the brown rat no relation New York City
Description
Species
Rarely seen in daylight, rats have been reported in New York City since early colonial days. As recently as 1944, two distinct species were prevalent: the brown rat (Norway rat) and the black rat (ship rat, roof rat). Over the next few decades, the more aggressive brown variety displaced the black rats, typically by attacking and killing them, but also by out-competing them for food and shelter. By 2014, the city's rat population was dominated by the brown rat.The brown rat is 16 to 20 inches (410 to 510 mm) long and weighs 1 to 2 pounds (450 to 910 g). It is brown or gray in color with a lighter-colored belly. It is nocturnal, and sleeps approximately 10 hours a day. The black rat is between 5 and 7 inches (130 and 180 mm) long (not including the tail) and weighs between 2.5 and 8 ounces (71 and 227 g). It is usually black to light brown in color with a lighter-colored belly.Population
Rats are elusive by nature, and public health officials have not developed any reliable way to estimate their numbers. However, a 2014 study by Jonathan Auerbach, which was reported in the Royal Statistical Society's Significance magazine, estimated that there were closer to 2 million rats in the city.  This disagrees with the often-repeated statistic that there are more rats than people in the five boroughs of New York City (8.4 million in 2014), with some estimates putting the number of rats far higher at as many as five rats per person (33.6 million).In 2014, the television channel Animal Planet named New York City the "Worst Rat City in the World". Compared to other cities within the United States, studies indicate New York is particularly well-suited for rats. This conclusion is based on characteristics such as human population patterns, public sanitation practices, climate, housing construction standards and other variables. Experts consider that the actual population of rats varies, depending on climate, sanitation practices, efforts to control the population, and season.Viral videos
In 2011, a video of a rat climbing on a sleeping man's face on the subway went viral. Rats are so common that ex-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer quipped in 2013, "The rats don't scurry. They walk right up to you and say, 'How are you, Mr. Borough President?'" That year, YouTube videos of rats on subway tracks and in a subway car in New York City went viral, as did videos of rats in a Dunkin' Donuts in Manhattan. In June 2014, residents at adjacent Upper West Side buildings started a rent strike, demanding an end to the rat problem. Also in 2014, Allerton Coops in Bronx Park East received three Notices of Violation from the Health Department and was fined for their inadequate response to a severe rat infestation.In 2015, a YouTube video of a rat carrying a slice of pizza in the subway, dubbed "Pizza Rat", went viral. The video was trending worldwide on Twitter and Facebook within 15 hours of the YouTube upload, garnered 5 million views within two days, and spawned similar staged videos with trained rats such as Selfie Rat.In early 2016, another video of a rat climbing on a sleeping subway rider was uploaded to social media. The uploader was criticized for his choice to film the incident and post it online rather than intervene.
no relation