Central Park is getting ratty, with residents of well-heeled neighborhoods around it calling in 4,691 vermin complaints in the past four years.
The Upper West Side continues to hold the top spot citywide as the most rat-ridden neighborhood, with a hair-raising 2,402 complaints in the 10023, 10024 and 10025 ZIP codes since 2010, according to 311 hot-line data.
“The rats are getting worse,” said Upper West Sider Ron Hoffman. “You see them running back and forth on the sidewalk.”
Hoffman speculated that some rats may snooze in the park, but emerge to feast on abundant food supplies.
On the other side of the park, the Upper East Side’s ZIP codes reported 1,507 complaints since 2010, the data indicate.
“Even the nicest areas in the city have not been able to avoid rat infestations, which mimics thousands of years of history as rats have followed the trail of waste modern human settlements seem to inevitably leave behind,” said Matthew Combs, a Fordham University researcher.
The data come as six environmental groups petition to ban rat poisons that they say are responsible for killing pets and innocent wildlife.