Redditor Starts Raging Debate: What Is Rattiest Block on UES?

Rats, our furry and seemingly invincible neighbors, are everywhere. Despite efforts to push them out of NYC, including the Upper East Side, they persist in scurrying to and fro along streets and sidewalks. Now, a local debate has popped up online about the “rattiest” block on the UES, with no firm consensus as yet.

Bugsy_Neighbor, an intrepid Redditor, posed the original question. “My vote goes to East 80th between Third and Second,” he wrote. “Runner-up would be 81st between Second and First. 83rd between Third and Second once was rat central, but that seems to have died down. 85th between Third and Lexington is my final vote. Especially corner where Starbucks is located.”

“81st between East End and York. The rats used to link arms and do full choreography to ‘be our guest.’ Wonderful!,” Commercial-Owl9629 countered. “Walked around that area drunk eating pizza one night. I swear the rats ran from a trash pile to mug me for the slice,” FortheredditLOLz replied.

”90th bt 2nd and 3rd. Park your car there and you’re asking for a rat to chew through your wiring. The rats own that playground, too,” hockeymom_777 said.

A few posters mused on the decline of former hotspots, even to the point of nostalgia. “It used to be NW corner of 88th and Lex outside Tal Bagels. My dog would pull me there every night for a rat viewing party,” RelativeYak7 said. “About 20 rats crawling in and around all the old bagels and expired fish, it was an exciting time.”

”78th between 1st and 2nd used to have a lot,” jumpoffstuff87 said, prompting ChunkyRaccoonSitting to share a horror story: “Once, I was surrounded by rats on all 4 sides. Another time I stepped on a live one [crying emoji] felt bad for the poor guy.”

The Upper East Side recently became famous for gaining the tactical upper hand in the rat war, after local City Council Member Julie Menin spearheaded a $30,000 carbon-monoxide smoke-out in 2023.

At the time, the unsparing method was touted by Our Town as having East 86th Street’s rat population “on the run,” with Nicholas Liu reporting that rat burrows in the area had been “virtually eradicated.” Matt Deodato, who operated the BurrowRx machine that did the dirty deed, confirmed that occasional escapees would be “finished off” with a spiked garden hoe.

Reached for comment by Our Town, Menin emphasized the results seen by the program since 2023: “It’s imperative to think outside the box and adopt effective innovative strategies to mitigate the rodent population that had increased during the COVID pandemic. To confront this challenge head-on, we’ve adopted an assertive approach and embraced innovative strategies by funding a novel rat mitigation program in the New York City budget which has led to less 311 complaints in Yorkville.”

The containerization of New York City’s trash bags, which has seen a long and incomplete rollout, was also conceived with cracking down on rats in mind. Restaurants and residential buildings with between one and nine units already have to comply, with larger residential buildings set to be under the gun on June 1. By August 1, any and all trash bags must be placed inside containers or trigger penalties, according to a recently passed Department of Sanitation rule.