In a Brooklyn park, a diverse group gathers for a 'rat walk' led by Kathleen Corradi, New York City's appointed 'rat czar.' United by their distaste for rats, the participants learn about the significant rodent population estimated at 3 million. While the rats are less mythologically abundant than the urban legend suggests, their presence creates real public health concerns, such as leptospirosis. Despite efforts to eradicate them, the city's infamous rats remain an inseparable part of New York's identity, eliciting both fear and fascination among residents.
We're led by Kathleen Corradi, the city's famed rat czar, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams in 2023, and we are united by our visceral hatred of rats.
Rats contaminate food, damage property and make a notoriously difficult city even harder to live in by ick factor alone.
Despite humans' determined efforts, rats refuse to leave it. A lowly transplant might wear a New York or Nowhere T-shirt today but move back to Ohio in a few years.
This begrudging acceptance—what Corradi calls the fear and fascination—highlights the complex relationship New Yorkers have with their infamous rodent population.
Collection
[
|
...
]