Brian Lairn on WNYC.

Now we'll speak with a woman in charge of addressing one of New York's pressing concerns, rats.

We've all got a rat sighting story, right? Maybe one ran across your foot

on your walk home or made a nest out of your car engine. If you're really unlucky, maybe you

encountered a rat in your toilet or in your subway car. One rat encounter has been making

headlines in New York City's newspapers this month. A woman at

Wild West Playground near Central Park's West 93rd Street entrance saw two or three rats hop out

of her children's stroller as she was getting ready to leave. Rachel Chase, the unlucky

Upper West Side Mom, told the New York Times that she wanted to, quote,

set the stroller on fire after the incident, a relatable sentiment, right? For anyone whose personal

belongings, never mind potentially your kids, have ever made contact with a dreaded creature. This

incident should light on a larger problem on the Upper West Side, in particular and possibly

for some playgrounds per se. Have you seen the photo circulated by the New York Post of two

dozen rats feasting away on food scraps left for pigeons at the median on Broadway near 96th Street?

Earlier this year, right set rat sightings were down.

The city's rat czar, Kathleen Karate, told the Times that 311 complaints in January

dropped by 24% in comparison to last year.

That's after they implemented some anti-rat measures in the Adams administration,

you may remember.

So what's the state of New York City's rat population now?

And what about those playgrounds?

The rats are herself, Kathleen Karate, whose official title is Citywide Director of Roadit Mitigation,

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