Residents: Area Rat Population Increasing Due To MTA Project
By TAMSEN FADAL and ARTHUR CHI'EN wpix.com

7:55 a.m. EDT, April 26, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
It's what Upper East Side residents can't see during the day that is haunting them. Rats -- some described as the size of small chickens, and many more than usual, and residents believe that the Second Avenue subway project is to blame.

Both businesses and residents tell PIX 11 News they're convinced it's the result of construction work now underway for the Second Avenue subway station. They say it's the banging and drilling that has forced the rat population out of their hiding places and out onto the streets. The problem, they say, is especially bad after midnight.

The MTA says it is looking into the problem, that the work site on 2nd avenue between 91st and 96th streets does not show evidence or rats, though bait and traps have been set as a precaution.



A statement from the state agency calls the rat population a "pre-existing condition related to residential and commercial refuse in the area," and also point to an abandoned building in the area as a possible cause for the rodent population.

In the past, it has been difficult to narrow down the exact cause of any rat infestation, and this case may prove to have the same end result.

With regard to the project that is currently underway on the East Side, the plans are calling for the first phase of the project to be finished by late 2016, but some officials say it could take until 2018.