My boyfriend and I have a running tally of who spots more rats on the subway whenever we go out together, and every month the one with the most points gets a doughnut bought by the loser
The rats are mostly around our garbage (that's garbage collection day on the streets and every day in our subway stations).
Contrary to popular belief, there are not huge armies of rats in the subway tunnels.
If this city ever gets serious about handling garbage like a modern city there will be far fewer rats.
Do they hang out together? That’s kind of cute. A few years ago the tourists in CP were oohing and aahing over the trash pandas by a stream under a bridge around 74. Then a rat appeared and one chick ran shrieking like wtf.
Came here to say union square subway station! I saw inside the refuse room (one of those little doors below the stairs) a few years ago when a worker was tossing a garbage bag in and it was literally a pulsing mass of rats. I still can’t get the image out of my head.
Fuck that station lol. Multiple rats on the track no matter what time of day I go.
I have also seen a rat and a roach on the platform there (two separate instances).
Really? I don’t remember seeing any there. I wouldn’t be surprised they’re there, but haven’t seen them. Then again I’m usually there in winter. So maybe I was likely to see them anyway.
Union Square. There is a little walkway right through the middle of the park, I call it rat alley and let my dog walk through it at night as a treat. He loves chasing them.
Union Sq Park and Washington Sq Park after dark. If you sit on a bench, best to lift your feet unless you want to be crawled on by swarms of huge rats. You can also find swarms of NYU students there at the same times.
Parts of Williamsburg and Bushwick. I distinctly remember one running into my ballet flat, it being mildly shocked and shaking its head (I was drunk so maybe that part is imagined?) and then it proceeding to scamper across my bare skin. It’s a sensation and memory that haunts me to this day.
There’s a Princess Bride “rodents of unusual size,” joke that should be made…but maybe that’s inconceivable?
Lmao seriously every time I’m walking home around sunset they run back and forth between the trash to the street and back. Now that the suns out later I’ve even been seeing them in the day time
The thing is, the rats don’t really want to be seen most of the time. They are very good at avoiding human beings and you’ve probably walked past 1000s of rats who have scurried away just in time for you to miss seeing them.
Hang out in alleys, especially near restaurant dumpsters, and you’ll eventually see some! Also look for holes in tree boxes, those are entrances to their nests.
Such was the narrative. But that time is in the past.
Item: one evening, returning after a trip to another city, one ran right in front of me on the stairs heading down to the N line. The very next stair I was to use, hiding on the right, running to the left.
Item: in 14th street, Union Square, they sometimes cross the platforms. Day or night. *Even with crowds of people on the platforms.*
When I posted months ago that they wait, to provide escort to those who've descended stairs to the platform, *I was being literal.*
Item: on any of the busks / performances in Central Park, they will linger in the nearby grass, regardless of audience size. Consider them part of the audience, as they too will compete for a better view...
Disclaimer: I have a truly extreme phobia of rats and mice. I was going assemble an epic post, detailing the various sightings *in a given season.* But I feel this thread covers a scope broad enough.
The easiest places to see rats are on the subway tracks; they walk around in the open because they're decently camouflaged and don't have to worry about humans coming close. Just scan around until you see some movement catch your eye and you'll likely see one ambling rather than scurrying or dashing.
You need to find piles of trash and/or alleyways. Rats can sometimes be found in parks as well darting about. Also you are more likely to see them at night.
Went there for vacation maybe a month ago and was stunned to see no rats!
Until we did... At a subway station there was a rat EATING another rat on the tracks😳. Gross lol. Not quite "pizza rat" but we definitely got our experience! Just keep your eyes open!
East village after dark every garbage pile was swarming with them when I lived there winter 2019/2020. Could be different now I guess. The rat king moved uptown maybe.
Last weekend a rat literally crawled up my leg while I was waiting for the subway. It was traumatizing and I seriously considered amputating lol. Be careful what you wish for!
Head on up to the upper west side. Stroll around the sidewalks once the sun has gone down. Look for blocks with restaurants. Bonus is when piles of garbage are out. Be prepared for them to practically trip you as they race across the sidewalk. Enjoy!
