The Vigilante Group Of New Yorkers Who Hunt Rats At Night

Rats aren t only a part of New York Citys underground they re an inseparable part of its pop culture. Theres Master Splinter from the Ninja Turtles, Pizza Rat, and even Cannibal Rat. But for every celebrity rat, theres another 250, 000 to 2 million anonymous rodents living in the city and the city health department is fighting to bring down. The battle can be deadly. Last year, three people in a Bronx city block contracted leptospirosis through rat urine. Only two survived. To combat the problem, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a 32 million initiative to rid New York of its signature rodents, concentrating on hyperinfested areas that the city describes as rat