Rats were leaving Manhattan, hurrying across the bridges in single-file lines. Some went to Westchester, some to Brooklyn. It was the pandemic, and the rats, which had been living off the nourishing trash of New York's densest borough for generations, were as panicked about the closure of restaurants as we were. People were eating three meals a day at home, and the rats were hungry.
Living in New York City requires a constant negotiation between what we owe our neighbors and what our neighbors owe us. In an ideal world, you and your neighbor would have a mutual understanding about why it's good for everyone to keep a clean building, but if she is indeed hoarding then it's hard to imagine she's able to give you what she can't even give herself. This is a pickle.
A six-decade-old public housing development in Williamsburg has decayed into a house of horrors marred by moldy dwellings, widespread water damage and vexing vermin, seven New York politicians charged Monday in a letter demanding accelerated repairs. A doorknock sweep of two of the nine buildings at Bushwick/Hylan Houses found more than 100 units with water damage and mold, according to the letter to the New York City Housing Authority, which runs the development.