Aw, rats!
Residents of Himrod Street on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn have noticed an increase in the number of rats they have seen on their block and are looking for a solution.
Pauline Bruscarino, a resident of Himrod Street for 39 years, says she has seen rats roaming the neighborhood almost every night.
“Every night before I go to bed, I look out my window and I see them,” Bruscarino said. “At first I called 911 because I didn’t know who to call.”
“The thing is, we have a lot of kids on the block,” Bruscarino continued. “Yesterday morning, I was outside at six o’clock doing the garbage, when all of a sudden I see this rat. Four times it passed me. Then it jumped…so something has to be done before it bites somebody.”
After going through 911 and 311, Bruscarino said that she was told that she had to wait before someone could get down to the area to inspect the problem.
“See, what we’re afraid of is that they’re going to start getting into the houses,” said Marie Lekoski, a resident of Himrod Street for 10 years.
Lekoski, and several other residents of Himrod Street, have also called 311 and logged complaints about the rats.
“Now I just called again this morning,” Lekoski said. “The woman said the status was that the Department of Health had to determine what to do about it.”
On Friday morning, Bruscarino said that a city inspector was seen on the block, investigating the problem.
After going through the area, the inspector told Bruscarino that the landlords of the residents complaining about seeing rats are responsible for getting rid of the rats. If nothing is done by the landlords, then the city takes its own action to wipe out the vermin, then sends the landlords the bill.
“[The inspector] said she would send a notice to the landlords because she checked and there were some droppings,” Bruscarino said. “She said she would send a notice and if it is not done in a certain time, the city would do it and they will bill the landlords.”
Now, residents have to wait and see if the landlords take action before the city sends out notices.
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