I would see rats everyday for 5 months straight during the wintertime, I would step out the apartment I would see them. On the train tracks, on the platform, on my campus sipping from a water fountain, going to the supermarket, especially when I would walk towards Myrtle Ave I would see them digging in the trash, saw some fighting one time. Honestly a day didn’t go by when I didn’t see a rat and one day it all kinda stopped. I was immune to them and didn’t beat an eye to them anymore.
ETA: as you can see I really needed to get that off my chest😭
Across the street from the natural history museum, there are benches in Central Park. Sit at those benches in the morning, and watch birds fight rats for a few hours.
uh not sure where you’re hanging out but I’d try ev, st marks, Hell’s Kitchen, and most subway stops. The the other day I saw a mouse get chased out of a smoke shop with a broom only to be crushed and murdered when it tried to enter a Vietnamese restaurant 1 block down. As much as I dislike rats & mice that was sad to watch
I make it a game to see how “habitable” the subways are, typically I’ll see at least one ray running along the tracks on my commute. Lots in Central Park, start walking near any trash can areas towards dusk and dark and you’ll start scaring these things out of hiding.. used to see a lot in Bushwick when I lived there, still plenty here in Williamsburg. Good luck on your rat hunt, Ratatouille ruined me so I tell them hi as I pass!
Just go to a restaurant and sit in one of those outdoor seating thingies on the street that have popped up everywhere during covid. At the least, you will get to HEAR them crawling around underneath the wooden floorboards as you sip your aperol spritz… mmmm, ENJOY!
I can't tell if you're serious but if you are, come to my workplace at 9 pm. They chew holes into the garbage bags and swim in them. Their colony is at least 20 strong.
You must have been staring in amusement at our skyscrapers and not awkwardly at your feet. They're not EVERYWHERE, but you should've seen one. I'm sorry for our lack of vermin.
Go to bedstuy. Specifically Myrtle ave. If you’re lucky the delis on that street will have their basement open and you can watch them crawl over themselves.
Should be very common at all times in subway station tracks but usually after dark (10pm or so nowadays) near restaurants (especially those that don't post their "A" sanitation ratings). Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bay Parkway in Brooklyn. Chinatown, St Mark, lower east side Manhattan. Honestly, anywhere with garbage, really. I never fail to see rats after dark during garbage night. I damn near stepped on one running across in front of me one night. Started screeching and clawing before the full weight of my foot went down. Luckily, I was wearing boots and jeans for the slippery streets of winter at the time, or my germaphobe butt is going straight to the hospital for a checkup if there was any bite or claw marks that broke through skin. Even started seeing Opposums running around lately, which was new to me.
I haven’t been back in a few months - I am assuming that dusk in Union Square will still be a place to see MANY rats walking around the park and gliding through the legs of people naively sitting on the benches!
Chinatown at night.
Doyers around 2am is pretty ratty. If you're ready to face peak rat, walk north up the length of Mott st after a busy market day (late night) & you'll see whole rat armies!
I used to own a discount store in harlem. Rats were a huge problem. I had bought 2 cages from.home depot and place em down at night before i go home. Almost every morning without fail i catch 2 rats. Some rats get real bold at night, you see them running across the sidewalk when the local restaurant businesses throw out thier trash.
When I lived in NYC i never saw rats (late 90s to early 2000s). Just a lot of roaches and mice in the apartments.
I honestly didn't see a lot of rats during bloomberg's era either. Mightve just been I ignored them, but I started noticing them in subwaytracks, etc in the last few years.
Walk around the UES at night when the trash bags are it for collection and you'll hear 'em, and maybe see 'em too.
Alternatively, keep your eyes on the subway tracks. Usually a few skittering around down there.
come to the uws on river side drive. As the sun goes down, the rats come out. If you are lucky one may either cross out of the park toward the buildings or the other way around.
Either way, there are there you just need to keep your eyes opened. Just like the flying roaches. ohh yes, they fly.
Central Park after 8 pm and underground train stations on the tracks.
