NY1 Exclusive: Queensbridge Locals Want Rats To Scurry Away
March 15, 2007
Rats have been in the news recently, and now some Queens residents are hoping all that attention to infestations in restaurants will push the city to do something about a problem plaguing their front yard. NY1’s Ruschel Boone filed the following report.
They're fast and they're hungry. It's not hard to see why some Queensbridge residents say they have a rat problem.
“They're huge and they come out acting like this [is] their crib,” said one local resident.
It did not take long for NY1 cameras to catch several rats running around in front of 40-14 Vernon Boulevard. Next to the building, a big rat was found dead.
“Big [rats], very big, large, big like a cat,” said Charrise Gadson, another local resident. “And I think something should be done about it.”
Some of the residents say they have tried for months to get the city to do something about the problem but so far no luck.
“I reached the housing office and I spoke with the district office for the Queens management,” said Queensbridge resident Renee Fuller. “All those people and I even sent an email to Tino Hernandez the president of the Housing Association. They keep telling us that they are sending inspectors but they come in the evening and you can’t see anything then.”
When NY1 called the New York City Housing Authority the station was told the agency is aware of the rats. NYCHA issued a statement saying, "We are aggressively treating the problem. We have had exterminators out there and they will continue to go out there to combat any problems."
These residents promise to keep pestering the city, since these rodents do not seem to be in a hurry to scurry away.