Transcript: Mayor Adams and Director Corradi Call in Live to 1010 WINS' "Morning Drive"

April 13, 2023

Lee Harris: Joining us now, Mayor Adams and his new rat czar picked from 900 applicants, Kathleen Corradi. Good morning to you both. Mayor Adams, we were under the impression nobody really wanted this job, but you got lots of applicants and what made you go with Kathleen?

Mayor Eric Adams: A combination of things. I was really impressed when I read that at 10-years-old she was doing a petition on her block to deal with rat mitigation and rodent mitigation on her block. And then when I looked at her educational standards, biology degree, in the Department of Education how she was able to bring down the rat problems inside. There's several schools that she was affiliated with. And it was just a broad combination of just a New Yorker, understanding that this is a real issue, and was focused on doing the job.

Harris: Kathleen, congratulations. 2 million rats that's estimated in New York City. What are you planning to do to them that hasn't been tried before?

Kathleen Corradi, Citywide Director of Rodent Mitigation: Thank you. The approach will be to take out what rats need to survive, which is food, water, and shelter. Kind of the novel approach that we'll be taking is the role I'm serving in where I'll be able to break down silos between agencies. There's tons of agencies already working on this, but how do we do that work more efficiently, scaling best practices and really deploying only what's best for New Yorkers and worse for rats. 

Harris: And could you describe what some of those things might be?

Corradi: Sure. We're going to focus on disturbing, so taking away their homes and shelters. That could be through many techniques. For the Harlem mitigation zone that was announced yesterday, we're going to be doing “rat slabs,” which take away access to living conditions for rats in NYCHA housing. We're going to disrupt their ability to get food. 

There's a lot of ways the Adams administration is already tackling this through later set out times, midnight collection of waste, and the curbside composting that is expanding citywide. And we're going to be dispatching new extermination techniques. The Department of Health right now is doing some studies on the most efficient techniques. We'll be sharing that out and scaling up what works.

Harris: I see a rat pretty much every day when I come to work. I'm not sure if it's the same rat, but am I to ignore that or is there something I should do now that you're in charge?

Corradi: Thank you. Yes, we need all New Yorkers engaged in this. So the tool of 311 to report unsanitary conditions or rats that you see is absolutely a first step, but we need you to get the tools and take up the fight on your own. So we're looking for all residents of New York to make sure they're actively engaged, educated, and making sure the conditions that support rats, whether on their commute to work, or on their property, are being tackled.

Harris: Mayor Adams, the Atlantic had an article a while back saying that the rats have already won. Obviously, you don't believe that.

Mayor Adams: No, I do not, and New Yorkers should never be counted out. This is a real issue and as you stated, that rat you see every day while you come into the office space, imagine waking up and seeing a rat in your cabinet or a rat scurrying across your shoes or your feet. New Yorkers think about that all day and every day. You'll never feel comfortable in your home.

We know this is a quality of life, a health issue, and that is why there's a combined effort that our new rat czar is going to have. The Department of Sanitation is going to move to put garbage and containers and change the takeout times, really lean into this more. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Parks, you saw the full complement of city agencies standing next to us because it's a combined effort.

We're going to do our job, but we also need New Yorkers to pitch in by putting the garbage in cans and not litter, pick up after your dogs. You're going to see a cleaner city because of this effort.

Harris: Okay, rats, you've been put on notice by Mayor Adams and the new rat czar, Kathleen Corradi. Thank you both for joining us this morning here on 1010 WINS.

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