New York Mayor Eric Adams was fined $300 after fresh rodent droppings were discovered in his townhouse, but the elite Democratic mayor says he shouldn’t have to pay.
Multiple media outlets report that Adams was issued a summons by the City of New York on May 10 after he failed a health inspection, with the health inspector spotting “fresh rat droppings” in a townhouse Adams owns.
Adams ignored the summons and accompanying $300 fine, and is instead fighting the health inspector’s actions in administrative court.
He claims that he shouldn’t have to pay because he’s been a champion in New York’s never ending war against rats, and even employed the traps he promoted publicly at a press event in 2019.
All told, Adams claims he’s spent almost $7,000 battling rats at the property, according to The New York Times.
Because of this, according to Adams, he should not be required to pay fines he claims are meant for negligent landlords who do not take actions to keep rodents away from their homes.
The timing is suspect. After all, only last month Adams publicly declared war on the rats that threaten to overwhelm New York.
Apparently, Boston.com reports, part of the reason Adams ignored the summons was due to his change in address after moving to Gracie Mansion.
Credible reports estimate that around 2 million rats live in New York City, with most living in colonies of around 40-50 individuals.
Interestingly, a 2014 study covered by A-Z-Animals.com reported that 50% of rat sightings are reported in only 20% of New York neighborhoods. Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Brooklyn’s Bushwick were two areas with higher-than-average numbers of rat sightings.
The rat population may have increased more than anticipated since that study, however, due to varied reasons.
Last year, it was reported by Timeout.com that rat sightings had increased by 71% since 2020.
Rather than simply attribute the change in behavior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may seem to be a likely suspect for the increased rat sightings, officials specifically isolated the most likely cause for the increased rat sightings to be the COVID-19 friendly outdoor dining sheds that became common during the middle stages of the pandemic.
