Shocking Video Shows Dozens Of Rats Running Out Of Homeless Man’s Blanket In NYC Subway
By Favour Adegoke on January 9, 2024 at 8:12 PM EST
A viral TikTok clip is highlighting the major homelessness and rodent issues in New York City. The short video showed over a dozen rats running from under a homeless man's blanket in an NYC subway station as people approached. It currently has over 7 million views and thousands of comments.
New York mayor Eric Adams has invested millions into alleviating homelessness and the rodent infestation, but it's not working. There's been a significant increase in rodent complaints across the city, and his former borough, Brooklyn, has the highest complaints.
Video Clip Showing Rats Dashing Out Of Homeless Man's Blanket In NYC Goes Viral
On January 8, a TikTok user, @six4bk78, posted a clip showing a homeless man sleeping on the ground on a New York City subway platform. The video showed the man beneath a grey blanket with his shoes exposed at one end. People could be heard giggling in the background of the video as the recorder approached the homeless man.
When the man filming approached, a few rats were seen scattering from the area, but it only got worse. As the homeless man was stirred by the calls from the person recording the video, he pushed the blanket away from his body, which caused over a dozen rats to run from underneath the threadbare cloth.
The homeless man didn't seem surprised by the rats and didn't react to their movement. The video, which was captioned "Only in New York City Transit" with a rat emoji, now has over 7 million views and thousands of comments on TikTok.
A text in the video clip also read, "What is being done about the rats and homeless crisis in New York?"
Homelessness And Rats Are A Huge Problem In NYC
New York is known for many things; unfortunately, homelessness and rodents are part of those. It's gotten worse despite the significant efforts of Mayor Eric Adams, including sweeps, police enforcement, and outreach to get homeless people into shelters.
According to the annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate survey conducted in January 2023, 4,042 people are living on the streets or in the subways. This is an alarming 18% jump from the number of 3,439, which was the figure from 2022's survey, per the New York Post.
Mayor Adams is also not succeeding in his efforts to reduce the rodent population in New York City. The mayor has spent millions of dollars to exterminate the vermin and even hired Kathleen Corradi as the first "rat czar" with a hefty $155,000 yearly salary.
When she was hired in April, Corradi, who spent years leading rat reduction efforts in The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, declared war on the rodent city-wide. She said, "Pizza rat may live in infamy but rats and the conditions that support their thriving will no longer be tolerated in New York City. No more dirty curbs, unmanaged spaces, or brazen burrowing. There's a new sheriff in town. And with your help, we'll send those rats packing."
Rodent Complaints Have Surged Throughout The City
Despite the efforts of NYC's mayor, Adams, and Corradi, there's been a significant 8% spike in rodent complaints across the city's five boroughs during the mayor's tenure. In 2023, city data revealed that residents made a total of 41,748 rat sightings and other vermin-related complaints to the 311 hotline.
This is a 1.5% increase from the 41,120 figure of 2022 and a 7.6% increase from the 38,809 figure of 2021. In Brooklyn, where Adams used to be borough president, the number of rodent complaints went up from 15,032 to 15,769. This earned the borough the position of top rodent complaints for the fifth consecutive year.