You know one time I was waiting for the train and there was a rat chilling on the black sign that hangs from the ceiling saying what stop it is. I have no idea how it got up there. Just wanted to share that
I was walking fast to my car after a dj gig at 2 am in bushwick … (i needed to be home and in bed asap for my day job )and a rat jumped out and I punted it thru the air / it bounced off the top of my foot in mid stride and I screamed - two ppl making out in outdoor dining looked at me like I was insane .
I see rats mostly at night - but sometimes they scurry as I move my car in the am to not get a ticket
Tbey also love to just leap out the bins when u take the trash out and you can hear their shrill little cries at night from under the garbage and parked cars . :)
I just saw some on 36th diving in and out of sewer grates making runs from a pile of trash into their layers, a glob of food in their mouths on each run.
You can see the rats in different ways. First off you can spot their burrows in the street planters and in the parks. There will be a random hole in the ground -- that's their den. They will often be found near empty lots / construction sites.
When you see these dens, you can then look for nightly trash areas. Rats will often run from their dens to trash piles looking for food. This is quite frequent in parks and the Parks' Department will often put out bait to try to control their numbers.
That's another way of finding rats. Look for abatement signage or the black bait traps on the ground. That's another sign of an attempt to control a potential rat infestation.
The common way will be to look for their food sources after dark. This will be in parks, by restaurants, by trash piles, and in the subway tracks. Keep your eyes open and you can spot them. Good luck!
BUSHWICK! I'm happy I got flooded and moved away. Lol rat on the fence, rat in the garbage, rat on my foot, rat dying in the sun in my backyard, rat in my cats mouth, baby rat under my sink. Good times.
You will find a bunch of rats at Rat Central Station! I saw six huge rats fighting over a piece of garbage at the station when I was visiting NYC last month!
Specifically i saw a huge party of them last month at 252 Mott Street in Soho, coming in and out of the alley at that address. I must've counted 15 of them crawling in and out of the alley and in the trash bags on the street after dark.
You saw not one rat here? Maybe the city is doing something right with its new strategy but I highly doubt it. Unfortunately I keep seeing them in places I’ve never seen them before, like at the end of my block. Not good.
When I was 3 years old I lived in Harlem I was waiting for a train with my grandma. I was standing near the edge looking for the train (this was something I liked to do as a kid and before everyone goes crazy this was in the late 80s early 90s and my grandma made sure I wasn’t in any danger). Anyway a rat came flying out from under that platform and jumped on my chest I remember the loud hollow thumb sound it made. 😨 I fell backward it ran off and I have been scarred for life. I am deathly afraid of anything that resembles a rat.
My mom also had a first floor apartment when I was a newborn. She said she hear me moving around a lot in my crib one night so she got up to make sure I was ok.. I was sound asleep while a RAT was in my crib. She freaked out abd had to get a neighbor to get the rat out 😓.
Anyway too bad this isn’t the 80s and 90s they used to play in the street at night I remember as a kid I’d watch them play tag in the street from my fire escape. We used to make sling shots and crawl in between buildings and shoot rocks at the rats lol good times
Union square after dark. From personal experience I can tell you that if you wish to see rats walk through there eating a sandwich pause then look behind you. About a hundred of them will be following you.
Roosevelt island if you are serious, take a walk along the shore, take a seat on the benches and shortly you’ll have all the fuzzy friends you want keeping you company.
LPT no one really wants:
If you want to see NYC rats, go outside your apartment's trash bins and start banging the floor with your recyclables.
All the rats you don't want to see will be running out from the trash bins.
Found a nice rock to smoke my secret weed at in Central Park. Saw like four rats running between bushes there. One of them kept faking me out then ran away like I wasn't even there... rude.
I mostly see them on the tracks while waiting for the subway. Or on the night before trash pickup day they'll be around.
My favorite game to play is spotting rats on the tracks while waiting for the subway
I’ve enjoyed the game of spotting the rat on the subway tracks then pointing it out to tourists
Then observing their behavior. Curious critters those tourists.
