Welcome To NYC Part 2: The Rats!!
For New Yorkers, rats are a part of everyday life. As you’ll see, they even ride the trains together!
Breakfast With Rats
In some areas of New York City, people are seeing more rats. A neighborhood in Queens had 119% more reports of rats in one year. People living there say they see rats in their homes and on the streets. A man from this area says every house has rats, and he is worried about his child’s health. Some use traps to catch them, but the problem continues. A man says he sees several rats every morning in his apartment. The word several means an amount that is more than "a few" but less than “many” or about 3 to 9.
Every morning several rats have breakfast together before going to work.
A Solution?
Rats eat garbage. The city is trying to stop this problem by introducing new trash bins. People must now use special trash bins that close tightly. The goal is to stop rats from getting into garbage. However, some people think the bins are too expensive. A woman in Queens bought a special trash can, but she says rats are still everywhere.
Christopher Sadowski
Rats Can Chew Through almost Anything
Even though the new trash bins are supposed to be “rat-proof,” some rats have chewed through them. A woman in Brooklyn found a hole in one of the bins, showing that rats can still get inside. Experts say that rats have very strong teeth and can chew through many materials. However, the city says that rat sightings have decreased since people started using the bins. The word decrease means to become less or smaller.
Gabriella Bass
Gabriella Bass
Gabriella Bass
Hey! I’m Sleeping Here
Rats can cause many problems in cities. They eat garbage, spread diseases, and damage buildings. In some places, construction makes the problem worse by disturbing rat nests. If you disturb someone then you stop what they are doing. A woman in Manhattan says she never had rats before a new skyscraper was built near her home. Now, she finds rats in her trash. The city is trying to find better solutions to control the rat population.
Getty Images
This picture is on the inside of a NYC train. Many New Yorkers are used to living with rats and even traveling with them. Look closely and you’ll see a rat on the pole.
Image Amber Jhane¿/ Instagram
Bonus: Today’s Idiom
For my more advanced readers, we have now learned of another of New York’s problems. The first is drugs, which you can read about here: https://newyorkenglish.net/online-newspaper/ck64lzwsmf6v7hb5a7ol6pj9b6zjqa. Let me know what you think of the rat problem in New York. Every country has animals that they may or may not like. Even with new rules and bins, rats are still a big problem in New York City. The city is trying different ways to reduce them, but some people do not believe the changes will work. Others say the bins are better than leaving trash on the street. Others believe that the rat problem in NYC is unsolvable and that they “smell a rat” when they think of who profits from the sale of trash bins that don’t work.
The idiom, “I smell a rat” means that you think something is suspicious. In other words, someone is being dishonest.