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    The Sideshow

    NYC subway workers running “rate my rat” contest

    One of the more popular "Rate my rat" contestantsNew York City subway workers are hosting a contest for riders to rate the level of rat infestation at their home stations. The Transport Workers Union 100 is giving away a free unlimited MetroCard pass to whichever rider posts the "best" photo or video of subway rats to their site.

    Among the many options offered on the site, you can visit the "Rat Gallery" to check out other user photos like the so-called beer rat pictured above.

    The contest is actually part of an effort by the employees to get the subways cleared of the growing rat infestation.  Local affiliate WGAL writes that the effort has already produced significant clean-ups at 20 stations. But as the subway workers write on the site, there are many more MTA venues still awaiting rat purges:

    Rats are proliferating in the New York City subways. Riders overwhelmingly agree--it's getting worse. Aggressive rats are bolder about coming onto the platforms, and have even been known to bite riders. They invest the "refuse rooms" where garbage is stored. Since the Transport Workers Union began shining a spotlight on this problem, the MTA has announced a program to clean 20 stations--that's less than four percent of the stations system wide. It's not enough. More must be done!

    Meanwhile, MTA riders and employees who were unable to capture an award-winning photo of their rat trauma can still contribute a written testimonial to the site's "Rat Tale" section.

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    50 comments

    • phillythekid  •  Dexter, New Mexico  •  4 mths ago
      ..They invest the "refuse rooms" where garbage is stored..?..i hope they meant ..infest..
      • Spawn32f 4 mths ago
        wow rats have jobs and money to invest wow smart rats i wish we all can learn oh wait infest oh ok sorry lol lmao
      • Machine Gun Kelly 4 mths ago
        Typos. Providing entertainment for millions!
      • RobM 4 mths ago
        That's what happens when you offshore copy editing.
    • JRobert  •  St Augustine, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      And when they finish in New York they can head to Capital Hill. Plenty of rats and other assorted vermin there as well.
    • Paradux  •  Brooklyn, New York  •  4 mths ago
      Funny..I ride the Subways six days a week between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and have never seen a Rat. Not saying they aren't out there, because I am sure they are, just I have never seen one...
      • Andy 4 mths ago
        u wont win a prize with that story
      • Atilla 4 mths ago
        Either you ride the Day Shift or you keep your eyes out for pickpockets and muggers instead of looking at the floors. Leave it up to the tourists or the homeless to see the rats.
      • robert h 4 mths ago
        If his white cane isn't a tip-off as to why he hasn't seen any rats, oh well
    • snowblind  •  Barrow, Alaska  •  4 mths ago
      Now rats will rat each other out just to get a ticket to ride
    • Mordac69  •  4 mths ago
      They are changing the name from Grand Central Station to RAT Central Station. I think the Rats Commute on the New Haven line. Saw them at Union Station in New Haven as well. Would not surprise me if Mayor DeStefano tries to give them ID cards and lets them vote too.
    • The Bat  •  4 mths ago
      Our rats, Jack Daniel and Remy Martin, preferred Margaritas, but they were the domestic variety, not wild like these beer-swilling plebes!
    • rain man  •  4 mths ago
      The sad part is a lot of them will stop and pose for you...
      • Eðulf 4 mths ago
        Rats are smart, perhaps bored subway passengers should train them to do tricks for their food, then they can be useful rats with a role in the capitalist economy.
    • just a decent person  •  4 mths ago
      My money's on Reginald Rat, though I must admit Ricky Rat is looking good too.
      • Rebecca 4 mths ago
        Bloomberg will win.
    • alanh79  •  Seattle, Washington  •  4 mths ago
      Ah, makes me miss ol' NYC
    • Delron DaThugg  •  4 mths ago
      Saw one rat many years ago on a platform grabbing an old popsicle stick with the wrapper in its mouth...it took off and the wrapper was flapping behind its back - it made it look like a cape so we called it Super Rat.
    • ALH  •  Irvine, California  •  4 mths ago
      "They invest the "refuse rooms" where garbage is stored."

      Not even the rats in the Wall Street IRT station invest; Mitt Romney's the biggest rat-investor I can think of.

      It's INFEST, not invest.
    • Radical Liberal Genius  •  4 mths ago
      I posted a photo of Bloomberg. Where's my Metrocard?
    • Munchma Quchi  •  Fort Worth, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      Too bad NYC won't let you folks have guns, sitting there with a .22 would be a blast shooting rats all day. I would run out of ammo before running out of rats but it would be fun killing the little buggers.
    • Koba  •  Arvada, Colorado  •  4 mths ago
      Ahh the rats are cleaner than the new yorkers anyway. Set out some Harlan Teklad and yogies.
    • Dave  •  Rockwood, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      It was just another occupier. Another reason I will never go there.
    • Gary  •  New York, New York  •  4 mths ago
      Maybe if the transit workers did a better job of keeping the stations clean, there wouldn't be so many rats. They went on strike a few years ago and hurt a lot of people. People who make a lot less money than they do. Selfish. They should do their jobs for a change.
    • Atilla  •  4 mths ago
      Just like the sidewalk rats (pigeons), provide them with food and a nesting place, and they will come. NYC is a perfect breeding ground for RATS. I have seen NYC's best, rats larger than house cats forming Packs to threaten and collect food.
    • SandyS  •  4 mths ago
      Get some kick#$%$ kitties down there - feral ones that won't interact with people. That will take care of the rats. Of course, then you have the problem of getting rid of them. Well, at least Kittehs are cuter than rats.
    • Kailani  •  Mililani Town, Hawaii  •  4 mths ago
      They should have this contest in China Town (Honolulu)
    • joseph t  •  Cedar Rapids, Iowa  •  4 mths ago
      ban food on the subway the rats will leave
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