Rat Week: More than 900 rat burrows reduced to 77 at Marcy Houses

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The New York City Housing Authority's pest management team has successfully mitigated the once-alarming rat population at Marcy Houses. The team's efforts include deploying bait boxes with snap traps, collapsing burrows and more. The progress has been inspiring for the Brooklyn-born team members involved in the initiative. "I wanted to stop the problem because it's a game; they are messing up people's cars and stuff, so I wanted to help solve people's problems," Marcy Houses exterminator Richard Henderson Jr. Over the past few years, the NYCHA pest management team has made notable progress with the rat issue at Marcy Houses. In 2018, the site had 901 rat burrows. Currently, that number has decreased to approximately 77. "These keep them out of the basements, which we want to do. We want to keep them out of comfy spaces," said NYCHA pest management Vice President Josey Barlett. Residents needing assistance with rodent concerns are encouraged to call the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771 or submit work tickets through the MyNYCHA application. "