What issue, big or small, would you want to take on where you live?
New York City, for all its glory, is facing many big problems: record levels of homelessness. A budget teetering on the brink. Stubborn crime rates. But it also has a problem small in size too: rats. Millions of them. As part of his larger goal of tamping down on disorder and making New Yorkers feel safe, Mayor Eric Adams is seeking, for the first time, a director of rodent mitigation to address the city’s plague of rats. If you were mayor, what problems facing your community would you try to solve?
In “Wanted: N.Y.C. Rat Overlord With ‘Killer Instinct.’ Will Pay $170,000,” Dana Rubinstein writes:
The brown rat has lived in New York City since the time of the Revolutionary War, or thereabouts. And for at least a century, city officials have tried, and failed, to eradicate it.
And so it was that on Wednesday, centuries after the Rattus norvegicus first stowed away on a New York-bound ship, New York City tried again, advertising for a newly created position of “director of rodent mitigation.” The unusually irreverent job posting, first reported by Gothamist, seeks someone equipped with a bachelor’s degree, five to eight years of relevant experience and, “most importantly, the drive, determination and killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy — New York City’s relentless rat population.”
It suggests that the ideal candidate should possess the “stamina and stagecraft” to defeat the army of rats, described as “cunning, voracious, and prolific.” The job will pay between $120,000 to $170,000. Readers, once you've read the entire article, then tell us: What do you think about the mayor’s plan to hire a director to take on the city’s rat problem, a task that many mayoral administrations have futilely taken on before? Why? What are the biggest issues facing your community? If you were mayor, which problems would you tackle first? Why? What ideas or creative solutions do you have to address these problems? New York’s mayor is looking for a rat overlord to defeat the army of rats infesting the city. What issue, big or small, would you want to take on where you live?
In “Wanted: N.Y.C. Rat Overlord With ‘Killer Instinct.’ Will Pay $170,000,” Dana Rubinstein writes:
The brown rat has lived in New York City since the time of the Revolutionary War, or thereabouts. And for at least a century, city officials have tried, and failed, to eradicate it.
And so it was that on Wednesday, centuries after the Rattus norvegicus first stowed away on a New York-bound ship, New York City tried again, advertising for a newly created position of “director of rodent mitigation.” The unusually irreverent job posting, first reported by Gothamist, seeks someone equipped with a bachelor’s degree, five to eight years of relevant experience and, “most importantly, the drive, determination and killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy — New York City’s relentless rat population.”
It suggests that the ideal candidate should possess the “stamina and stagecraft” to defeat the army of rats, described as “cunning, voracious, and prolific.” The job will pay between $120,000 to $170,000. Readers, once you've read the entire article, then tell us: What do you think about the mayor’s plan to hire a director to take on the city’s rat problem, a task that many mayoral administrations have futilely taken on before? Why? What are the biggest issues facing your community? If you were mayor, which problems would you tackle first? Why? What ideas or creative solutions do you have to address these problems? New York’s mayor is looking for a rat overlord to defeat the army of rats infesting the city. What issue, big or small, would you want to take on where you live?
