New York is following Chicago's example in the fight to control the rat population

In New York on Wednesday, a The first summit of its kind focused exclusively on the rat problemand it turns out that Chicago has played a positive role in combating the Big Apple's rodent problem.

So what makes Chicago special when it comes to fighting rats?

For one thing, Chicago has alleys, which makes it much easier to keep rats away from the contents of trash cans.

“Wow, I didn’t think so many people would come to talk about rats,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams spoke about the large number of people who attended the first National Urban Rat Summit in New York. He said rats are affecting the quality of life more than people might think.

“You can just imagine lifting the toilet seat in the morning and a rodent coming out,” said Adams. “Or you take the garbage bag, put it outside and see a rat walking across your feet. You think about that all day!”

He added: “And that's what this is about, the cross-pollination of ideas from across the country and the individual states. How do we deal with a problem that has always existed? Rodents have been around since the beginning of time.”

The Lincoln Park Zoo had a representative at the summit. The zoo runs the so-called Chicago Rat Project, which studies the rat population in the city.

The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation offers free rodent control to residents. The Bureau of Rodent Control, with the permission of the owner, baits all alleys and green spaces, as well as the front and back yards of residential buildings with four or fewer units.

A Department of Streets and Sanitation spokesperson said in the summer of 2023, the deputy director of the Bureau of Rodent Control met with the newly appointed “rat czar” for New York and exchanged ideas and strategies for rodent control. In Chicago, residents have trash cans and dumpsters in the alleys that help keep rats away. In New York, on the other hand, Adams said, there are no alleys and trash bags are always on the sidewalks for pickup.

“Our analysis has shown that one of the biggest problems is the all-you-can-eat buffets that we serve in plastic bags,” said Adams. “When I go to European cities and we say we have plastic bags, they say, 'Plastic bags? You have plastic bags on your streets?' Everyone puts their garbage in containers and we find that there are fewer rats being spotted because the garbage is being disposed of in containers.”

Such a measure is new this year, as New Yorkers are encouraged to put their garbage in trash cans. Ironically, on the day of the New York summit, in Chicago, Deputy Pest Control Commissioner Josie Cruz retired and was honored by the city council for her service.

A new Deputy Commissioner will be announced shortly.