Showing posts with label the TSP Ratstravaganza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the TSP Ratstravaganza. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Let's talk about rats


The 6th Street A - B Block Association is co-hosting a talk on rat prevention with the NYC Department of Health tomorrow night at 7 at the 6th & B Community Garden. Details are on the flyer below…



An organizer says that the area has been inundated with rats of late … in part because of the demolition of 98-100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.

Meanwhile, in Tompkins Square Park, some people think the rat population is near the levels of the TSP Ratstravaganza during the summer of 2011.

And, despite the signs, people never stop feeding the birds and squirrels ... ultimately helping supply the rat colonies ...





Bottom photos this week via Scuba Diva

... and this morning in the Park...

Friday, August 29, 2014

The East Village will be testing ground for a 'rat reservoir pilot'


[EVG file photo]

From NPR:

When Caroline Bragdon, a rat expert with the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, walks through the East Village, she's not looking at the people or the storefronts. Her eyes point down, at the place where the sidewalk meets the buildings and the street. "If you look really carefully, you can even see their hairs," Bragdon says, pointing to a little hole in the sidewalk next to a sewer grate. "When we see something like this, what we say to each other is, 'This catch basin is hot.' You know, 'This is ratty.' "

By that measure, this is one of the hottest neighborhoods in New York City. And it's one of the testing grounds for the city's new "rat reservoir pilot" — an initiative to try to reduce the rat population in neighborhoods with chronic infestations. Part of the plan is to hire extra exterminators and to seal up holes in sidewalks, parks and other public infrastructure. Rats can squeeze through the tiniest opening "in doors, in windows, in sidewalk curbs, in any building infrastructure," says Bragdon. "Rats only need a hole or a gap the size of a quarter to enter."

Woo! Maybe we can think of some other 'reservoir pilots' for the neighborhood!

Read/listen to the full report here.

H/T EVG reader Andréa

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Noted

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Today's sign of the TSP Ratstravaganza

A reader noted this scene earlier today... after the meals were served to those in need on Avenue A along Tompkins Square Park... the remains...




Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Same old rat story in Tompkins Square Park

Well, you've heard and seen this one before... this morning, while walking in Tompkins Square Park, I saw that someone had just plopped down about 10 pounds of bread chunks ... a few squirrels were nibbling on the feast...


... when the rats emerged from the nearby holes ...


Well, you can only really make out one rat in this photo...


And nearby...


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Today in photos of rats looking out of a sewer grate


Our friends @nyccorners were staking out a sinkhole in Tompkins Square Park today, trying to snap a shot of a huge rat sticking its head out...

But!

Little did they know, the rats were staking them out ... from the sewer grate...

Friday, March 23, 2012

Rats all, folks? Ratstravaganza reportedly under control in Tompkins Square Park

[Bobby Williams, from last fall]

According to this week's issue of The Villager, there's a noticeable decrease in the number of rats in Tompkins Square Park. Chad Marlow, the founder of Tompkins Square Park and Playgrounds Parents Association (TSP3A), which launched in response to the rat overpopulation last summer, "declared victory in the anti-rat campaign — though, he acknowledged, it’s a war that never ends."

Per Parks spokesperson Philip Abramson: "We have been utilizing an Integrated Pest Management approach at Tompkins Square Park which has proved to be successful. We have reduced the number of rat burrows from 120 to 38 as of today. We are continuing to take action to reduce them even further. We will continue working to help alleviate the rat conditions at this park, and encourage New Yorkers to help out by not littering."

The article also notes that, "as the rat story exploded, East Village blog posters debated about whether rat control equals gentrification — some charged that only yuppies would support a rat-free park."

Marlow's response: "I think that’s an offensive position. I think all neighborhoods in this city should be free of vermin. I think the issue should be how to keep affordable housing and get rid of the rats — not, 'We need to keep the rats because they’re necessary to keep affordable housing.'"

