New York City now has a Rat Officer, and her only job is to get the rodents out

In the concrete jungle that is New York City, there are few creatures more cunning and enduring than rattus norvegicus, also known as the common brown rat. But Mayor Eric Adams may have found a worthy adversary for the city's peskiest pests in the city's first-ever director of rodent mitigation.

In a city where even the rats have an attitude, New York City’s new Director of Rodent Mitigation, Kathleen Corradi, is ready to take on the task of controlling the vermin population. The city’s Mayor, Eric Adams, introduced the former elementary school teacher and anti-rat activist as the new “rat czar”, hoping she will be able to finally win the war against the city’s peskiest foe.

Last year, Adams, a professed rat-hater, sought to hire an individual with a penchant for bloodthirstiness and an aura of badassery to tackle the city's rodent problem. The annual salary for the job ranged between $120,000 and $170,000. Corradi, a former educator who has prior experience in mitigating rats in public schools, was appointed to the position.

Mayor Eric Adams has prioritized rat eradication as a crucial policy objective for New York City. His predecessor, Bill de Blasio, had invested millions of dollars in targeted neighborhood initiatives such as frequent trash pickup, rigorous housing inspections, and the replacement of dirt basement floors with concrete.

The actual number of rats inhabiting the city remains unclear, despite an oft-repeated urban legend that they outnumber the human population of over 8 million. According to a 2014 study by which relied on rat sightings reported to the NYC hotline, there are approximately 2 million rats in the city.

Corradi will collaborate with city agencies, community groups, and private-sector firms to discover the most effective techniques for mitigating rats. The city also intends to create a "Harlem Rat Exclusion Zone," covering the northern half of Manhattan, in which $3.5 million will be spent on improving and increasing inspections, employing equipment such as bait and traps, and reinforcing floors in some public housing units to prevent rat burrowing.

As the city endeavors to reduce the duration of time garbage remains on curbsides waiting for pickup and encourages the use of trash containers, enforcement of cleanliness violations has risen by 80% this year. Officials from the mayor's office have traveled to Greece, Israel, and Argentina to study their approaches to managing waste.

As the first Director of Rodent Mitigation in New York City, Corradi has a lot to prove. She will have to work hard to ensure that the city’s rat population is finally under control. Nevertheless, with her passion for the job, it is safe to say that New Yorkers can expect to see a lot, and in Kathleen Corradi, they may have found a champion.