NYC mayor, a vocal rat opponent, faces more fines for rat infestation at Brooklyn property

By Celina Tebor, CNN

New York Mayor Eric Adams was hit with new fines over a rat infestation at one of his properties in Brooklyn, just one day after a different rodent infestation ticket at the same property was dismissed.

According to two summonses from the New York Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) dated December 7, Adams is facing fines of up to $1,200 for failing to eliminate conditions that “encourage the nesting of rats” and failing to eliminate a rodent infestation shown by active rodent signs at a property he owns in Brooklyn.

Adams said he’s “concerned” that he received the new summons and vowed to challenge them and show “that rats don’t run this city.”

“As I have said repeatedly, it is so important that each of us does our part to address the rats that all New Yorkers hate and that’s why I keep my yard clean and garbage in covered trash bins,” Adams said in a statement to CNN.

“I am concerned that, despite previously spending nearly $7,000 on rat mitigation efforts, I received two new summonses on the same day, even though a neutral hearing officer found that I ‘demonstrate[d] sufficient steps taken…to prevent and control infestation at [my] property.’ I will again challenge these violations and show that rats don’t run this city.”

Adams was facing another fine for a rat infestation at the same property earlier in 2022, but the ticket was dismissed during a hearing on December 6, OATH records show — one day before the other fines were issued.

The mayor has been very vocal about his personal vendetta against the rodents. He most recently recruited for a new “director of rodent mitigation,” aka “rat czar” to rid the city’s streets of its most notorious furry inhabitants.

“Do you have what it takes to do the impossible?” the job listing read. “A virulent vehemence for vermin? A background in urban planning, project management, or government? And most importantly, the drive, determination and killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy — New York City’s relentless rat population?”

A hearing date for the new violations has been set for January 12.

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