The rats won

New York mayor Eric Adams carried out a multi -year campaign against the city’s rats, the supernuing “the number one public enemy” and even naming a “rat tsar” to solve the problem in 2023. But with the quiet departure of the rat Tsar at the end of last week, it could be time to declare a winner. Rats have apparently won this turn.

Kathleen Corradi was appointed TSAR de Rat, technically director of the attenuation of rats at the city level, by the mayor Adams in April 2023. Corradi promised to attack the problem of rats, by coordinating in various government agencies of the city, community organizations and private companies in the city.

“You will see a lot of me and much less rats,” said Corradi at a press conference when she was appointed to this role. Corradi noted how Adams had led the effort, saying at the time: “He hates rats, I hate rats, each New Yorker hates rats.”

One of the major initiatives launched under Corradi to combat the Rat problem was garbage, a new concept in New York, where it has been common for a long time to simply launch plastic bags full of waste on the sidewalks for pickup. The city has also prohibited people from putting their garbage before 8 p.m.

But rats are notoriously difficult to eliminate. City officials tried birth control. They tried to gas them. They tried to smoke them out of the trees’ beds. They even tried a national summit of urban rats. All the gains were increasing, unfortunately.

Corrandi was on local public radio earlier this month, where she said: “We see a drop in rats observations” in complaint data, but admitted that it was “too early to declare full success”. She said that inspections from the Ministry of Health also helped spread throughout the city to tackle the problem in this way.

“What they are looking for are conditions that support rats, litter, non -in accordance, port conditions or active rat signs,” Corrandi said when September 10 at the Brian Lehrer Show.

“Thanks to these, we are really able to understand where in the city, we have this higher rat burden, where we can concentrate efforts and where we can work with the owners to solve these problems. I encourage everyone here to consult NYC.GOV/rats and to look at the portal of rats of the Ministry of Health,” said Corrandi.

But Corradi sent an email to the staff on Friday inviting them to farewell drinks, according to the city. And she will go to a new role in the New York City Housing Authority, as the main vice-president of resident services, partnerships and initiatives, according to the media.

The mayor’s office confirmed to Gizmodo that Corradi had left, with assistant press secretary Zachary Nosanchuk saying that they are sad to see her leave but that the work will continue. Nosanchuk sent a declaration awarded to the mayor Adams who described the role of the Rat Tsar as an “intimidating and complex task” but a task that Corradi has manipulated “with confidence and creativity”.

“The results are clear: rats observations have dropped eight consecutive months, and the year up to date, they have dropped by more than 15%,” said Adams. “Our communities are cleaner than ever, and cities around the world are interested in its unique role of its kind and the success of our city.”

“Capiste in Kathy for this incredible work, and we wish her the best in this future company – fortunately, she will not go too far and will always work to serve the city differently. This effort will continue with full steam, with our fantastic city agencies working to continue our war against rats ” with passion and vision. “

We do not know precisely why Corradi changes role, but the city notes that others recently left the Adams administration, which was involved in the scandal when the mayor was accused of corruption and campaign financing violations in September 2024. Adams allegedly withdrawn from the losses of the government of Turkey. And when the FBI seized its aircraft, the mayor said that he had forgotten the access code to his own phone.

The Ministry of Justice of President Donald Trump rejected the accusations against Adams last April in the midst of the accusations that the mayor concluded a back-shop with the White House. Observations can be down, but the NYC rat problem undoubtedly persists.