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Daily News Reports on Rat Infested Parsons-Archer Station
Parsons-Archer (the last stop on E, J, Z lines), which is completely rat infested, smells like rotting death. The situation is so bad it gets picked up by the Daily News. -
Woman Bitten by Rat While Waiting for J Train
It's common for rats to run across people's feet in the subways. It's less common for them to actually bite. However, one woman in her 20s was bit on the foot while waiting for the J train at the City Hall station in downtown Manhattan. New York Daily News covers the story. -
First "Rat Rally" at Parsons Archer
TWU Members, staff and shop stewards launch the campaign at Parsons Archer, clearly the rattiest station in the system. MTA gets wind of the coming protest and orders the refuse room cleaned and disinfected. Officers take the press to see the refuse room and rats, denied their daily bread, crawl over the reporter. A little over 770 riders sign TWU's petition. Article: Here -
Rat Petitions at 149th St & 3rd Ave Station
The Rat Campaign strikes again in the Bronx during the morning and afternoon commute. Over 880 riders sign the petition calling for cleaner subways and a real rat eradication program. One rider took the petition to her office and returned 20 minutes later with 45 signatures! -
Rat Petitions at Atlantic/Pacific Station in Brooklyn
A little over 350 people sign Local 100's rat-free petition. Brooklyn Independent Television covers the story: BIT -
MTA Removes Trash Cans from 2 Stations
The MTA initiated a pilot program at two stations, one in queens and one in the east village, by removing all trash cans from the platforms. Since the MTA is short of cleaning personnel, it has hoped removing trash cans will reduce the amount of trash in the subways. The MTA hopes riders will simply take their trash with them. This turns logic on its head. The solution is hire more cleaners! The New York Times covered the story. -
The Rat Campaign Strikes Again at Brooklyn Heights
Once again, subway riders enthusiastically take flyers and sign petitions declaring they deserve a 'rat-free subway.' TWU doesn't want to work with them, you don't want to ride with them. The solution is hire more cleaners, more frequent trash removal, sealed trash containers, and more rat poison! -
Businesses Sign Rat Free Petition
After making several visists to rat-infested stations, businesses in Queens, Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Heights sign our rat petition oriented to business owners. Why might you ask? Because as the rat population explodes, they come out of the subways at night in search of food. This means subway rats invade nearby businesses and affect the wider community, not just commuters. To find out more about public officials addressing the city's rat infestation, chech out this press release. -
The Inflatable Rat Strikes Back! at Parsons-Archer
TWU decides to visit Parsons-Archer again because it's still crawling with rats and smells like hot garbage and urine. The Rat Campaign escalates the pressure to clean up the station and receives enthusiastic support from riders, who sign our petition. -
Rat Campaign Visits 149th & 3rd Ave Again!
Letting the MTA know that we won't go away until the rats are gone, TWU decides to revisit 149th & 3rd Avenue Station to follow up with riders and check the cleanliness of the subway. Rats are still a problem and more riders sign our petition. -
MTA Wants to Reduce Cleaners' Starting Pay
At the opening of contract negotiations between the MTA and TWU Local 100, the MTA presents a demand for reducing the pay rate for new hires under the cleaner title. The Union refuses to let the MTA take out its financial woes upon the workers. -
Rat Campaign Wins First Victory
Once considered the most rat-infested station in the system Parsons Archer is now one of the cleanest. After multiple visits to Parsons-Archer by the blow up rat, TWU Local 100 members and supporters, the MTA has finally put in the resources necessary to clean it up. The garbage is being picked up twice daily, the refuse rooms have been bleached, the holes filled, and the tracks baited. This shows that it can be done, si se puede! -
19 New Positions added for 2 Refuse Trains
Granting the demand made by New Yorkers Deserve a Rat-Free Subway for more trash removal pickups, the MTA has added ninteen new positions and two new refuse trains to its budget for 2012. This is a major victory. More pickups means less garbage means fewer rats. But more must be done. The MTA laid off 63 cleaners in April 2011. Nineteen new positions won't cut it. -
TWU Petitions Riders at Broadway Junction
Traveling to the most rat infested subway stations, the campaign continues to build a wider network of support. It turns out that nobody likes rats! -
City-State Politicians join TWU and WEACT at 181st St. Station
TWU and WEACT collect a little over 250 signatures from riders. WEACT is a community-environmental-justice organization. City councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and state senator Bill Perkins accompany the union in calling for cleaner subways. New York 1 covers the story: NY1 -
Website and On-Line Petition Launch
[Rat Free Subways](www.ratfreesubways.com) www.ratfreesubways.com is launched. Now riders and businesses can sign our rat-free petition online. Upload pictures of subway rats to enter contests for metro cards and gift cards. Also you can share your story about rats and filth in your station. -
French Media Loves Rat Campaign
Who would have guessed that the New Yorkers Deserve a Rat Free Subway campaign would become popular in France? Le Point covers the story. -
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Russian Radio Reports on the Rat Campaign
The 'Rate my Rat' contest launched by the Rat Free Subways Campaign has sparked the interest of Europeans. Russian radio program, The Voice of Russia, reports on the story. -
Rat Campaign Media Coverage Goes National
News coverage of TWU's rat-free subways campaign goes national when the story is picked up by Wolf Blitzer and The Situation Room. View the segment on CNN. -
French News Makes Rat-Campaign International
Interest in the Rat-Free Subways campaign sparks the interest of European audiences. The media coverage of the campaign goes international when French media picks up the story, particularly the 'rate my rat' contest. Check it out on France 24. -
The Rat-Free Subways Website Crashes
In January, less than a month after the launch of our website, www.ratfreesubways.com, the site crashes do to the overwhelming amount of visitors to the site. Nearly 170,000 different people visited our website in January. Suprisingly the rat-free subways campaign is popular in Europe! -
Brazilian TV Picks up the Rat Campaign!
The Rat-Free Subways campaign media coverage hits Latin America. Brazilian TV network RedeTV picks up the story. -
First Winner of "Rate My Rat" Contest
Michael Spivak wins a free monthly metrocard for taking a picture of possibly the ugliest rat in all of NYCT. The ugliest rats are voted upon on the "Rate My Rat" section of the rat free subways website. The story was covered by international and local news, including ABC. -
Крысы в нью-йоркском метро
Russian media continues to cover the rat story bringing many Russian visitors to the rat-free website. Here's the story at Lenta. -
Swiss Television Reports on the Rat Campaign
The Rat-Free Subways campaign increasingly gets more international attention from European news agencies. In this segment, a Swiss news group covers the story on RSI-LA1. -
Rat Petition at 14th St. and 7th Ave.
Another 200 eager New Yorkers signed TWU Local 100 petitions calling on the MTA to take additional steps toward a rat-free subway system. The sign-ins came as two dozen TWU Local 100 Shop Stewards, staff and officers hit the IRT Station at 14th Street and 7th Avenue in Chelsea, a stop reported by our Cleaners as being among the most rat-infested. -
Second Winner of Rate My Rat Contest
The winning photo, entitled "Tails Of The City," was taken by 29-year-old computer technician Michael Savarino and shows two rats sharing a bag of chips at the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train in Brooklyn. Savarino won a 30-day unlimited MetroCard and a $500 gift certificate to a camera store. See the stroy on NY1.
