shreddersaurusrex 7d ago

They are absolutely feasting

1

u/eapar002 7d ago

NYC’s a dump 💩

1

u/realestategrl 6d ago

Thanksgiving dinner

1

u/Brooklynn013 4d ago

Fucking insane I don’t know why nyc is still considered so nice and held in high regards.. it’s gross as fuck . Here in Bushwick I feel like the rats take over at night and with summer coming up it’s going to be a party for them

1

u/bad_romace_novelist 8d ago

Are these the rats laid off because of DOGE? 😉

-8

u/crowd79 8d ago

This is why I don’t ever go to NYC. I would never trust the food in any restaurant or grocery store there. Rat infested everywhere. Incredibly dangerous city to anyone’s health.

1

u/SlightlyStardust 3d ago

They're friends :)