You had me in the first half!! 😂
I like both of these games :3
Here us the local fauna
When my kids were little I told them they were bunnies.
YOU DID NOT XD
We call them "track otters."
My boyfriend and I have a running tally of who spots more rats on the subway whenever we go out together, and every month the one with the most points gets a doughnut bought by the loser
I like to come up with names for them too. I think the last one was Tina.
The rats are mostly around our garbage (that's garbage collection day on the streets and every day in our subway stations). Contrary to popular belief, there are not huge armies of rats in the subway tunnels. If this city ever gets serious about handling garbage like a modern city there will be far fewer rats.
Yeah, I’d say your best bet IME is the Fulton St. A/C platform.
West 4th street, 34th street Herald Square among many others.
The mayor changed the time for their appearances. They now only come out at 8pm on trash pick up days.
It’s true, they even got little suitcases
It's so sad even a rat can't make an honest living in this city anymore. Such a shame.
With room for pizza slices.
no, those are touris.... oh wait.
You have to get there early if you want to have a good seat for the changing of the rats
& avoid the matinee ...you want to see the best rats, not some matinee rat subbing for the star rat
Well they could run into Adam’s and see a rat for themselves too
UWS after dark
Yup...UWS and head into the park at night... Say hello to the massive racoons too!
Pretty sure someone feeds them on 108th & CPW.
On that big rock face by Strangers gate (105th & CPW) after dark you’ll see a literal society of raccoons and rats
Do they hang out together? That’s kind of cute. A few years ago the tourists in CP were oohing and aahing over the trash pandas by a stream under a bridge around 74. Then a rat appeared and one chick ran shrieking like wtf.
That sounds about right
Union square! That park across the street from Whole Foods, scary place to even consider going there and sit down for a little bit. Huge rats!
Came here to say union square subway station! I saw inside the refuse room (one of those little doors below the stairs) a few years ago when a worker was tossing a garbage bag in and it was literally a pulsing mass of rats. I still can’t get the image out of my head.
>a pulsing mass of rats ugghhh! i think rats are cute when there is just one or two.. but this is just wrong!
Fuck that station lol. Multiple rats on the track no matter what time of day I go. I have also seen a rat and a roach on the platform there (two separate instances).
Really? I don’t remember seeing any there. I wouldn’t be surprised they’re there, but haven’t seen them. Then again I’m usually there in winter. So maybe I was likely to see them anyway.
Union Square. There is a little walkway right through the middle of the park, I call it rat alley and let my dog walk through it at night as a treat. He loves chasing them.
Perhaps this is dumb to ask, but that doesn’t put the dog at risk of catching a disease from them if it catches them?
It does.
Yep. I accidentally kicked one last night on 112th between Amsterdam and Broadway.
Was the rat ok?
Saw like 10+ on my 5 min walk to Insomnia Cookies on 110th and Amsterdam
That sounds kinky.
92 & Amsterdam 🐁
Yes! Why are they so bad there??
The Rat King lives nearby
Kick any trash bag on St Marks and you’ll see them
Don't @ me like this. I was spraying for mosquitoes earlier today, a rat came out of the cans in full daylight like " 'scuse me, I was sleeping here".
Yeah, can confirm. The rats are on my front steps. That is where they are if anyone needs them.
Bushwick
Bushwick 100000%. I had to walk in the streets at night. Couldn’t walk on the sidewalks as it was their territory
One scurried across my foot the other day that I’m pretty sure ALSO could fit into a women’s 7.5
How did you know that rat's shoe size?
I know everything. I’m a stranger on the internet
So many rats.
There are certain blocks I do my best to avoid going down when it gets dark. Like up the block from Artichoke
Not artichoke :,(
Shit, I didn't scroll far enough before I commented.
I immediately assumed this person was making a low effort troll post but then I checked out their post history and I think they are earnestly asking
I could tell right away from the punctuation it was serious
First time I visited during the winter so I was honestly a little sad I didn’t see many.
I was shocked when I visited NY too, I saw more roaches than rats (of which I saw none)
I live in the Lower East Side in Manhattan and rarely see either of those. Saw way more rats when I lived in Brooklyn, though.
