The biggest problem in New York isn’t crime, poverty or even COVID-19: it’s rats.

Well, at least that seems to be the message from New York Mayor, Eric Adams, who has posted a creative job listing in an effort to clear up the city’s rodent problem. 

The official job posting describes the role as a “director of rodent mitigation”, which has since been dubbed “the rat czar”.

The ad itself uses colourful language to describe the role and the ideal candidate, including someone who is “somewhat bloodthirsty” and not opposed to “wholesale slaughter” with “a general aura of badassery”. While tongue-in-cheek, this is a legitimate job listing to solve a genuine problem in the city that never sleeps – with quite an exorbitant income on offer, too.

Mr Adams’ administration listed the job last Wednesday, with a salary range of between US$120,000 and US$170,000 (that’s up to around A$250,000).

This comes as New York’s infamous rat infestation is at an all-time peak, exacerbated after the city came out of a lockdown in May this year, following two years of pandemic-related lifestyle changes. In the first four months of the year, data shows that 7,400 calls were made regarding rat sightings, which is a 60% increase from the same period in 2019. As of October 2022, this has now risen to 21,600 rat complaints, as reported by New York’s sanitation department.

Indeed, this is not the first time money has been thrown at fixing New York’s historical rat problem.

Former mayor Bill de Blasio attempted his own rat exterminating efforts, spending millions on measures such as more rubbish pick-ups and better housing inspections in targeted neighbourhoods. Alas, the crafty rodents seem to have survived all of these measures.

As the “second-rattiest” city in the US (behind Chicago), with an estimated population of two million rats , the Big Apple is in dire need of a knight in shining armour.

Sources:

• UPI, NYC posts job seeking rat czar to tame city’s rodent problem
• Sky News, New York City seeks ‘somewhat bloodthirsty’ rat czar to tackle rodent problem
• ny1.com, Rat Action Plan seeks to rid city streets of rodents
• independent.co.uk, Oh, rats! As New Yorkers emerge from pandemic, so do rodents
• globalnews.ca, NYC is looking for ‘bloodthirsty’ rat czar — and the job pays $228,000
• orkin.com, New York Rises to Second Spot, Two Indiana Cities Break into the Top 50