Smells like progress?
Turns out, the rats do kind of run this city still.
Pest control company Orkin released its annual ranking of the "rattiest" cities in the U.S. this week, and New York City held steady as third highest on the list that no city wants to be on — despite all of Mayor Eric Adams' efforts to address the rat problem.
The city had the exact same ranking in 2023, so at least the situation has not gotten worse. And it's not as bad as the rat issue in Chicago, apparently, which made it 10 years in a row of landing the unenviable top spot. Orkin has ranked Chicago first on its list every year since 2015.
Also beating out the five boroughs was Los Angeles, but let's hope that's the only thing NYC falls to the City of Angels in this month. Los Angeles was ranked #2 for the second year in a row, according to Orkin.
Though rats are not just an NYC problem — they're a NY problem. From the 50 cities ranked by Orkin, New York was the most-represented state, with five cities making the list: NYC, Albany (31), Buffalo (41), Rochester (43) and Syracuse (48).
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Albany's rodent problem appears to have worsened in the past year, up from 42nd just last year. Rochester was a new addition to the list, after not having been ranked last year. Buffalo improved at least a little, after it was ranked 38th last year. Syracuse had the same ranking in 2023.
Orkin ranked metro regions by the number of new rodent treatments performed from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024. This ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.
“Rodents can cause a lot of structural problems for property owners,” says John Kane, Orkin National Accounts Entomologist & Quality Manager. “They can get in around piping and even chew through walls. These tiny culprits tend to chew through wiring, which poses an increased risk of fires.”
The city's mayor has made rat mitigation a key priority of his administration. Mayor Adams has announced a number of trash initiatives he says will keep the rodents at bay.
New York lawmakers are proposing rules to humanely drive down the population of rats and other rodents. They are eyeing rat birth control and a ban on glue traps as alternatives to poison or a slow, brutal death. A new rule recently went into effect requiring all businesses to use lidded trash bins or face fines. And the city's Parks Department expanded their pizza-specific trash cans to six more locations in September.
1. CHICAGO | 26. CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA |
