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This is the moment a group of horrified New Yorkers is forced to hop over scores of vermin scurrying across their path from bins outside a pizzeria.
Footage shows a few rats brazenly scurry across the pavement before scores of them emerge from an overflowing bin.
Taryn Brady, 29, who was with a group of friends when she filmed the rat encounter, said she was left in ‘fear and disgust’ after she and her friends had to hop over the rodents running towards them.
Soreya Scilipote, 28, Annika Bennett, 25, Shannon Bohack, 28, Andree Garcia, 30, and Ms Brady were all left frightened by what they witnessed.
The video shows the group on 108 South Street as they were walking home from a music show on August 30.
Footage shows a few rats brazenly scurry across the pavement (like the one left) before scores of them emerge from an overflowing bin (right)
Ms Brady, a social worker from New York, said: ‘We were walking from the venue to a bar where everyone was meeting afterwards.
‘At first we only saw a few rats run across in front of us, but then we ended up seeing hundreds in the trash can and subsequent dumpster.
‘We didn’t want to walk past in case a rat ran at us.’
Eventually, they all managed to make their way past the mass of rodents safely.
Ms Brady added: ‘We ran past and once safe, talked and laughed about it for the rest of the night.’
The group did not report the incident to animal control – but said it would have been a good idea since it happened right outside a pizzeria.
This horrifying rat encounter comes after Dailymail.com reported that New York City is now so overrun with rats that tour guides are offering trips to see the worst rodent-infested areas.
‘Rat tourism’ is the latest attraction to be launched in the Big Apple, with savvy chaperons capitalizing on the invasion of the disease-spreading vermin.
Some are offering walks across the boroughs, including to Central Park, the subway system, near the Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Chinatown.
This horrifying rat encounter comes after Dailymail.com reported that New York City is now so overrun with rats (like the one pictured above in the city in August) that tour guides are offering trips to see the worst rodent-infested areas
Some tourists are now looking for rat-related experiences with tour guides have including stops at notoriously infested locations (left). Rat tourism has become an unexpected phenomenon in New York City with some of the most popular spots being livestreamed (right) on TikTok
It’s no uncommon to see rats jumping into open garbage cans on the city’s streets
Meanwhile tens of thousands are tuning into ‘RatTok’ – TikTok channels taking viewers through the city showing how many rats are living alongside New Yorkers.
The rat infestation has become so bad last year Mayor Eric Adams was forced to appoint a ‘rat czar’ with the official title of ‘director of rodent mitigation’.
One TikTok creator, Kenny Bollwerk, has built up a substantial following of 234,000 users focusing on the most ‘rattractive’ places for tourists to visit after he began live-streaming rats running around outside a building site in Queens.
He has now posted a number of videos with the focus squarely on the furry creatures that are continuing to run their own rat race in the nation’s most populous city.
New York City leaders have been trying to control the rodent population for generations with mixed results, but sightings of rats in parks, sidewalks and other places in the city have increased with things only getting steadily worse since the pandemic.
Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, rats survived a multimillion-dollar effort that aimed to reduce their numbers with more garbage pickups and better housing inspections in targeted neighborhoods.
The city even launched a program to use dry ice to suffocate rats in their hiding spots – but still the rats remain.
City officials insist they are winning in the war against rats with Kathleen Corradi designated the city’s rat czar.
In June, the mayor’s office even reported a 15 percent drop in rat sightings compared to 2022.
The mayor introduced a ‘rat mitigation zone’ in Harlem earlier this year which would see $3.5million invested into ridding the neighborhood of rodents
Last month New York City’s ‘rat czar’ Kathleen Corradi found a lot of supporters for the city’s attempts to clear the streets of the vermin as the Big Apple celebrated its first-ever ‘anti-rat day of action.’
A rat climbs out of a box with food in it at on the platform at the Herald Square subway station
The city also ‘celebrated’ the anti-rat day of action by launching an ‘Interactive Rat Map’ on the city’s website
In areas where rats are known to frequent, ‘rat mitigation zones’ have been designated where officials come in with rat poison while fining businesses or home owners if they are doing anything that might be encouraging rats to thrive.
Restaurants have also been told to put all food waste into containers rather than directly into garbage bags in the hope the additional barrier will make life harder for the rodents.
The city also launched its first ‘Interactive Rat Map’ with the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Harlem showing the most ‘rat-tivity’ in Manhattan, while Greenwich Village, the East Village, SoHo and Lower East showed some of the least.
‘New York City used to be known for our mean streets, but, going forward, we’re going to be known for our clean streets,’ Adams promised at the start of summer.
Time will tell if Adams is able to fulfill his promise – but for now, the rats rule.
