Toronto no-Philly a little but not as bad as NY, DC- You could eat off of the Platforms,Chicago-I have seen one rat in 25 years.
The reason why Washington’s METRO does not have the vermin problem that NYC does: METRO is closed during the night for maintenance plus the consuming of food and beverages is prohibited. NYC’s system is open 24/7 and even food was sold by concessions inside the system; this goes back to the early 1900’s when the first lines were opened.
In Toronto you occasinally see mice on the tracks but I’ve never seen any in the rolling stock.
40 years ago,the State Street subway stations on the Red Line now, Englewood-Jackson Park/Howard then, were loaded with rats.
Or is it because the Washington rats realized that they had too much competition from those masquerading as politicians and moved to New York for easier diggings? [:D]
New York has always had a rat problem- It was the East coast’s largest seaport for many, many years. Sailing ships were loaded with rats and some decided to settle down for a life on dry land. They figured if they could make it there, they could make it anywhere.
Sing it Frank!
Agree with what some earlier posters stated. It has to do with the abundance of food refuse more than anything else. If you ban food consumption in the subway system and you do not have an issue with humans living down there. You won’t have a rat or roach issue. Collect the trash and garbage at collection points that are kept clean…same deal Mandate that trash and garbage be kept in sealed compactors or bags, significant reduction or no rats and roaches.
They make large sealed dumpsters compactors when you dump the garbage you press the button and poof…no exposed garbage. Put those in your restaurant districts and keep them relative clean. No issues with the rodents or roaches. North Texas mandates those in several suburb shopping malls that have restaurants. Never saw one roach or rodent in the eating establishment I ran but I followed a few basic principles. 1. No trash or garbage kept overnight in restaurant. 2. All drainage traps in kitchen cleaned of all food particulate matter. 3. Floors swept mopped and cleaned nightly with fresh clean mopwater.
Could it be that the Norway rats are part of the natural flora and fauna of Manhatten Island that is at and below Sea level and these guys have been there for 500 years and have addapted to the Island?
That’s a big reason but there are others, namely the sheer complexity of the NYC Subway system. Wheras most subway systems (especially the systems that opened in the latter-half of the 20th century like BART, DC, LA, Atlanta, Baltimore, etc), they’re mostly deep tunnels made of concrete infrastructure that are relatively closed systems. NY’s tunnels are older, some stations are abandoned, there are seemingly infinite nooks and crannies, and the infrastructure either connects to or is closely adjacent to various other infrastructures in the city (sewers, storm drains, steam vents, etc). So vermin from the swer system or apartment buildings can easily fi
The New York version of Snow White’s helping the Seven Dwarves clean house:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n15UKexKf4k
(EDIT: as this hasn’t had any replies and it’s now morning even in Central Time – Wayne, you might observe safe coffee management practices before viewing this too far, if you’re unfamiliar with it or the movie it’s from…)
Wonder how many were displaced when Sandy hit …
Remember that Sandy flooded only about 20% of the subway tunnels, mostly Manhattan below 42nd Street.
Overmod- I haven’t seen a Disney cartoon since “The Little Mermaid” but wow, that was something!
BTW, Washington D.C. itself has a serious rodent problem in and near the restaurants near the White House. They dwell in the rain drainage sewers during the day and venture out at dusk en masse. So bad in some places it looks like that old rat movie Willard. Again they look for food and food abundance on the ground or in easily accessible dumpsters is the issue.
I post this video link as proof that London’s Underground has a rodent problem so out of hand that they are fighting each other!!
https://news.yahoo.com/photo-mice-fighting-subway-platform-033119965.html
I finally got around to watching this. Um, I’m a little too old for a gross-out this early in the morning. I need a shot of “Virginia Gentleman.” Is it five o’clock somewhere? [+o(]
I venture the cause is just the opposite - the food sources are so limited that the only two rodents have to fight over the scraps available.
After all there could be a raccoon problem…
The sun never really sets on a good bourbon opportunity.
I’m sad you didn’t appreciate the humor from just over the river. Perhaps it’s because the first DVD I played for my kids was the original Snow White, but I had something of a soft spot for that schmaltzy scene in it, and gloriously enjoyed the send-up.
Oh, I appreciated the humor from “over-the-river” all right, but as I said I’m too old for “gross-out” jokes!
Maybe if I was still in high school…
Nah, forget it! Who in their right mind wants to go back to high school?