Bones, The Pied “Pipe”-r, Leads Rats To Mounds*

The rats in the Village continue to rattle Villagers:

Rats remain a citywide concern and, in the Village at least, the rat population continues to grow. Washington Square Park has seen an increase in infestation this year, which the Parks Department has been working to keep under control.

. . .

As a Villager photographer was attempting to document the rat infestation on Saturday night, a park regular — a marijuana dealer who goes by the name Bones — filled her in about the situation. Bones said he had noticed the new trashcans on Saturday and that they seem better, since the rats can’t climb into them, either from below or above, to get at the garbage. Bones reported that while he did see some rats on Saturday night, it was much less than what he had seen earlier in the week. He showed the photographer a dead rat and also a slow-moving rat that he had noticed earlier.

Since the KFC was closed because of health violations relating to the rat infestation there, the next-best option to baiting the rats for a photo shoot proved to be a cheeseburger. As soon as the burger was placed on the ground, one rat made a beeline for it, going for the meat right away.

And sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t:

Some say that, not the KFC-Taco Bell or Demo Square, but the mounds — the three, small, currently cordoned-off climbing hills in Washington Square Park — are, in fact, the nexus of the Village’s rat population. Indeed, Parks has long wanted to raze the mounds, which have been frequently criticized as being virtual “rat condos.”

Eliza Nichols, a mounds advocate, strongly disputes this claim, calling it a “very good excuse” to destroy the three asphalt-covered humps. Nichols said this rumor was a scare tactic.

“The Parks Department has always hated the mounds,” Nichols said, explaining that she feels Parks just wants to flatten the whole park and make it more unified looking. Nichols has been fighting for more than 10 years to renovate the mounds, with little tangible success. The mounds, Nichols said, are great for children.

“They’re fun for children, they are great for exercise and an efficient use of space,” she said. In the winter, she said, “kids can sit on top and see the whole park” and go sledding on them.

Nichols explained that she has had multiple petitions signed showing support for the mounds. Nichols said Parks said they would renovate the mounds if the mounds supporters would fund it. Nichols has started many petitions and even raised money to renovate the diminutive hillocks. Despite assurance from Parks both in person and in writing, the mounds remain closed off.

When The Villager photographer and Bones were scouting out the area on Saturday night, they noticed many rats around the mounds.

Or, “Dammit, Jim, I’m A Drug Dealer, Not An Exterminator!”