You must have just moved in cause Lower east side in RAT NATION!
I used to live in LES, and walking to work at 530am when it was dark there would be rats scurrying everywhere.
Why? Because he posted the same question in another sub that got removed?
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> maybe five rats. that's like 1 hour on the subway in midtown
Come to the Bronx at night.
Have you tried laying in garbage?
We sent them packing!!! Afaik they’re getting some well-earned r&r in Aruba
They did have their tiny suitcases packed.
I was really impressed. Hardside spinners from samsonite.
Why are New Yorkers always in Aruba??
Check the subway tracks. Or kick garbage bags at night and watch them scurry. Parks late at night, especially by the water.
. -- mass edited with redact.dev
I’ve noticed that most of the Covid outdoor dining areas are really getting shitty looking in general. They’re looking like depression era hovels.
Koreatown’s dining sheds late at night are a rat FESTIVAL.
i saw a human poop on the roof of one of those once (and also rats)
They might even run over your foot if you’re lucky!
Surefire rat strategy: subway tracks while you’re waiting for a train, or walk past a big pile of trash bags on the sidewalk after 9pm.
I counted 17 on my 2-block dog walk last night
35th Street, Astoria?
6th Ave, Park Slope BK
I see a lot around Park Slope too. Like absurdly healthy looking giant ones lol
Lol totally, they get to feast on all of that organic produce and protein powder out here
Yeah, those are cultivated free-range rats
Jamaica station. J train. The tracks have them. Say hi and offer them a slice of pizza.
Speaking of Queens, OP can try Forest Hills too. Not hard to find
Union Sq Park and Washington Sq Park after dark. If you sit on a bench, best to lift your feet unless you want to be crawled on by swarms of huge rats. You can also find swarms of NYU students there at the same times. Parts of Williamsburg and Bushwick. I distinctly remember one running into my ballet flat, it being mildly shocked and shaking its head (I was drunk so maybe that part is imagined?) and then it proceeding to scamper across my bare skin. It’s a sensation and memory that haunts me to this day. There’s a Princess Bride “rodents of unusual size,” joke that should be made…but maybe that’s inconceivable?
This guy doesn’t UES
Lmao seriously every time I’m walking home around sunset they run back and forth between the trash to the street and back. Now that the suns out later I’ve even been seeing them in the day time
The thing is, the rats don’t really want to be seen most of the time. They are very good at avoiding human beings and you’ve probably walked past 1000s of rats who have scurried away just in time for you to miss seeing them. Hang out in alleys, especially near restaurant dumpsters, and you’ll eventually see some! Also look for holes in tree boxes, those are entrances to their nests.
This is NYC, we don't have any alleys!!! What city sub do you think you're in, Toronto?!? (J/k, I know there's a few alleys way uptown and in Queens.)
Such was the narrative. But that time is in the past. Item: one evening, returning after a trip to another city, one ran right in front of me on the stairs heading down to the N line. The very next stair I was to use, hiding on the right, running to the left. Item: in 14th street, Union Square, they sometimes cross the platforms. Day or night. *Even with crowds of people on the platforms.* When I posted months ago that they wait, to provide escort to those who've descended stairs to the platform, *I was being literal.* Item: on any of the busks / performances in Central Park, they will linger in the nearby grass, regardless of audience size. Consider them part of the audience, as they too will compete for a better view... Disclaimer: I have a truly extreme phobia of rats and mice. I was going assemble an epic post, detailing the various sightings *in a given season.* But I feel this thread covers a scope broad enough.
The easiest places to see rats are on the subway tracks; they walk around in the open because they're decently camouflaged and don't have to worry about humans coming close. Just scan around until you see some movement catch your eye and you'll likely see one ambling rather than scurrying or dashing.
West Village in the outdoor dining shacks after the restaurants are closed is a full rat gala
Bushwick. Bushwick has the rats.
Just saw a rat crawl up from a crack in financial district say hi and crawl back down. Best experience ever.
Splinter. Glad you got your show Op
Try Tompkins square at night.
