The (Fiscal) Year Of The Rat

In the zero-sum ecosystem of economics, there are winners and losers:

The welcome mat is out for rats, as numerous homes sit vacant for lengthy periods due to the recent spike in foreclosures and the sagging real estate market on Staten Island.

The rodents find safe haven in the often unkempt properties.

Neighbors of homes that have been on the market for months or even years are frustrated by the rodent infestation and are powerless to keep the critters away.

. . .

“Many times, if there’s a foreclosure, people just walk away,” said Mark Loffredo, president of Post Exterminating Co. in Tompkinsville. “The yards get overgrown and rodents find it conducive to habitation. If they recognize that there’s nothing to stop them getting in, they will nest in the house. They do search for habitat and they’re always searching for food.”

Though there are no official counts of rats in the city, unofficial guesses range from about 8 million (or one rat per person, an old rule of thumb) to perhaps 10 times that many. That would indicate that there could be anywhere from 500,000 to almost 5 million rats on Staten Island.