4 AUGUST 8, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood leads pack in Qns. rat reports
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Ridgewood continued to have
Queens’ largest reported rat
population, while complaints
about the critters spiked in two
northeastern neighborhoods last year,
according to a Renthop report released
on Aug. 5.
The “Is Your City Rodent Infested?”
report documented complaints about
critters running through major
cities across the United States in 2018,
including a borough-by-borough
breakdown for New York City.
Brooklyn continues to lead the city
in rat complaints, with 6,526 reports
during 2018. Queens is in middle of
the five-borough pack with 2,605
complaints in 2018, with an average
of 24.1 complaints per square mile.
While none of the Queens
neighborhoods could be considered
rat-infested, residents in Ridgewood
had the most reported rat sightings
last year, with 179 total complaints.
That’s a marginal increase of 4.7
percent from the 171 sightings in the
neighborhood back in 2017.
Jackson Heights (162 complaints in
2018, a 27.6 increase from 2017) and
Astoria (93 complaints in 2018, down
from 108 in 2017) were second and
third, respectively, in having the
most rat complaints in Queens.
Two northeast Queens
neighborhoods, meanwhile, had
a surge in rat sightings last year.
Auburndale in Flushing had a 340
percent increase in rat complaints
last year, but while that number
sounds truly skin-crawling, the raw
number of complaints was actually
small (22 complaints in 2018 versus
five complaints in 2017).
Oakland Gardens also saw a
surge in rat sightings in 2018, with
12 complaints. That’s up 200 percent
from the four reported in 2017.
Meanwhile, four Queens
neighborhoods had the biggest
drop in rodent complaints in 2018.
Bayside and Bayside Hills had a 75
percent decrease in reports over
the last year (18 in 2018 versus 73 in
2017), followed by Rego Park with a
73 percent plunge (18 complaints in
2018 against 66 in 2017).
College Point residents saw 64
percent fewer rodents in 2018 (5
cases against 14 in 2017) and Ozone
Park had a 63 percent decrease (14
complaints in 2018 versus 38 reports
in 2017).
While rodent complaints tend to
peak during the summer, the most
rat sightings in New York City last
year occurred in the spring and
early summer months of May, June
and July, with a combined 38,319
complaints for the period. By
contrast, the fewest complaints were
recorded in January, November and
December, a combined 21,844.
Check out the full report on
Renthop’s website, renthop.com.
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
A recent report found that
a number of Queens
schools tested positive
for lead paint during a recent
inspection.
According to Chalkbeat, 48
Queens schools were found to
have deteriorating lead paint on
the premises. In these schools,
the paint was found in 139 total
classrooms.
The NYC Department of Education
(DOE) is legally required to check
buildings that were built before
1978. In the recent inspection, the
DOE checked out over 700 schools
in the city that were built before
1985 and serve students as young
as 6 years old.
Among the schools in Queens that
tested positive for lead paint is P.S.
9, a special needs school in Maspeth.
The school has been the subject
of numerous reports regarding
conditions of the building, which
local Councilman Robert Holden
and a number of parents have
described as deplorable.
P.S. 9 is currently undergoing
renovations, but Holden has argued
that it would be better to build a
new building for P.S. 9 elsewhere
P.S. 9 in Maspeth is one of 48 Queens public schools that tested positive for lead paint in recent inspections,
according to a report. Photo via Google Maps
rather than continue to pour money
into the existing structure.
QNS has reached out to the DOE
for comment and is awaiting a
response.
Among the schools in the
Ridgewood Times coverage area
which tested positive for lead
include the following:
• P.S. 12, Woodside
• P.S. 19, Corona
• P.S./I.S. 49, Middle Village
• P.S. 68, Glendale
• P.S. 71, Ridgewood
• P.S. 81, Ridgewood
• P.S. 81 ANNEX (OLD 75),
Ridgewood
• P.S. 87, Middle Village
• P.S. 89, Elmhurst
• P.S. 90, Richmond Hill
• P.S. 111, Long Island City
• P.S. 112, Long Island City
• P.S./I.S. 113, Glendale
• P.S. 152, Woodside
Photo via Getty Images
Lead paint woes at numerous local public schools
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