NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: On December 1, Mayor Eric Adams posted a job opening for the role of the Big Apple's 'rat czar,' better known as the Citywide Director of Rodent Mitigation. After searching for the city's Rat Czar, Ernie Schicchi has taken on the mission of cleaning up the city's rodent population.

The lucrative job posting from the mayor's office promised a paycheck of between $120,000 and $170,000 and listed key skills and background in urban planning, project management, or government work as requirements. The rodent population has increased over the years and it has become a daunting task to control the rats.

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Who is Ernie Schicchi?

Ernie Schicchi, New York City's new 'Rat Czar' is the co-owner of Alternative Pest Control in Brooklyn. The Mayor's Office's search to find a capable rat killer for the city ended with the appointment of Schicchi. 

Overpopulated with rodents, Schicchi tells the New York Post that “rats are very smart, very resourceful and they learn very quickly.” The 50-year-old blames the unprecedented pandemic as the reason behind the city turning overridden with rats every day.

With 15 years of experience exclusively on rodents out of 27 years of expertise in pest control, Schicchi from Freehold, NJ said “When COVID hit and restaurants closed, garbage stopped being set out and rats lost food sources. So they fed off of garbage in residential neighborhoods. Now that restaurants are open again, they [eat] from both.”

Sharing insights he derived on understanding the rodent population increase, the rat czar listed a few, reports the New York Post. Schicchi says that "rats are not claustrophobic" which lets them roam where humans usually don't. Speaking of solutions, he says "I cover those holes with what’s called Geomesh. It’s a metal fiber that gets laid down like carpeting and is covered with dirt or grass. It prevents rats from getting in and out of their burrows.”

The news outlet reports on the other inferences Schicchi has made regarding the rodent population which include rats' abilities to chew through almost anything they get, their communication skills, learning capability, and the following food wherever placed.

According to a CBS News report, there has been a 71 per cent increase in rodent sightings since 2020 as per the city council members' statement. In response to whether the fight against the relentless rat population would see any result, Schicchi responded to the New York Post saying “New York City will not win. Too much has to happen everywhere at once. The rats are going to win.”