New York already has rat poison in chief

Kathleen Corradi, director of the New York rodent reduction program. Bobby Caina Calvan (AP)

The four million rats that live in New York - one for every four inhabitants, a calculation based on rather myopic estimates - have their hours numbered.

As of this Wednesday, the city has the first "director of the rodent reduction program" in its history, Kathleen Corradi, who will occupy a newly created position in the municipal organization chart due to the aversion that the mayor, Eric Adams, feels towards the rats.

Adams, and it could be added that any resident or visitor to the city, who comes across them on a daily basis with the same ease with which passengers mix in a subway car.

They abound precisely in the subway, but also in parks, in play areas for dogs and children or in the basement of buildings, without forgetting the warehouses of shops or the back rooms of restaurants.

They are so ubiquitous that, after numerous attempts by the city to stamp them out, Adams announced four months ago, with much fanfare, the appointment of Chief Ratslayer.

It will be a Chief,

Corradi, the new Rat Terminatrix.

In announcing the job position, Democrat Adams emphasized the "bloodthirsty" nature of potential candidates.

The adventures of New York rats make their fortune on the internet, and it is not for nothing that the Big Apple is, they say, the most

city in the world.

A video showing a rodent running down the stairs of a subway station with the loot of an entire slice of pizza between its teeth went viral in 2015, much to the chagrin of the city's tour managers.

“New York may be famous for the Pizza Rat, but rats and the conditions that help them spread will no longer be tolerated: no more dirty sidewalks, abandoned spaces, or brazenly dug burrows [in lots and buildings under construction],” he has Corradi said in a statement.

Rats in the New York subway. Gary Hershorn (Getty Images)

The new person in charge of the deratization of New York is a former teacher who is an expert in waste management and will receive $155,000 a year, according to The

.

Judging by the requirements of the position, Corradi musters radical motivation, determination and killer instincts for "the large-scale killing" of pests.

According to a persistent urban legend, in New York there are as many rats as inhabitants: almost nine million, hence the very modest figure of four million is not believed by anyone.

The English novelist Charles Dickens already complained about its proliferation when he visited the city in 1842.

The latest attempt to keep rodents at bay has been a municipal proclamation to make residents aware of the advisability of taking out the garbage late in the afternoon, to prevent the bags from multiplying on the sidewalks.

The containers in the basement of residential buildings are few, and there are still many plastic or modest brass garbage cans, which make it very easy for bugs.

In addition, the closure of restaurants during the most restrictive phase of the pandemic left them without food, and the rodents developed a particularly aggressive behavior that continues: they stop at nothing.

It is unknown if Mayor Adams's edict for New Yorkers to refrain from taking out trash in broad daylight has produced any results, since it went into effect on April 1.

While the debate on whether or not it is ethical to kill millions of rats in the American megalopolis - ethics aside, some scientists believe that it would break the natural chain of species - is gaining momentum, Mayor Adams is achieving, if not ending the rats, yes tailoring the city to your dislikes… and preferences.

in school menus, as a

test for the introduction of food alternatives.

The ex-policeman is known for his media coups.