Anti-Rat Community Day Coming To Harlem: What To Know

HARLEM, NY — A day of rats is coming to Harlem, but in a way that will help the neighborhood.

The first Anti-Rat Community Day of Action will take place in Harlem on Aug. 12, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday.

The city will co-host the event in partnership with BUFNY II/Harlem Streets Tenants Association.

Activities on the day will include best practice education on street tree care, waste and litter management, and rodent mitigation strategies.

“New Yorkers may not know this about me — but I hate rats,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a news release. “It’s still early, but these numbers show what we’re doing is working and that we are moving in the right direction."

Along with the news of the upcoming rat community day in Harlem, the Director of Citywide Rodent Mitigation — otherwise known as the Rat Czar — also released new data showing a 20 percent decrease in 311 calls about rat activity across the city over the last two months, as compared to last year.

The Anti-Rat Community Day of Action will be held in various neighborhoods in the coming months. Harlem was chosen as the first location due to its classification as one of the eight rat mitigation zones in New York City.

Those mitigation zones were selected by tracking the number of local violations for rat activity, rodent-related 311 calls and rat exterminators.

“It was a pleasure to assist in bringing together the New York City Rat Czar with members of the 137th Street Block Association,” said Shatic Mitchell, district manager of Harlem's Community Board 10, in a news release. “The Rat Czar jumped right in and wasted no time engaging our residents of the Central Harlem community in an effort to work together towards decreasing the rat population in our district!"

Patch will update this article when the exact time and location of the Anti-Rat Community Day of Action in Harlem on Aug. 12 is revealed.