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Boston is the rat capital of America. I'm sure New York has their share, but go take a stroll around Boston Harbor and you'll see some of these monstrous vermin with saw-blade teeth and red eyes. At night they can actually give you a pretty good shock if you're walking around alone, some of them are the size of dogs.
I don't take the subway much anymore, and I don't live in the city, just commute here daily for work, but I don't remember the last time I saw a rat. Even when I lived in NYC and used the subway for my daily commute, I saw rats only occasionally. Maybe the MTA's maintenance of the system has suffered, with all the budget cuts.
Sorry, I chuckled a bit. Huge rats and their furry little friends the rodents are quite a problem in NYC. Rats own the subways, and you can easily see them on the platform alongside people. I once saw a feeding frenzy on the D and E 7th ave train station. The MTA workers left garbage bags near the entrance of the tunnel on the platform and there were dozens of rats screeching, coming from the upstairs track and jumping off the stairs into the pile.
Anywhere that garbage is placed on the sidewalk(everywhere in NYC) you will see huge rats and or feral cats digging through.
I advise you to really check any place you move into, cause once rodents have a viable entrance to your home they DON'T stop coming...even with poison. I moved to a newly renovated apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn a few years ago on a 3 floor building. The owner had left a huge hole under the kitchen sink that I would later find after spending money on numerous glue traps that I had to lay in distinctive places...at times catching 5-6 a night. Quite the horror story.
Im in no way trying to lour you out of NYC, but you have to come to terms with the fact that you'll bump into a critter once in a while.
Lived in Brooklyn (Williamsburg/Bushwick) for 2.5 years and never saw a rat in Brooklyn, but would see them on the tracks nearly daily in Manhattan. Never saw one in a building though or on the street, so they never bothered me.
More anecdotal evidence: in my two years in NYC, I have seen my fair share of rats, but most of them were on the tracks in subway stations. The only two noteworthy exceptions: on a 6 train (and I'm not talking about the viral video), and in a friend's staircase - the latter one was particularly weird as the rat was passing the three of us while we were climbing up the stairs.
I definitely feel that the issue is way overhyped, but that may not be deliberate; as always it depends on your baseline for comparison. For any experienced global traveler, this is nothing - for anyone who has never been to a place with a real rat problem, seeing even a single rodent might already cause significant psychological trauma.
When the Bronx River waterfront is developed there are going to be a whole lot of rats without a home. I just hope they can somehow assimilate themselves again to the new community.
My cousin lives in a beautiful brownstone - nice area of the City and she does see the occasional rat wonder into her backyard. Also, if anyone has been in Battery Park at Dusk, the rats take over. They quite literally chase the squirrels and act as if they own the park. LOL
I've lived in the biggest cities in California for 10 years. Never once in my time here have I ever seen a rat/mouse. Not once. And since I've been reading the NYC forum here and saw the mention of rats on subway tracks, I've made it a point to stare at the SF subway tracks looking for them lol. Again, never once have I seen a rat. And I can't necessarily recall seeing any roaches ever, either.
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