By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — When the sun goes down on the small triangular park off the 72nd Street subway stop known as Verdi Square, some residents say the rats will "dance" for you.
"If you clap your hands at night they all jump out of the bushes," said Rob Hafferman, 24, who lives around the block and walks through the square daily.
"It's a nice neighborhood, nice area, but just a messy park."
Verdi Square, bounded by Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue at 72nd Street, has attracted complaints about rodents, rubbish and food scraps for years.
But although the square is cleaned and baited with rat poison regularly, reinforcements had to be called in recently.
"We have sent an extra staff person there in the early morning and later in the day," said Cristina DeLuca, a spokeswoman from the Parks Dept. "The park is now being cleaned as much as three times a day to address the rodent issues in the park."
DeLuca also said rat-proof garbage bags would now be used, and baiting increased two weeks ago.
"The park is filthy and the trash is particularly apparent in the morning rush hour when people go to the subway," City Councilwoman Gale Brewer wrote in a letter to the Parks Department.
Her office often gets calls from residents complaining about the park and she requested last November that the department send another set of hands to help keep the square clean.
This is not the first time the Parks Dept. has made a push to get rid of the rodents. The New York Times reported back in 1987 about an anti-rat crusade, but the problem recurred in 2000 when subway work apparently drove "legions" of rats to the surface.
Even with the extra help from another Parks worker, some wonder whether it will do any good.
"People leave their trash everywhere," said Alam S., who works at a newsstand in the square.
