Back in 1991, David Lynch made a video about the city’s rat problem. Twenty-two years later, we may need another clip because the rats aren’t going anywhere. According to a map on Gothamist, New Yorkers continue calling 311 about rat sightings, nowhere more than the Upper West Side (around 1,000 complaints originated there in the last two years).
Coming in first place, however, is Bushwick (there is no prize). In 2012 alone, gentrification’s new favorite neighborhood lodged a whopping 965 reports, nearly ten times the number of reports on the Upper East Side, Animal New York pointed out.
It’s not certain how accurately the calls match up to actual sightings since the East Village and the LES reported only 314 and 374 rat sightings respectively. Still, we’ll keep away from the olive buffet. And the grocery store. And maybe Jonathan Ames, too.