You can read the whole article here.

Also, The Villager deserves credit for helping with the problem — they were the first to report on this back on July 21. Other local outlets, including NY1, hilariously tried to take credit.

Anyway, now that the rats are under control, what are Park officials going to do about the lobsters?

Friday, March 9, 2012

Let's start talking about the TSP Ratstravaganza again



Spotted this video over at Runnin' Scared. A staffer at the Comptroller's Office, which conducted an audit about not-so-swell conditions for kids in City parks, sent along the video from Tompkins Square Park ... not sure when this was made (not recently, a little green out) ... But it brings us back to the heady days of the TSP Ratstravaganza from last summer.

Speaking of rats. Here's some gore from this week in Tompkins Square Park...

Not this one...




Friday, January 6, 2012

Rat-a-pooey

A few people gathered this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park...


...to watch a red-tailed hawk dine on today's special ...



Saturday, November 5, 2011

Do rats know how to Push?

In our ongoing coverage of the TSP Ratstravaganza, we've discussed the problems with the trash outside the Park — specifically on the corners of 10th Street and Avenue A that provided another possible source of food. You know, just dart across the street for the smörgĂ¥sbord.


Anyway, the city has added new Push tops on the corner cans.


We waited to post these until the early reviews were in... so far, the new Push lids haven't been reviewed on Yelp.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Introducing the latest line of defense against the Tompkins Square Park rats


Not the guitar player!


After writing that stupid headline, I did a little research. We may be on to something here. From the Success With Poultry blog:

Rats are primarily nocturnal animals, so if you are regularly seeing them in the day, it probably means that you have a lot of them. They are not interested in your chickens as such, but they are interested in the food that your chickens are eating ... A rat might attack a chicken, but an angry chicken can be a mighty foe, and it is not unknown for chickens to kill (and eat) rats.

Life lesson for today: an angry chicken can be a mighty foe

Photos yesterday by Bobby Williams.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Please don't feed the rats in Tompkins Square Park

In the last few days, it seemed as if the Tompkins Square Park rat population had been thinning out a bit... We've outlined all the steps park workers are taking to combat the problem.

A reader sent this shot along the other day... with a note "I think the problem is subsiding."


Then yesterday. Walking through the park... just missed someone dropping off the breadwagon right near the playground at Ninth and Avenue A. Within moments, rats started darting out from various holes ... soon there was a frenzy...(though we didn't get good shots of the 8-9 rats on the bread pile...)



Thursday, September 15, 2011

NY1 hilariously takes credit for helping reduce Tompkins Square Park rat population

[Photo by Bobby Williams taken Tuesday]

We like NY1! But! Really? Per their report:

East Village residents say the playground in Tompkins Square Park has a huge reduction in its rat population, thanks to NY1 For You. After parents contacted NY1, the station called the Parks Department about the rodents and a spokesman said while the agency is not placing rat poison in the park out of concern for the resident red-tailed hawk, the agency has removed groundcover, weeds and low growing shrubs in the park that had sheltered rats.

And the result? Fewer rats a few people say! For starters, every local TV news outlet covered this story and called the Parks Department. Second, it's very questionable if the rat population has thinned out at all. Have you noticed a difference?

Anyway, if any media outlet deserves credit for helping with the problem, it's The Villager. They were the first to report on this back on July 21.

P.S.
Hey NY1! The rats are eating the squirrels now!

Friday, September 9, 2011

The TSP Ratstravaganza receives first celebrity endorsement

In the form of East Village resident Padma Lakshmi, who is on the TV and stuff. Part of an interview with New York magazine:

What do you hate most about living in New York?
The rats in Tompkins Square Park. I’m constantly on the phone to 311.

Who is your mortal enemy?
The rats in Tompkins Square Park.

Then she definitely should not look at Bob Arihood's post today of rats eating a squirrel in the Park. (Now with correct link! Sorry!)

[Image via]