Our society's uneasy alliance with rodent kind?they get fat off our scraps while withholding the urge to eat our eyeballs in our sleep?has taken a turn for the worse ever since our furry frenimies starting pursuing higher-profile targets: expensive new condos, the Upper West Side, Gisele Bundchen. Now their ranks in Lower Manhattan are swelling, and it's time to take a stand and make the neighborhood safe for the HGTV contest winners that will one day call it home.
Most of the area is one big construction zone, with has apparently drawn the attention of the creatures of the night. Fear not, FiDi, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver is on the case! His office just issued a press release titled, "Silver Intervention Produces Plan to Curb Downtown Rat Problem." How will we defeat our plague-carrying nemeses? By cleaning the place up, and scrubbing it down:
Responding to growing concerns from residents about the worsening rat problem near large construction sites in Lower Manhattan, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver has developed a plan with government agencies and private contractors to take immediate steps to curb rodent infestations. “This is a public health issue,” Silver said. “In certain areas, particularly near Fulton Street, the streets have been literally overrun with rats since construction and repair projects began earlier this year. Residents should not have to fear for themselves, their children and their pets while out walking in their own neighborhood. I want to assure local residents that I am working with the city to ensure that they implement a detailed plan of action to help control the rat population.”
At Silver’s urging, the city Health Department conducted a walking tour of the area to assess the problem. Silver then convened a meeting with contractors and city agencies to develop a plan to mitigate the problem. Among the steps that the Health Department recommended:
-Additional baiting of work site areas and the replacement of bait on a weekly basis
-Baiting of sewers and other rat burrows that the survey identified
-Cleaning and unclogging of basins
-Better oversight of construction sites to ensure that trash and debris are properly disposed of
-Minimizing the number of hours garbage sits at a curb awaiting pick up
-Use of trash cans that rats cannot easily access
-Utilizing power washers to clean sidewalks and other areas
Apparently this isn't the Lower Manhattan population boom developers were hoping for. Can rat-trification be reversed?
· The Curbed Rodent Archives [Curbed]
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