Taking Action in Your NYC Neighbourhood to Prevent Rats

Do you reside in a New York City area where rats are an issue?

Don’t know where to start in fixing the problem?

Read on to learn about the safety precautions you should take.

Rats can be an issue for a single home, a whole block, or an entire community, necessitating a coordinated approach. Rat prevention requires a team effort between property owners, renters, companies, and the City.

Why There Are Rats in Your Community
Rats like to reside in areas that offer them access to food, water, shelter, and secure routes for moving about.

They may eat and hide among garbage and debris. The rats tend to dig nests or burrows in the ground for additional protection. Rats tend to repeatedly go along the same pathways for safety, frequently using building foundations, walls, fences, and shrubs as landmarks.

Rats frequently congregate in these areas:

  • Harlem, Manhattan
  • Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley, Manhattan
  • Upper East Side – Yorkville, Manhattan
  • Upper West Side, Manhattan
  • Bushwick, Brooklyn
  • Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

Efforts to Reduce Rats in the Neighborhood
The Health Department and numerous other City departments are attempting to enhance neighborhood cleanliness through the Neighborhood Rat Elimination Project by removing the food, water, and shelter that rats require to exist. The effort uses conventional rat control methods in addition to addressing the root causes that promote rat colonies. Rat populations will decrease by drastically lowering the number of habitats and food sources in the targeted locations.

The campaign concentrates on rat-infested areas in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

Steps You Can Take
Visit the Rat Information Portal from the Health Department to view the outcomes of rat inspections and subsequent measures.

Check on the history of rat inspections by neighborhood, borough, block, and lot (BBL) number, or address.

Rat infestation and rat control measures can be implemented by Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Community District Managers, block associations, neighborhood organizations, and people working together. What you and your neighbors can do is as follows:

  1. Eliminate litter; rats will be drawn to any exposed waste.
  2. Garbage should be kept in lidded, hard plastic containers to prevent rats.
  3. Ensure sure there are enough garbage cans for each resident in your building.
  4. Keep tall weeds out of the planted areas surrounding your property.
    • Shrubs that are near the ground should be pruned.
  5. In addition to the sidewalk and beneath doors, look for cracks or holes in the building’s foundation.
    • Filling and sealing cracks and holes will make them seem better
  6. New garbage cans or additional trash pickup are sponsored by several BIDS.
    • By properly disposing of trash and supporting rat-resistant cans, you can maintain parks, walkways, and green streets tidy and clutter-free.
  7. Organize a free neighborhood training session on rat control.

After taking these precautions, if rats are still an issue, think about employing a pest control specialist to service all the buildings or establishments on one block.