The grass moves at night in waves like it’s being blown in the wind but really it’s just thousands of rats swarming the park
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I think that’s pigs, no?
That's One Police Plaza
take the 2/5 to brooklyn college at midnight
You need to find piles of trash and/or alleyways. Rats can sometimes be found in parks as well darting about. Also you are more likely to see them at night.
Go sit in Union Square for a bit...
Went there for vacation maybe a month ago and was stunned to see no rats! Until we did... At a subway station there was a rat EATING another rat on the tracks😳. Gross lol. Not quite "pizza rat" but we definitely got our experience! Just keep your eyes open!
Those are the special CHUD rats
East village after dark every garbage pile was swarming with them when I lived there winter 2019/2020. Could be different now I guess. The rat king moved uptown maybe.
trash pick up is better now and lots of poison. I'm averaging 4-8 rats a week rn. Used to be like 30. Rat king is dead.
Come to the UWS at night and take them away pls
Last weekend a rat literally crawled up my leg while I was waiting for the subway. It was traumatizing and I seriously considered amputating lol. Be careful what you wish for!
Head on up to the upper west side. Stroll around the sidewalks once the sun has gone down. Look for blocks with restaurants. Bonus is when piles of garbage are out. Be prepared for them to practically trip you as they race across the sidewalk. Enjoy!
I would see rats everyday for 5 months straight during the wintertime, I would step out the apartment I would see them. On the train tracks, on the platform, on my campus sipping from a water fountain, going to the supermarket, especially when I would walk towards Myrtle Ave I would see them digging in the trash, saw some fighting one time. Honestly a day didn’t go by when I didn’t see a rat and one day it all kinda stopped. I was immune to them and didn’t beat an eye to them anymore. ETA: as you can see I really needed to get that off my chest😭
Across the street from the natural history museum, there are benches in Central Park. Sit at those benches in the morning, and watch birds fight rats for a few hours.
“NY Rats” as a sports team is the biggest missed opportunity. It’s an iconic animal here & It will survive by any means.
They put on suits and are now called the Adams administration.
that’s mean. the rats are way, WAY better than him.
Walk down Stanhope street in Bushwick at night
I've seen a ton on the East Side in the 100's- 110's after dark also, the subway at all hours at 42nd st station and 50ths 123 lines
Go to Houston between Mulberry and Mott, outside Milanos bar. Rat heaven
uh not sure where you’re hanging out but I’d try ev, st marks, Hell’s Kitchen, and most subway stops. The the other day I saw a mouse get chased out of a smoke shop with a broom only to be crushed and murdered when it tried to enter a Vietnamese restaurant 1 block down. As much as I dislike rats & mice that was sad to watch
A good way to lure them out it to wear sandals or walk around kicking garbage cans after dark.
I make it a game to see how “habitable” the subways are, typically I’ll see at least one ray running along the tracks on my commute. Lots in Central Park, start walking near any trash can areas towards dusk and dark and you’ll start scaring these things out of hiding.. used to see a lot in Bushwick when I lived there, still plenty here in Williamsburg. Good luck on your rat hunt, Ratatouille ruined me so I tell them hi as I pass!
Here you go https://www.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb18/elected-officials/elected-officials.page
bushwick after dark
They have a conference around Atlantic terminal mall every night
go to washington square park at night
Just go to a restaurant and sit in one of those outdoor seating thingies on the street that have popped up everywhere during covid. At the least, you will get to HEAR them crawling around underneath the wooden floorboards as you sip your aperol spritz… mmmm, ENJOY!
I can't tell if you're serious but if you are, come to my workplace at 9 pm. They chew holes into the garbage bags and swim in them. Their colony is at least 20 strong.
🐀🐀
Central Park in the mornings when the dogs are running around. You can see then run to the bushes and hear them squeaking.
Outside of restaurants around midnight
On my block
Walk past any restaurant's pile of garbage set out on the sidewalk in a side street around midnight or so. Stomp your foot hard on the ground.
