Who’s winning New York City’s war on rats: rodents or trash bins?

City on track to record fewest reported rat sightings since pandemic as Mamdani’s ‘containerization’ program brings bins to boroughs Is New York finally winning its war on rats? Or are New Yorkers’ vermin neighbors merely adapting to changing circumstances and, at least in some neighborhoods, staying out of sight? With an estimated one rat for every three people, New York’s long-running rat war is in a period of uneasy detente. Continue reading...

Edward Helmorein New York · Sat, Aug 8, 2026, 6:00 AM
US news | The Guardian

Who’s winning New York City’s war on rats: rodents or trash bins?

City on track to record fewest reported rat sightings since pandemic as Mamdani’s ‘containerization’ program brings bins to boroughs

Is New York finally winning its war on rats? Or are New Yorkers’ vermin neighbors merely adapting to changing circumstances and, at least in some neighborhoods, staying out of sight?

With an estimated one rat for every three people, New York’s long-running rat war is in a period of uneasy detente.

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