New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made his distaste for rats well known, a sentiment deeply linked to his early life experiences. Those close to Adams, including his brother Bernard, suggest that his aversion stems from growing up in rodent-infested homes and a memorable encounter with a peculiar childhood pet named "Mickey."
Since becoming mayor in 2022, Adams has repeatedly voiced his disdain for rats, with his team recalling numerous instances of him publicly denouncing the creatures. This week, he reaffirmed those feelings while launching the inaugural National Urban Rat Summit, a two-day event where experts gathered to discuss strategies for dealing with urban rodent infestations.
However, Adams’ war on rats began long before his political career. His animosity towards rodents is rooted in his childhood, spent in impoverished homes in Brooklyn and Queens. Bernard Adams recounted how their family homes were regularly plagued by rats, which left a lasting impression on the future mayor. He vividly remembered rats scurrying out of their bread box, an ever-present nuisance during their upbringing.
Adding a twist to the story, Eric Adams has often recounted the tale of "Mickey," a pet rat from his childhood. While some question the truth behind this story, Bernard insists Mickey was real, though as a young child, he was too frightened to approach the rodent. The family’s struggles with pests extended beyond their home in New York, even following them to a farm in Alabama, where field mice, almost the size of rats, continued to fuel their collective disdain for the creatures.
As Adams grew older and became a police officer, rats remained a part of his life. Former transit officer Cliff Hollingsworth, who worked with Adams in the 1980s, recalled frequent encounters with rats in the city’s subway system. Hollingsworth believes this experience helped shape Adams’ enduring campaign against the rodents.
Adams’ public battle against rats has been a defining feature of his political career. In 2019, while serving as Brooklyn Borough President, he staged a striking demonstration, displaying a boozy concoction filled with liquefied rat carcasses. Even as mayor, he has faced personal embarrassment due to repeated vermin violations at his own home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. In response, he appointed New York City’s first "rat czar" to address the issue citywide.
Adams has frequently tied his efforts to eliminate rats to larger urban concerns. He has suggested that the city’s rodent problem is a contributing factor to residents leaving New York and has used the issue to advocate for policies such as controversial budget cuts and a "trash revolution" that involves introducing more expensive, rat-resistant bins.
At this week’s National Urban Rat Summit, Adams once again underscored his commitment to combating the city’s rodent problem, declaring it one of his top priorities. He has positioned himself as the city’s leading anti-rat advocate and referred to rats as “public enemy number one,” referencing the ongoing battle he has waged throughout his life.
While some of Adams' childhood stories, including the infamous "Mickey" anecdote, have been met with scepticism, his administration remains steadfast in its determination to reduce New York City's rat population.