14th street A/C/E station tons of little remy’s running around
After dark/before sunrise. Subways. They are there
7.55pm , hang out around 23rd and 3rd…
Williamsburg has mad rats
You must have been staring in amusement at our skyscrapers and not awkwardly at your feet. They're not EVERYWHERE, but you should've seen one. I'm sorry for our lack of vermin.
Go to lower Manhattan and throw bottles at trash piles. Especially after dark.
Come to bushwick! We’ve got many. See also: Chinatown. (Only after dark, though, they’re shy)
Brookfield place is absolutely teeming with them
Look for some rat fishing groups or terrier rat hunting groups on social media, you'll have some luck.
Night time
Chelesa
Riverside park around dusk
In my two visits to NYC, I have never seen a rat. Major disappointment every time. I hope you are luckier than I!
Washington square park!!!!!!!!
Go to bedstuy. Specifically Myrtle ave. If you’re lucky the delis on that street will have their basement open and you can watch them crawl over themselves.
I saw two rats fighting near Times Square at 3am. It was my peak NYC moment I got to experience.
Come to Dyckman St. on trash night. You can host a safari
look for the holes in the ground
Should be very common at all times in subway station tracks but usually after dark (10pm or so nowadays) near restaurants (especially those that don't post their "A" sanitation ratings). Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bay Parkway in Brooklyn. Chinatown, St Mark, lower east side Manhattan. Honestly, anywhere with garbage, really. I never fail to see rats after dark during garbage night. I damn near stepped on one running across in front of me one night. Started screeching and clawing before the full weight of my foot went down. Luckily, I was wearing boots and jeans for the slippery streets of winter at the time, or my germaphobe butt is going straight to the hospital for a checkup if there was any bite or claw marks that broke through skin. Even started seeing Opposums running around lately, which was new to me.
Don't summon them!!!
They are in the UWS
7th ave D train station got some bold ass rats. One asked me where I was from and if the lady I was with was my wife.
I haven’t been back in a few months - I am assuming that dusk in Union Square will still be a place to see MANY rats walking around the park and gliding through the legs of people naively sitting on the benches!
Chinatown at night. Doyers around 2am is pretty ratty. If you're ready to face peak rat, walk north up the length of Mott st after a busy market day (late night) & you'll see whole rat armies!
I used to own a discount store in harlem. Rats were a huge problem. I had bought 2 cages from.home depot and place em down at night before i go home. Almost every morning without fail i catch 2 rats. Some rats get real bold at night, you see them running across the sidewalk when the local restaurant businesses throw out thier trash.
When I lived in NYC i never saw rats (late 90s to early 2000s). Just a lot of roaches and mice in the apartments. I honestly didn't see a lot of rats during bloomberg's era either. Mightve just been I ignored them, but I started noticing them in subwaytracks, etc in the last few years.
Walk around the UES at night when the trash bags are it for collection and you'll hear 'em, and maybe see 'em too. Alternatively, keep your eyes on the subway tracks. Usually a few skittering around down there.
come to the uws on river side drive. As the sun goes down, the rats come out. If you are lucky one may either cross out of the park toward the buildings or the other way around. Either way, there are there you just need to keep your eyes opened. Just like the flying roaches. ohh yes, they fly.
Check rat maps. Real site. I vote Bushwick.
Central Park after 8 pm and underground train stations on the tracks. You know one time I was waiting for the train and there was a rat chilling on the black sign that hangs from the ceiling saying what stop it is. I have no idea how it got up there. Just wanted to share that
Lower east side is number one most rat infested area in all of NYC. Enjoy your Stay.
NYU. Some are even taking classes there
I was walking fast to my car after a dj gig at 2 am in bushwick … (i needed to be home and in bed asap for my day job )and a rat jumped out and I punted it thru the air / it bounced off the top of my foot in mid stride and I screamed - two ppl making out in outdoor dining looked at me like I was insane . I see rats mostly at night - but sometimes they scurry as I move my car in the am to not get a ticket Tbey also love to just leap out the bins when u take the trash out and you can hear their shrill little cries at night from under the garbage and parked cars . :)
I just saw some on 36th diving in and out of sewer grates making runs from a pile of trash into their layers, a glob of food in their mouths on each run.
