Rat-obsessed Eric Adams creates NYC ‘Office of Rodent Mitigation’ in parting gift

Rat-obsessed Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order Wednesday to create a “Rodent Mitigation” office as another parting gift to his successor Zohran Mamdani, The Post has learned.

Under the leadership of a mayor-appointed rat czar, the Mayor’s Office of Rodent Mitigation will work across city government agencies, community organizations and the private sector to continue the War on Rats – which some New Yorkers fear is being won by the rodents since the departure of the city’s first rat czar Kathleen Corradi earlier this year.

The office will also work closely with residents, academic groups and pest management experts to decrease the rat population across Gotham, as well as lead public outreach and education efforts, a City Hall spokesperson said.

“With this new executive order establishing the Office of Rodent Mitigation, we are ensuring our ‘War on Rats,’ and the smart policies we put in place to coordinate across city agencies, has a permanent home,” Adams said in a statement.

Details about the office’s budget size was not immediately available. 

Rat sightings have decreased for 12 months in a row, according to Adams administration figures. The mayor’s office attributes the trend to various public education initiatives as well as DSNY efforts to containerize 70% of the city’s trash, thus cutting off a critical rodent food supply.

The announcement follows the launch of a rat death squad last summer hired to gas vermin out of 600,000 street tree beds citywide with carbon monoxide.

Concerned citizen groups, like the City Council member-created District 35 Rat Task Force, said they were “concerned” the lack of a rat czar meant reverting back to the days before interagency communication and streamlined mitigation measures – and lots more rats.

“Without an interagency approach our beloved city faces a rat infestation that will only worsen, jeopardizing our quality of life and health,” the Prospect Heights group, alongside the Sterling Place Rat Mitigation and Awareness team, wrote in a letter to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani urging the reinstatement of the position once he takes office.

Corradi left her $176,000-a-year post in September for a leadership position at NYCHA. It was not made clear why a replacement was not selected after her departure.

“I am proud of our legacy on a major quality-of-life, public-safety, and public-health issue,” Adams added, “and am excited to see this work continue to make our city more livable for all.”