These zine editors want your rat stories ('Don't call us gross')

Photo and interview by Stacie Joy

Signs around the neighborhood started appearing over the weekend, seeking stories about memorable encounters with rats in NYC. 

A rat zine? 

Curious, I contacted the folks behind the flyers. The two friends, a current and past (now in Williamsburg) East Village resident, wish to remain anonymous for now but agreed to discuss the project.  

So, how did this rat zine project get started? 

The project was born from a deep fascination with — and admiration for — New York City's most hated inhabitants. Independently, we both had spent the last few years taking photos of dead rats crushed into the city's pavement. After discovering this shared hobby recently, we decided to make a zine. 

In the process of doing that, we decided it'd be fun to supplement our images with true stories of rat encounters sourced from our neighbors. Over the last few days, we've been putting up flyers asking for submissions. Emails started flowing in immediately, both harrowing and kind of touching. People stopped us on the street to tell us about their favorite rat interactions, which is a cool way to meet strangers.

Why make a rat zine? 

Not to be too high-minded about a rat zine, but it really feels like the city is just teeming with untold rodent stories. Living in close proximity to these animals, who are nearly indomitable and cunning and heavily dependent on our inability to clean up after ourselves, is a big part of the collective New York experience. 

The inter-species arrangement is that we generally aim to avoid each other. When that social order breaks down, a good story often follows.

How can people get involved? What sort of material are you looking for? 

Anyone interested in sharing a particularly memorable rat episode should send us an email in the next few weeks. We like straightforward stories, but we're also open to other formats — if you're moved to translate your rat tale into a haiku, an illustration or a short play, by all means, go ahead. 

It's fun, and it's not gross. Don’t call us gross. Tell us your best rat stories!

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Want to contribute? Send your rodent-related comics, poems, true stories, and songs to newyorkrathole (newyorkrathole@gmail.com). It's old-school print media only: signs and a printed zine. There is no social media, although they concede there "may be an Instagram in the future."