[title]
Mayor Eric Adams' war on rats continues with a pretty creative effort: the city is inviting New Yorkers to join a new volunteer "rat pack" program to help get rid of rodents throughout the five boroughs.
There are three steps to joining the squad.
First up: a two-hour training session at the Department of Health's "rat academy" to "learn about safe and effective methods for rat prevention in your home and community," according to an official press release. You can sign up for a session right here.
Prospective team members will then have to take part of a rat walk to see how the rodents actually interact with the environment, how their biology plays a role in the conversation and how humans tend to behave around them. Here is where you can sign up for the walk.
Finally, you'll be invited to "join members of your community to come together and take direct action to make NYC a better place to live."
You'll be emailed a form to fill out to certify that you've participated in all three qualifying activities and, once that's mailed in, you'll receive some "rat pack" swag that we're sure will become next season's must-wear fashion pieces around town. You will get to pick between a shirt and a cap, although we suggest finding a way to grab both for a complete ensemble.
Although all New Yorkers can sing up for the program, Mayor Adams explained that the project specifically targets building superintendents, property managers, community gardeners and business owners—basically, anyone who has control over a specific structure or area that may be infested with rats.
"From cutting our rats' food supplies to closing down rat havens, Rat Pack members will be able to defend their communities from rodents, and achieve our goal of making New York City the least rat-friendly city in America," said Adams during an official press event. "We need you to help reduce the rat population in our city, and the rat swag will be your badge of honor as you walk through your communities."
The news follows the hiring of the city's first-ever "Rat Czar" last year. The Director of Rodent Mitigation, Kathleen Corradi is a former elementary school teacher in Brooklyn that also worked at the Department of Education's Office of Sustainability, where she developed the city's Zero Waste Schools program and its rodent reduction project across 120 public schools. Clearly, she knows what she is doing—hopefully the "rat pack" will help her out.