‘Rat Academy’ will teach Upper West Siders how to keep the neighborhood rodent-free
With a new school year underway, Upper West Siders now have another chance to sign up for one of the city’s many rigorous academic opportunities. Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and Community Board 7 will be hosting a “Rat Academy” on September 28 to instruct and inspire building owners, supers, management companies and businesses on how to keep the neighborhood rodent-free, according to Time Out. The Department of Health will be on hand to outline safe and effective methods of curbing the subject of a recent West Side Rag rant that lamented “being overrun by rats in and around the entrance on 83rd Street and Riverside Drive.”
According to resident Janet Reed, “The rats continually dart in and out from the bottom of the trash cans. This goes on 24 hours a day. The rats are growing bolder (or more desperate) and the presence of human[s] (and daylight) does nothing to discourage them.” In keeping with the brainy neighborhood’s high GPA, Rosenthal is attempting to throw the book at the scurrying hordes with the rat wrangling class. Brawn is part of the strategy too: She’s trying to bring “Big Belly” garbage receptacles to the neighborhood to help nix the pests (Use this interactive map to see if your neighborhood needs some rat lessons).
The free educational session will be held at Redeemer Presbyterian Church at 150 West 83rd Street; RSVPs are encouraged; you can find more information here. For extra motivation, attendees get entered into a raffle for an (allegedly) rodent-resistant garbage can; no word on whether pizza will be served.
[Via Time Out]
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