NYC Rat Walking Tour: History of Trash and Rodents in New York City

Origins of the Rat Walking Tour

• 💡 Suzanne Reisman, with two decades in nonprofit social services, sought more creative exploration and found it in unique walking tours.
• 🎯 Her tours focus on the significant link between New York City's history, its garbage problem, and its rat population.
• 🎓 Reisman is a graduate of the Sanitation Foundation's Trash Academy and a member of the RAT CAC.

Historical Sanitation and Disgust

• 🤢 Past sanitation in the 1800s involved streets covered in muck, including human and animal feces, rotting food, and industrial waste, a substance called "corporation pudding".
• ⚠️ In the 1880s, New York City's stench was so intense it could be smelled six miles offshore.
• ✅ By the late 1800s, significant efforts were made to clean up the streets, improving conditions from the past.

Modern Rat Population Estimates

• 🧐 While an official coordinator states it's impossible to know the exact number of rats, the focus is on mitigating the worst infestations.
• 📊 A 1949 scientific study in East Harlem estimated one rat for every 36 people.
• 📈 Based on the current population of 8 million, this would suggest around 225,000 rats, though Reisman estimates closer to 250,000 rats.
• ⚠️ The New York City Department of Health also estimates the rat population to be around 250,000, refuting claims of three million rats.

Tour Goals and Patron Experience

• 🧠 Reisman aims for patrons to have a good time while confronting unpleasant realities, leaving with an understanding of the city's past and present sanitation challenges.
• ✨ The tour is described as interesting, educational, and disgusting, offering a truly different and unique evening.