'We've had rats the size of Crocs just running up and down the street': NYC holds first-ever Anti-Rat Day of Action in Harlem

 Harlem resident Ruth McDaniels spelled out New York City's ongoing rat problem by comparing the problematic pests to a particular shoe — right down to the brand and size.

"We've had rats the size of Crocs just running up and down the street. Like a Croc shoe? ... Average size eight, running up and down the street," she told WCBS-TV. 

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Hopefully coming to the rescue was the city's first Anti-Rat Day of Action, which was held Saturday in Harlem, the station said.

City agencies, including the sanitation department, demonstrated how to keep rats at bay, WCBS said.

Also on hand was the city's first rat czar, the station said.

"Rats need food, water, and shelter to survive," Kathleen Corradi, New York City director of rodent mitigation, told the gathered members of the media, WCBS noted. "Today, we're going to cut off their food source and reduce their habitat, take away the places they can live." 

City hosts first Anti-Rat Day of Action in Harlemyoutu.be

An old, gross story...

The battle between rats and New York City is as old as the Big Apple itself. The rodents, however, always seem to be taking the bigger bites:

• There's the 2011 tale about a rat caught on video on a train — and crawling up a sleeping homeless man's leg and sitting on his face.
• Subway riders were seen on a 2014 video screaming in terror as a rat ran back and forth inside the car as passengers stood on seats or got their legs out of its way.
• The following year a pair of rats were spotted on subway tracks fighting over a slice of pizza.
• In 2016, yet another rat was caught on video crawling up yet another sleeping subway rider — into his lap, then up on his shoulder, then finally on his back.
• In 2017, rats reportedly were crawling on walls and scaring students at a pair of schools. "I kind of feel like I’m in the rats’ home," one student said.
• A Brooklyn couple in 2018 were unnerved after seeing a baby rat crawl out of their bathroom drain.
• Even Mayor Eric Adams was fined last December for a rat infestation on his own property.