Not-So-Welcome New Neighbors: Rats Invade Brooklyn Heights

By on February 7, 2013 12:44 pm in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Miscellany, Nature, News

We all know that our neighborhood is enticing for both residents and visitors, but some recent newcomers have not been received with customary Brooklyn Heights warmth.

Not a few regular BHB comments have observed over the last few months that rats in the neighborhood seemed to be on the increase, and in today’s New York Times, Cara Buckley confirms what you’ve suspected.

NYT: Shortly after the storm, exterminators were inundated with calls from Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights and Lower Manhattan. And once the rats were resettled, they grew accustomed to their surroundings, feasting on the garbage created by the hurricane as well as by the normal churn of the winter holidays.

The article tells a harrowing tale of a Brooklyn Heights resident hearing rats in her walls and notes a huge uptick in demand for exterminator services.

Anyone else have stories of rodent invasion or infestation? Or are most of your rat encounters taking place in public?

Image: Back in September 2012 a Cranberry Street resident posted signs around the area about a mini-infestation.

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  • DIBS

    Oh Blanche…

  • Abbey

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    I won’t even go to the promenade in the evening anymore….so many rats.

    Any chance of getting these solar cans?. Apparently they are a bit more rat-proof and hold more trash. Other neighborhoods around the city appear to be getting them.

    http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/thinking-tech/new-york-citys-trash-problem-to-get-solar-powered-fix/6426

  • Wiley E.

    Start with Markowitz’s office.

  • Gerry

    We see no more than the usual rats here at night they run toward the Patty Duke house the end of Remsen Street near the Promenade.

  • MonroeOrange

    the rats obviously like their own kind…Gerald the Rat King!

  • GHB

    The rats were a problem in The Heights before the storm

  • David on Middagh

    “Not a few regular BHB comments have observed…”

    Substitute “bloggers” for “comments”?
    —

    There is no neighborhood zoo, and wildlife in the city can be scarce. Promenade rats (or “loam pigeons” as I call them) are a delight to encounter.

  • MonroeOrange

    Agreed…cadman plaza park was overrun with rats for decades…not as bad as it used to be now. The only rat i mind is the one who lives on Montague Terrace…all the other ones can roam freely!

  • DIBS

    I never had this rat problem where I lived in Bed Stuy. The veneer of hi brow living and cleanliness here is very thin. :)

  • TeddyNYC

    The rats definitely own the Promenade and other areas of the Heights, especially at night.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    I prefer to call them “night squirrels”.

  • R. Tist

    I worry that the poisons we use to kill the rats also kill squirrels and raptors. I saw a dead rat on Hicks street with blood coming out of its mouth. Can’t we find some better way to control them? The garbage is out of control.How insane that we just put plastic bags on the street and the corner cans are always overflowing.

  • ltap917

    I make sure that if we do go to the Promenade at night that I am wearing socks. I am fearful of getting bitten. Once I counted 7 rats in a short period of time and I have never been comfortable on the Promenade at night since.

  • ltap917

    I have to agree. I fell in a pothole at the entrance to the Promenade at the corner of Montague St. That was two years ago and that pothole is still there. So much for this being such a great place to live. Rats, potholes, etc.

  • Lori

    I see so much actual FOOD people place in the Promenade Gardens – rice, bread, leftover food etc. With meals laid out for them, who can blame the rats? People need to be reminded it is NOT a good idea to leave food for the pidgeons, squirrels or rats. Thank you.

  • Boerum Bill

    Some idiots like to lay out bread and seed for pigeons and well…rats happen.

  • N8re

    I walked through Cadman Plaza from Boro Hall up to the post office…and I counted over 15 rats. On the return trip? An additional 10. It was like a rat playground.