He planned to go out that night to take a look for himself. It was a building site next to a Wendy’s, he said. On Tuesday, when Bollwerk spoke to the Guardian, he had just received word of a new problematic rat spot in midtown Manhattan. “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 said in June.ĭespite the efforts of the rat czar and people like Bollwerk, there are plenty of rats still around. New rules have also been introduced, forcing restaurants to put their food waste into actual containers, rather than following the traditional New York practice of dumping garbage bags on the streets. The city has set up “rat mitigation zones” in rat-heavy areas, where officials identify areas with a large rat population and swoop in, armed with rat poison for the rodents and fines for any businesses or property owners who might be encouraging the rats to thrive. Kathleen Corradi was charged with getting a handle on “public enemy number one”, Mayor Eric Adams said as he announced the news, and reported rat sightings decreased by 15% in June compared to the year before, Gothamist reported, as the city strives to shed its reputation as a rat haven. After a months-long surge New York finally appointed its rat czar in April this year. In the city’s battle against the rats, there are some signs of hope. And I’m meeting so many cool people through it that I would have never met.” “The fact that it’s bringing awareness to an issue, and it’s helping people in their neighborhoods – I think that’s why I keep going out and doing it. More than the tourism aspect, Bollwerk says his unusual new pastime is about trying to help people in the areas besieged by rodents. “It’s crazy how much this brings people together.” There’ve been people from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania St Louis, Missouri Oklahoma City Vancouver, Canada Los Angeles. Anything you can think of: business owners have come out looking with me.

“I’ve had a daughter and father, and a husband and wife come with me. He began going out filming rats – from a safe distance – three to five times a week, and soon was getting messages from tourists who wanted to join.

He was inundated with requests to film rats at locations across the city. In the process, Bollwerk, who is originally from Missouri and moved to New York in 2019, had found himself an audience of rat enthusiasts. “We had probably 100 complaints in one night in this one spot, and the city ended up coming by and getting rid of the rats at the construction site.” He put out a plea for people to complain to the city’s 311 service, where individuals can complain about rat infestations, and it worked. Bollwerk, who doesn’t like rats, said his intention was to prod the city into coming and getting rid of the rodents. Bollwerk, 36, said more than 10,000 people tuned in live to watch the rats. “People are walking by, there’s rats running across people’s feet, there’s piles of trash on the sidewalk.” “I was like: ‘Damn, this is bad,’” he said. Kenny Bollwerk, who built a TikTok following by posting videos from around New York, stumbled upon being a rodent guide when he spent “an hour or two” live-streaming rats running around outside a building site in Sunnyside, Queens. It means that rat tourism is fast becoming a boom industry. As the city grapples with a major rat problem – sightings doubled last year, prompting the mayor to advertise for a “ somewhat bloodthirsty” head rat-catcher in December – the rodent issue is, according to some, New York’s latest must-experience trend.Īs visitors to New York demand rat action, some of the city’s tour guides have started to add stops at notoriously infested sites, the New York Post reported this week.

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