By Scott Etkin
Upper West Siders might not agree on everything, but having fewer rats in the neighborhood is something we can all get behind.
On that front, there’s some good news: In 2024 the UWS saw a 19 percent decrease in rat complaints filed with the city’s 311 portal, compared with the previous year. The total number of rat reports on the UWS went down to 1,384 in 2024, from 2023’s 1,717. (As a Rag article reported a year ago, the 2023 statistic marked a decrease of 16 percent from 2022.)
The numbers come from 311 service requests about rodents logged in the 10023, 10024, 10025, and 10069 ZiP codes. While the number of 311 reports isn’t a perfect way to tell if the number of rats is going up or down, it’s at least a relevant indicator that can be tracked consistently over time – one that suggests some success in the city Department of Sanitation’s anti-rat efforts.
The most ambitious step in that campaign is the city’s move to containerize trash set out for collection by businesses and some residences. This initiative – aimed at requiring trash bags to be set out for collection in bins, rather than directly on the street – has ramped up significantly over the past nine months. All commercial businesses have been required to use bins since March, and the requirement was extended in November to include small residential buildings (with 1-9 units).
“Since the start of the Trash Revolution, we have successfully moved 70 percent of all New York City trash out of bags into containers,” a spokesperson from DSNY wrote to the Rag. “The bags that once served as an all-you-can-eat buffet for rats are disappearing, and people and rodents alike have taken notice.”
The start of mandatory curbside composting for all residential buildings in October marked another change aimed at reducing the rat population. The composting plan calls for New Yorkers to put food scraps in hard-sided bins, instead of trash bags that rats can easily rip open. While not all buildings have made brown compost bins available to their residents, the number of participating buildings is likely to increase on April 1st, when the sanitation department will begin fining buildings for noncompliance.
Another factor in the reduced number of rat reports could be the end of the city’s year-round restaurant shed era, though this is a relatively recent change. All roadside dining structures were required to be removed at the end of November.
City data shows that in 2024, rat complaints were down year-over-year in each of the Upper West Side’s four zip codes. As in previous years, 10025 had the highest number of complaints (611), followed by 10024 (441), 10023 (326), and 10069 (6).
The total number of rodent complaints in 2024 on the UWS was the lowest in three years (and significantly below the 2022 total of 2,039). But it was still 8% above pre-pandemic levels (1,284 in 2019).
To educate residents, property owners, and building staff about how to prevent rodents, the NYC Department of Health regularly hosts virtual and in-person “Rat Academy” training sessions. To register for one of these upcoming free events, click – HERE.
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I saw a rat on the street yesterday at Broadway in the lower 80s .
There has to be a more accurate way to assess the rat population. There has been no decrease that I’ve noticed. No one on my block calls 311 anymore about the rats. They just tell you to call your landlord.
I am constantly out walking my dog. I have not seen a rat in weeks. There has been a real significant decrease. Granted it’s the winter and they are not out as much.
I still see many rats. I reported an infestation more than once and the response was a (unwarranted) summons for my building. So, of course, I do not report the problem as the city hasn’t addressed the problem.
Unfortunately, I do not think they declined. People are just fed up with reporting. On the Upper Westside neighborhood group, Someone just reported seeing rats climb into a car’s engine.
I always see them by Central Park and in the tree wells rat holes.
There are so many rat holes in the tree wells in front of Birch Coffee Shop on Columbus and 96th Street.
. It’s so disgusting. That building should figure out how to eradicate them by using metal grid underneath the dirt. The traps are doing nothing.
C’mon,, who are you kidding? I see rats every single day!
Not all restaurant sheds are down. Just one example, Old John’s didn’t get the memo.
I’m sad to see that one go. People were enjoying it until just days ago. I get that there is a new regulation, not saying things should not move on. But the colors were great, design was retro cute – perfect match for OJ – the banquettes with sliding doors for cozy privacy, screened windows that opened for ventilation, heaters in winter, a/c in summer – was really fun every time. Thanks for making the best one, Old John’s!
Old John’s blatant disregard for the dining shed laws in broad daylight makes me wonder what other laws they disregard back in the kitchen where we can’t see.
The Old John’s roadway dining shed was dismantled yesterday Jan 2nd. It was ripped apart and there is now a heap of debris covered with a tarp held down with bricks. I don’t know if Old John’s finally took it down or if it was the Dept of Sanitation. I’d also like to know if Old John’s was fined. The fine was supposedly $500 for the first ticket and $1000 for subsequent ones. It’s hard to believe they were fined $30.000.
And yes, there were many rats living under the shed that were scattering throughout the day as the men ripped the shed apart.
Fewer sheds and people eating outside plus better waste management will do that.
Now let’s get all that recycling into bins! It’s still impossible to walk down the streets on garbage evenings. In the mean time garbage & recycling shouldn’t be allowed to be put out until w/in 2 hours of pick-up, with smaller buildings getting a variance. If you can afford 24 hr doorman and 1 million + for a 1BR you can afford to pay someone to keep your garbage off the street for 12-16 hours.
Regardless of how many people see or don’t see rats, containerizing garbage is the right thing to. Its also done almost universally in other cities. Its better for the environment, smell, safety,, cleanliness, and look of the streets
Getting rid of restaurant sheds and putting trash in sealed cans will decrease the rats.
This is so not true. Still see rats everywhere in UWS.
This article is inaccurate. Their are an abundance of rats not mice on West 64th Street. The employees of the parking lot have to chase them out. Across the street from the Brodsky building their is a children’s playground that is infected with rats.
They come out during the day!
Throughout the for seasons.
And I still see people throwing basketsfull of bread pieces on the sidewalks for the pigeons (rats of the sky) to eat. As the city has made abundantly clear, any scrap a pigeon misses becomes rat food. These people just don’t get it.
I think all the rats have gone to my little garden at the corner of 11th Ave and 54th St.
They are still reproducing and reproducing. I’ve tried every legal method to kill them off or at least discourage them. They don’t harm the flowers, but they sure are ugly.