UWS block will feature rat-crossing signs

Upper West Side residents unhappy about a rat infestation they blame on construction workers at a 76th Street site have planned an unusual protest: They are posting “Rat crossing” signs in the neighborhood, Gothamist reported.

Joseph Bolanos, the president of the West 76th Street Block Association, told the New York Times earlier this month that construction site at 52 West 76th Street, at Columbus Avenue, operated by Taconic Construction, is to blame. The signs were slated to go up yesterday evening, 50 feet from the site, though no word yet on whether they were actually installed.

Although Taconic has made two trash cans available for the remnants of workers’ lunches, which Bolanos has said are the source of the problem, he called the measure “too little too late.” “It gets really crazy around 2 a.m.,” Bolanos told Gothamist. “This one lady was walking her dog there the other night and she actually stepped on one —- squished it. It was alarming for her and the rat.” [Gothamist] [NYT] — Guelda Voien