“The rats don’t run this city. We do,”  Jessica Tisch, Former Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation of New York (DSNY)

District 35 has some of the most rat complaints of anywhere in the city. In response, our office convened the District 35 Rat Task Force in 2022 with the goal of bringing together constituents, block associations, and agency officials to share best practices to address existing rodent infestations and prevent them in the future. We partnered with two existing neighborhood rat groups — the Sterling Place Committee on Rat Mitigation (S.C.R.A.M.) and the Prospect Heights Rat Task Force — to build on and promote their incredible work.

Since its inception, the District 35 Rat Task Force has:

• Secured nearly 100 new rat-proof litter bins installed across District 35, including the new DSNY Better Bins
• Championed more than $500,000 in discretionary funding since FY23 from the Office of Council Member Hudson for supplemental sanitation services across the district — including in high-traffic areas like the Vanderbilt Avenue Open Street & under the BQE overpass — and additional anti-rat infrastructure
• Funded a carbon monoxide treatment program in District 35 through our partnership with ACE
• Worked with the Department of Sanitation to remove neglected roadway dining sheds along major commercial corridors
• Worked with Fort Greene Park Conservancy to fund new rat-proof litter bins across the park
• Hosted meetings with the D35 Rat Task Force and agency officials from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Sanitation to discuss best practices
• Helped gain funding for Fort Greene Park Conservancy to purchase its own carbon monoxide machine to mitigate rat burrows in the park
• Won the inclusion of Prospect Heights into a rat mitigation zone, extending it to include Eastern Parkway and Park Place from Washington Avenue to Vanderbilt Avenue
• Held a successful campaign to push the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene to include Prospect Heights and Crown Heights in the newly codified and formed Rat Mitigation Zones, resulting in more than 200 comments from constituents
• Posted rat educational materials on LinkNYC kiosks across District 35
• Helped organize a small business canvassing effort to notify restaurateurs and food establishments in District 35 about new containerization laws
• Hosted two Rat Academy training sessions with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to teach constituents about rodent mitigation
• Hosted a rat walking tour with Kathleen Corradi, Director of Rodent Mitigation, in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights

The D35 Rat Task Force meets via Zoom on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6pm. If you’re interested, call 718-260-9191 or email D35RatTaskForce@council.nyc.gov to sign up.