Rat ranking
Six of the worst, riders and workers told Metro:
Hoyt-Schermerhorn
59th St./Columbus Circle
42nd St./Times Square
Seventh Avenue, E line
125th Street on the A line
Jamaica Center/ Parsons/Archer in Queens
Published 00:18, November the 19th, 2009
Ranking stations according to rats
A lot of subway stops have rats, but a few are known by riders and transit workers alike to be particularly infested with the vermin.
The 59th Street/Columbus Circle and Seventh Avenue stations top an undesirable list, said a subway conductor who didn’t give his name. It’s gotten worse as cleaning is cut, he said.
“Sometimes overflowing trash cans will sit here all weekend,” he said. “And that attracts rats.”
Kelsy Nova, 25, commutes in and out of 59th Street twice a day.
“One time this woman said to me, ‘Oh, look a cat across the platform,’” Nova said. “I had to tell her, ‘No, that’s no cat, that’s a rat.’ She didn’t believe me until she saw its tail.”
The MTA responds to riders’ complaints with poison and discourages littering. It doesn’t seem to help.
“Rats come right up next to you on the platform,” said rider Chad Duncan of 59th Street station. “You say ‘Shoo!’ and they look at you like they own the place.”