City streets could soon become the backdrop for a live action “Ratatouille” if officials don’t come up with creative solutions to the growing trash and rodent problem caused by coronavirus-induced budget cuts, local pols warned Tuesday.
“These rats have the run of New York City,” said Comptroller Scott Stringer at a Harlem press conference about the infestation.
“These rats are walking around waiting for a table at outdoor seating,” Stringer quipped, invoking the animated 2007 Disney film about an alliance between an anthropomorphic rat who wants to become a chef and a a restaurant’s garbage boy.
“I’ve seen them walking upright. They come up to me and say, ‘Good morning Mr. Comptroller.’ They have become part of the fabric of this city because city government has failed to get trash and sanitation under control,” he said at the press conference with Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan).