It’s no secret that New York City has rat issues. You will most likely be greeted by one on the street or at any subway stop. Most city residents have learned how to deal with it, doing their best to keep the rodents out of their homes. However, some people go to extremes.

In 2019, New York City Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference where he demonstrated a device that would drown rats in poison. The New York Daily News covered the public slaughter of over 90 rats when he drowned the cheese eaters in a tub of poisonous liquid. Adams held the diabolical demonstration to hopefully urge the city to follow suit in handling the rodent issues.

“Not only am I the borough president, I’m the pied piper,” Adams said during the presentation, according to the Daily News. At the time, he was the Brooklyn Borough president.

“This rat infestation problem is something that is becoming too pervasive,” Adams stated, attempting to prove his point by using statistics that showed Brooklyn residents made around 6,500 complaints in one year.

Back then, Adams’ solution was a box that would draw rats to it using the smell of food. Once trapped in, the vermin would be drowned in a formaldehyde-like solution.

Adams described the rat trap as a cost-effective way to fix a problem. However, now in a dramatic turn of events, Mayor Adams has become part of the problem.

The New York Times reported that the rat-hating mayor recently got hit with a $300 fine issued by his own administration over a rat infestation. On May 10,  Adams received a summons from the city health department. The summons came after a city health inspector saw “fresh rat droppings” around a townhome he owns in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood.

Adams contested the fine because he claimed he took the necessary steps to rid his rental home of the rat issue, spending $7,000 in his efforts. He even used his rat-killing contraption that he displayed in 2019. The Associated Press reports that Adams’ failure to correctly respond to the initial summons leaves him in violation by default.

An administrative hearing was scheduled for this week after Rahul Agarwal, a deputy chief counsel in the mayor’s office, issued a motion to void the judgment on behalf of Adams. Agarwal stated that Adams was not aware of the summons until Sept. 1. Adams currently lives in Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence in Manhattan.

Adams contested the summons in a virtual hearing hearing just a week after he posted a job listing for a “Director of Rodent Mitigation.”

The rat czar position comes with a salary of $120,000 to $170,000. The job description states the ideal candidate is “highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty, determined to look at all solutions from various angles, including improving operational efficiency, data collection, technology innovation, trash management, and wholesale slaughter,” according to NBC New York.

Eric AdamsMayorNew York Cityrats