In New York City, rats get a bad rap
Nicole He
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: City/State
It's the Year of the Rat, but not many New Yorkers are celebrating the city's most infamous furry inhabitants.
However, we might be the ones keeping them alive.
Rats swarm to food and garbage we leave out. And because this makes access to food easier, the rat population grows, said Robin Nagle, a NYU anthropology professor who studies trash.
But are rats really all that bad?
If you were in the KFC/Taco Bell last February when thousands of rats stampeded through the restaurant, then yes, they are. No one seems to know how many of these pests are in the Big Apple. Estimates range from 256,000 to 96 million, according to the Physics Factbook, but Washington, D.C. seems to think they're cleaner than us.
Last month, Washington, D.C.'s Metro system ran ads that said, "Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don't see rats the size of house cats roaming Metro. Why not? Because we are so strict about eating and drinking in the system. So help us keep the critters away. Please don't eat or drink on the Metro."
But it's not just New York that's getting a bad rap - the rats are, too.
Nagle said there is a stigma associated with rats that make them seem more dangerous than they actually are.
"We could be just as uneasy around squirrels, for instance, but for the most part we think that squirrels - small rodents that also carry disease - are cute," she said. "Squirrels have fluffy tails and live their lives more or less in the open, finding food in places that we don't think of as glaringly dirty. Rats have reptile-like tails, are sleek and even greasy-looking, stay near edges of curbs and walls and occupy dark spaces below us, spaces that are inherently spooky."
In fact, the rats do not spread rabies, which is commonly believed, and the bubonic plague, which rats infamously spread in history, is also no longer a serious public health issue. Subsequently, some NYU students said that they don't necessarily think of rats as truly dangerous, just dirty.
"They creep the shit out of me," CAS freshman Maggie Chow said. "But I don't think they're really dangerous. They're just a sign of unsanitary conditions."
Last year, NYU teamed up with the New York City Department of Parks to reduce the number of rats in the area. But many students and city residents feel that it is ultimately a futile effort, as the rodents always reappear in spite of any measures that temporarily reduce sightings.
CAS sophomore Michael Costa feels that trying to eliminate rats completely is not worth the time and money.
"Rats scare people, but I don't really mind them as long as we can coexist peacefully," Costa said. "I think that efforts to try to eliminate them are kind of useless."
Others take a lighthearted approach to the problem.
"The Bubonic Plague gave rats a bad rep and they have been unable to mobilize the rat PR agencies to bring people up to date," said NYU social and cultural analysis professor Daniel J. Walkowitz. "The movie 'Ratatouille' seems to be the first effort by the rat community to change their reputation."
Nicole He is a senior staff writer. E-mail her at citystate@nyunews.com.
However, we might be the ones keeping them alive.
Rats swarm to food and garbage we leave out. And because this makes access to food easier, the rat population grows, said Robin Nagle, a NYU anthropology professor who studies trash.
But are rats really all that bad?
If you were in the KFC/Taco Bell last February when thousands of rats stampeded through the restaurant, then yes, they are. No one seems to know how many of these pests are in the Big Apple. Estimates range from 256,000 to 96 million, according to the Physics Factbook, but Washington, D.C. seems to think they're cleaner than us.
Last month, Washington, D.C.'s Metro system ran ads that said, "Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don't see rats the size of house cats roaming Metro. Why not? Because we are so strict about eating and drinking in the system. So help us keep the critters away. Please don't eat or drink on the Metro."
But it's not just New York that's getting a bad rap - the rats are, too.
Nagle said there is a stigma associated with rats that make them seem more dangerous than they actually are.
"We could be just as uneasy around squirrels, for instance, but for the most part we think that squirrels - small rodents that also carry disease - are cute," she said. "Squirrels have fluffy tails and live their lives more or less in the open, finding food in places that we don't think of as glaringly dirty. Rats have reptile-like tails, are sleek and even greasy-looking, stay near edges of curbs and walls and occupy dark spaces below us, spaces that are inherently spooky."
In fact, the rats do not spread rabies, which is commonly believed, and the bubonic plague, which rats infamously spread in history, is also no longer a serious public health issue. Subsequently, some NYU students said that they don't necessarily think of rats as truly dangerous, just dirty.
"They creep the shit out of me," CAS freshman Maggie Chow said. "But I don't think they're really dangerous. They're just a sign of unsanitary conditions."
Last year, NYU teamed up with the New York City Department of Parks to reduce the number of rats in the area. But many students and city residents feel that it is ultimately a futile effort, as the rodents always reappear in spite of any measures that temporarily reduce sightings.
CAS sophomore Michael Costa feels that trying to eliminate rats completely is not worth the time and money.
"Rats scare people, but I don't really mind them as long as we can coexist peacefully," Costa said. "I think that efforts to try to eliminate them are kind of useless."
Others take a lighthearted approach to the problem.
"The Bubonic Plague gave rats a bad rep and they have been unable to mobilize the rat PR agencies to bring people up to date," said NYU social and cultural analysis professor Daniel J. Walkowitz. "The movie 'Ratatouille' seems to be the first effort by the rat community to change their reputation."
Nicole He is a senior staff writer. E-mail her at citystate@nyunews.com.
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