CHELSEA — Neighborhood residents will arm themselves with a new weapon against rodents Monday night: knowledge.
City Councilman Corey Johnson has organized a "Rat Academy" in response to a rise in complaints about rats in the neighborhood.
“We were getting more and more calls, particularly from Chelsea residents, that this was a growing problem,” Johnson said in a statement.
“We’ve been responsive and were constantly reaching out to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to investigate various cases,” he said. “But when it comes down to it, it’s more effective and more efficient to give the community the tools it needs to prevent rats from showing up in the first place.”
The training will be held Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hudson Guild Center at 441 W. 26 St. Representatives from the Department of Health will review methods for rat prevention. Plus, 20 rodent-resistant garbage cans will be raffled off, according to the flier.
The training is appropriate for building superintendents, tenants, maintenance and building management employees as well as those maintaining community gardens.
“If we can get our neighborhoods unified and trained on this, then we are going to start seeing some real results,” Johnson said. “I’m grateful that DOHMH is going to come and show us a thing or two about prevention.”
