backyard rats live in basement, get fed (unintentionally

[mjr203]

so the backyard of the building I live in (3 story) is pretty unkempt. The building is old and the foundation/basement have not been maintained.

There is a large tree which attracts lots of birds (pleasant) and our downstairs neighbor, who is basically a shut-in with mental issues (& LL's bro in law), feeds the birds by throwing bread and grain on the dirt in the backyard.

We looked outside after he had thrown bread out a couple of times and rats (1 or 2) emerge from the basement/cellar, get the bread, take it back into their holes at the base of the building.

My roommate (gf) is very concerned about rats being in the basement, she used to live in the bronx with a rodent problem. I am less concerned.

My questions are:

-How does the city deal with building rodent problems?
-Are the laws related to feeding of birds/rodents?
-If we were to approach the LL about extermination, plugging rat holes and stopping dwnstrs neighb from feeding as he has been doing, is that reasonable?

The man really needs a visiting nurse, IMO, but different issue.

-POINTER

[joliett]

If the buildings basement and foundation are not being maintained, it may very well be dangerous to the tenants in the building.

And there are definitely laws regarding rodents and extermination.

Call the Department of Buildings and get an inspector to look at the problems (if you believe what the inspector will say).

Take a picture of the rats eating the breadcrumbs and show it the woman who feeds them -- bet she stops. Better yet, show it to the building inspector!

<small>[ May 12, 2003, 07:04 PM: Message edited by: Joel Teicher, P.E. ]</small>

[Cranky Tenant]

Pointerout -
You should be concerned. Not only do rats bite but they also carry diseases. Not to scare you but there was at least one recent report of rabid rats.

You can also complain directly to the Health Department. Landlords are required to keep the building free of vermin - including rats.

The city has a special Rat Task Force though I don''t know if they deal with buildings or just public areas.

<small>[ May 12, 2003, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: Cranky Tenant ]</small>

[jot0n0]

You can call the city's new information/service hotline, 311 to make a complaint.

[mjr203]

Originally posted by Joel Teicher, P.E.:
Take a picture of the rats eating the breadcrumbs and show it the woman who feeds them -- bet she stops. Better yet, show it to the building inspector!

actually it is a man, not a woman.

I'll think about taking pictures. I think I could pull that off.

The whole situation is a little depressing because it is another ramification of this guy not really being able to take care of himself properly.

-POINTER

[mjr203]

Originally posted by FairSpectator:
i would not follow the above's advice. First contact the landlord or the tenant in order to resolve the issue amicably. If that doesn't work, then you can contact the health inspector. Otherwise, you will only piss off the landlord and tenant.

Yeah, I'm not going to go off half-cocked. The problem is that this building's principal purpose is being a storage facility for my neighbor, and my LL who owns a bunch of non-reg buildings typically attempts nothing beyond cashing rent checks.

I think the rats are an issue though and will likely broach it with him.

-POINTER

[mjr203]

so the exterminator visited today to exterminate an infestation of ticks, yes ticks, in our apt.

They observed that they most likely come from the backyard, that the downstairs apt (see above) is absolutely no doubt infested given the general lack of cleanliness of tenant and they observance of smell, and basement has "serious termite problem". They threw a bunch of rat poison in the back yard and basically said it was their opinion that the backyard is the source and if it was razed, cleaned and cut back that the problem would be reduced.

Any one have any insight on what LL responsibility is here? For the dwnstrs tenant? for the backyard? Clearly this is a building issue and a health issue.

-POINTER