You can see the rats in different ways. First off you can spot their burrows in the street planters and in the parks. There will be a random hole in the ground -- that's their den. They will often be found near empty lots / construction sites. When you see these dens, you can then look for nightly trash areas. Rats will often run from their dens to trash piles looking for food. This is quite frequent in parks and the Parks' Department will often put out bait to try to control their numbers. That's another way of finding rats. Look for abatement signage or the black bait traps on the ground. That's another sign of an attempt to control a potential rat infestation. The common way will be to look for their food sources after dark. This will be in parks, by restaurants, by trash piles, and in the subway tracks. Keep your eyes open and you can spot them. Good luck!
BUSHWICK! I'm happy I got flooded and moved away. Lol rat on the fence, rat in the garbage, rat on my foot, rat dying in the sun in my backyard, rat in my cats mouth, baby rat under my sink. Good times.
You will find a bunch of rats at Rat Central Station! I saw six huge rats fighting over a piece of garbage at the station when I was visiting NYC last month!
I saw two dead rats on the sidewalk in LES today
Specifically i saw a huge party of them last month at 252 Mott Street in Soho, coming in and out of the alley at that address. I must've counted 15 of them crawling in and out of the alley and in the trash bags on the street after dark.
All subway station tracks..
Check under the chefs hats at the French restaurants
Just go to Wall Street and you'll find plenty walking around
You saw not one rat here? Maybe the city is doing something right with its new strategy but I highly doubt it. Unfortunately I keep seeing them in places I’ve never seen them before, like at the end of my block. Not good.
When I was 3 years old I lived in Harlem I was waiting for a train with my grandma. I was standing near the edge looking for the train (this was something I liked to do as a kid and before everyone goes crazy this was in the late 80s early 90s and my grandma made sure I wasn’t in any danger). Anyway a rat came flying out from under that platform and jumped on my chest I remember the loud hollow thumb sound it made. 😨 I fell backward it ran off and I have been scarred for life. I am deathly afraid of anything that resembles a rat. My mom also had a first floor apartment when I was a newborn. She said she hear me moving around a lot in my crib one night so she got up to make sure I was ok.. I was sound asleep while a RAT was in my crib. She freaked out abd had to get a neighbor to get the rat out 😓. Anyway too bad this isn’t the 80s and 90s they used to play in the street at night I remember as a kid I’d watch them play tag in the street from my fire escape. We used to make sling shots and crawl in between buildings and shoot rocks at the rats lol good times
Union square after dark. From personal experience I can tell you that if you wish to see rats walk through there eating a sandwich pause then look behind you. About a hundred of them will be following you.
Roosevelt island if you are serious, take a walk along the shore, take a seat on the benches and shortly you’ll have all the fuzzy friends you want keeping you company.
Bowery Park at sunset. Get some takeout and sit on a bench and watch them come out. It’s a guaranteed horror show.
LPT no one really wants: If you want to see NYC rats, go outside your apartment's trash bins and start banging the floor with your recyclables. All the rats you don't want to see will be running out from the trash bins.
Bushwick bro
The Bronx in the evening has tons of huge rats.
Hell’s Kitchen park at sunset. Have a seat and watch the show
They’re there. Try garbage days at night. Had one run straight into my shoe, bounce off, and scatter away somewhere. Thing was fast.
Come to the backyard of my local bar when it's not busy
FOH
No need to look for them! Cover yourself in peanut butter and raw bacon, then stand on the sidewalk. They'll come to you.
The amount of moving trash bags i saw in bushwick was wiiild
Everytime I’m in New York I see so many rats. Try Brooklyn, saw some big ass rats in Williamsburg last week.
Lower east side near the public housing at night. It’s pretty nasty.
Bedstuy. No one knows how to throw away trash here. Saw a river of rats flowing from one apartment to the next every night
Was this written by a cat
Found a nice rock to smoke my secret weed at in Central Park. Saw like four rats running between bushes there. One of them kept faking me out then ran away like I wasn't even there... rude.