Rats and New York City— you don’t think of them as being inseparable sides of the tourist magnet that is widely known as one of the most exciting destinations in the world. But it’s true, anecdotally, there are more rats than people in the Big Apple and as locals will gladly tell you, they are everywhere!
This is a fact of life in the urban jungle, so much so that New York is one of the few cities to have a “rat czar” to control the rodent population and make sure they don’t overrun the residents.
If you are among the people who are fascinated by the nasty rodents Rat Daddy Tours will take you to the hot spots of rat havens: the subway tunnels, the sewers, the dumpsters and the alleys. It’s a unique and unforgettable experience for anyone who loves urban wildlife and wants to learn more about the fascinating history and culture of New York City’s most notorious residents.
Rats pose a health risk to humans, as they can carry and transmit various diseases, such as leptospirosis, salmonella and Seoul virus. Rats can also cause damage to buildings, wires and pipes by gnawing on them.
The city’s rat population is dominated by the brown rat (also known as the Norway rat), which is an invasive species that originated from Asia. Like so much that is associated with the Big Apple, the brown rat is larger and more aggressive than the native black rat (also known as the roof rat), which it has largely displaced or killed. The brown rat can grow up to 20 inches long and weigh up to 2 pounds. It can squeeze through holes as small as an inch, jump up to 4 feet horizontally or 3 feet vertically, survive a fall from 40 feet high, and swim for three days.
Meet Kenny Bollwerk, aka “Rat Daddy,” who is founder of ‘RatTok’. A certified rat expert and enthusiast, Kenny takes you on a guided tour of some of the most rat-infested spots in the city, but you will also learn about their behavior, intelligence, and social structure, and even feed them some treats if you dare
Bollwerk didn’t intend to be a rat tour guide. In fact, it sort of just happened, he explained to Business Insider. As he began posting more about the rats around NYC on TikTok, people would reach out to him about meeting up and seeing the rats with their own eyes when they were in town. Since January 2023, he’s done over 50 rat tours for people coming from all across the world.
The one-hour tour covers different areas of NYC, from Sunnyside, Queens to Grand Central Station. All tours begin at 10:45pm and cost $50. They can be booked via Bollwerk’s website. He also livestreams rat content on TikTok, drawing thousands of viewers.
According to his website, those who subscribe to his TikTok get a free 2-hour tour. Plus, fans can even secure their own ‘RatTok’ merch.
“Rats are like a New York City mascot. People want to see it for themselves,” he said, according to an article from The New York Post.
Surprisingly Bollwerk avows, “I don’t like rats. In New York City, they’re not pets. They’re pests. That’s what I try to explain,” and he isn’t just raising awareness with NYC’s rat crisis, he’s also showing others how to mitigate the problem and the consequences that come with it.
