The new ‘rat czarina’ of New York, Kathleen Corradi, in charge of putting an end to the rodents that impose their law in the Big Apple, assures that “rats have been part of the urban fabric of New York for more than 200 years “So the fight against these uncomfortable neighbors is hard.

And it is that the rats walk through the streets of New York as if they were visiting a theme park. They are visible everywhere and at all times: on the subway tracks, sometimes riding in a carriage, next to shop windows, among the mountains of garbage bags or speeding across a busy sidewalk.

Corradi, elected a few days ago to occupy the newly created position of “director of rodent mitigation” in New York, insists that for her campaign to succeed, the involvement of public institutions and agencies is not enough.

“It’s going to take New Yorkers to seriously change their behavior and to be equipped and educated in this fight, in addition to the resources that the city is putting into place, to achieve large-scale and sustainable changes in the long term,” he said.

Corradi explained, for example, that it will be necessary for citizens to become aware of pouring their organic waste into the new brown containers for composting, which have begun to be distributed in some neighborhoods of the city.

The appointment of a manager to curb the proliferation of snouted mammals in New York has been accompanied by intrigue and some media attention since the Mayor’s Office called the square last December in an ad seeking a “czar” with ” killer instinct” and with “thirst for blood” to “fight the real” enemy of New York.

Although Corradi claims not to identify with that profile, she does feel comfortable with the title of czarina, with which the mayor informally baptized the position: “I think it is a very elegant way of drawing attention to a serious problem that affects the quality of life for New Yorkers. And I think anything that brings attention to this public health issue is important and great for making sure the message gets out.”

“8.5 million people live in our city. Everyone has had an experience with rats and it’s generally been negative, so if Zarina is someone who brings a kind of coherence and organization to the whole city, that’s certainly what my work is going to be,” he added.

Faced with his new challenge, Corradi vindicates his resume and insists that in 2018 he worked with the city’s Department of Education to stop the proliferation of rats in 120 public schools, in which in about two years he managed to reduce the rodent population by 70 %.

But she will not be alone in her battle, since from her position she will coordinate the efforts and resources of six municipal agencies, including Education, Parks, Small Businesses and Garbage Collection.

To do this, he stresses the importance of “breaking the watertight departments” between municipal agencies to ensure that the most efficient techniques are used and that data and best practices are shared among all.

“And my task is to make sure that we are working in a smarter and more intense way using the existing staff and structures that we already have,” he added.

For the new rat czarina, who seems to have clear ideas, ending this plague is not a matter of magic, but of science.

“The science behind fighting rodent populations lies in acting where they live, preventing them from having access to shelter and depriving them of food and water,” he stresses.

Then, he continues, it is time to bring into play “innovative extermination techniques to make sure that population numbers are kept in check and do not migrate to new areas.”

Municipal authorities have identified four areas of the city labeled “rat mitigation zones,” where current efforts to fight these gray-furred neighbors are focused.

These are the neighborhoods of Chinatown, East Village and Lower East Side, in the district of Manhattan; the Harlem neighborhood, also in Manhattan; the Grand Cocourse area, in the Bronx and in the Brooklyn district: Bushwick, Bedford, Stuyyesant and Porspect Heights.

In fact, parallel to Corradi’s designation, the Mayor’s Office approved a budget of 3.5 million dollars, precisely to put an end to rats in the Harlem area, which has recently been defined as a zone of special interest against rats.

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