New York Mayor Eric Adams has pledged a war on rats, but on Thursday he faced a city hearing to defend himself against charges of colluding with the enemy.
(Bloomberg) — New York Mayor Eric Adams has pledged a war on rats, but on Thursday he faced a city hearing to defend himself against charges of colluding with the enemy.
Adams, facing two civil citations from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for harboring rats at his Brooklyn townhouse, came armed with receipts: He told the hearing officer he’s spent nearly $8,000 to mitigate what is a neighborhood-wide problem, and presented photos and videos that he said showed the rodent holes are actually across the property line.
“The burrow is a small hole that is on my neighbor’s property,” he said in a 33-minute telephone hearing before the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. “It is not on my property, and I have photos I can show you as evidence.”
The mayor has made his hatred of rats a major part of his political rhetoric dating back to his time as Brooklyn borough president. He’s looking to hire a position of “rat czar” in the mayor’s office, and the issue was a recurring theme of his State of the City Address last month.
“Most people don’t know this about me, but I hate rats. And pretty soon, those rats will be hating me,” he said.
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Adams said he spent $7,000 on rodent abatement last year, plus $200 a month for an exterminator to monitor traps. Adams said he hasn’t seen any evidence of rats at the property since October.
If upheld, Adams could face a $300 fine on each of the two citations. The first cited burrows, rodent droppings and rat “runways” on his property. The second accused him of creating a rat-friendly environment by allowing them to nest in recyclables in his front yard.
Not true, Adams said. “It was not loose recyclables,” he said. “We’re not putting any food in the bags. There’s only the cartons, plastic, bottles. It’s exactly the way the Department of Sanitation has stated it’s supposed to be.”
It’s not the first time Adams has faced civil charges of harboring rats. The latest citations came the same week that he won a previous case, and city records show he’s battled with the Sanitation Department frequently over the past decade.
The mayor is renting out his Bedford-Stuyvesant property to two tenants while he lives rent-free at Gracie Mansion in Manhattan. At one point, hearing officer Sam Chetrit asked Adams if he had spoken to his tenants about the problem. “Yes. We all don’t like rats,” he said, chuckling.
Adams never mentioned his occupation and gave his personal email address to the hearing officer, who referred to him only as “the respondent.” And except for the presence of about a half-dozen reporters on the call, there was no indication that the hearing was handled differently for the mayor. The call was interrupted by long pauses as Adams sent the hearing documents and photos that he said would prove his innocence.
A decision is expected within 30 days.
(Corrects city department that issued the citations in second paragraph. Story was originally published Feb. 9.)
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