NYC Rat Czar

New York City has a rat problem. If you don’t think so, just watch the video below. It’s OK, I’ll wait.

It’s not surprising really. Leave bags of hot, steaming food out all night on the sidewalk and pretty soon the critters will come out for a meal – and have babies.

In response, the city has listed a job opening for a cabinet level post. The Director of Rodent Mitigation, a Rat Czar.

What’s so amusing about this is that the Mayor is having a bit of fun within the confines of big city politics and had the Job Posting written up with a bit of flair designed to get a bit of media attention. And it worked.

Here are my favorite bits (bolding is my own).

The About This Job section opens with a bang:

Do you have what it takes to do the impossible? A virulent vehemence for vermin?

They then lean into the job title, full well knowing it’s not the most sexy but, hey, go with it.

If so, your dream job awaits: New York’s Citywide Director of Rodent Mitigation.

I think the PR folks that helped write the job description are still hurting from all the earned media from the Pizza Rat. I was in San Francisco and even I heard about the Pizza Rat.

Despite their successful public engagement strategy and cheeky social media presence, rats are not our friends. . . Cunning, voracious, and prolific, New York City’s rats are legendary for their survival skills, but they don’t run this city – we do.

That final line echos Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s October 17th speech in which she famously declared “but the rats don’t run the city, we do” which was spotted on signs at the NYC marathon and instantly became a TikTok meme and is even being monetized by the sanitation department.

But back to the JD. Yadda, yadda, yadda, then they show they mean business.

The ideal candidate is highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty, determined to look at all solutions from various angles, including improving operational efficiency, data collection, technology innovation, trash management, and wholesale slaughter.

Then on to the qualifications. New York City resident, Bachelor’s Degree, experience in policy and urban planning, strong organizational skills and attention to detail, proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, team player, adapts well to change, then:

This was it. Only in NYC would you see this line in a government job posting. It’s not just be a bad ass, no – they spiffed it up a bit and wrote a “general aura of badassery” Damn – this is a city that will talk straight to you.

Here you go, read it for yourself.