There’s no stopping New York City’s rats. With a population estimated to be anywhere between 250,000 to one million, it’s no surprise New Yorkers (of the human variety) set a new benchmark for rat-related complaints in 2017.
There were a total of 19,152 rodent complaints in the city last year, which represents an increase of 10 percent compared to 2016, according to a newly-released study by RentHop. Dealing with rats is a fact of life for New Yorkers, but RentHop decided to delve deeper into the numbers to find out which New York City neighborhood generates the most complaints.
By borough, Brooklyn topped the list of rat complaints with 7,253 in 2017, according to the RentHop study. The county of kings easily took the top spot with more than 2,000 more complaints than Manhattan, which had 4,507 total complaints. Rounding out the rankings were The Bronx (3,746), Queens (2,862) and Staten Island (784).
While Brooklyn took the top spot in total complaints, the honor for most complaints per square mile went to the densely-packed borough of Manhattan. There were about 197 rat complaints for every square mile of Manhattan real estate.
With Brooklyn and Manhattan fighting it out for rat complaint supremacy, it’s not a surprise that the two boroughs accounted for the top 10 most infested neighborhoods. Bed-Stuy topped all Brooklyn neighborhoods with 1265 rodent complaints in 2017 and Harlem was tops in Manhattan with 865 complaints. Most of the other top 10 neighborhoods can be found in close proximity.
Here’s the full top 10:
- Bedford Stuyvesant: 1265
- Harlem: 865
- Upper West Side: 731
- Bushwick: 612
- Crown Heights: 596
- Williamsburg: 509
- Prospect Heights: 440
- East New York: 437
- Washington Heights: 420
- Flatbush: 369
Check out where your neighborhood ranks by using the interactive map below:
Check out the full study here.
By Brendan Krisel [Patch]