Need to lift that ferret ban, let the ferrets work.
HN front-page, 2033 NYC's new ferret-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
SKINNER: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
41–50 of 94 posts
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#42[deleted]
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#43> "It's really a cultural issue. It doesn't have to be that way."
> "overflowing garbage cans"
Hmm something doesn't add up here
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#44The real solution is quite simple: trash cans The reason why NYC has such a rat epidemic is because they literally throw their trash bags on the street. Which leads to some getting ripped open and leaving food for pests.
New Yorkers are so precious about this. I've heard pages and pages of excuses why trash containers can't possibly work in New York City, despite literally every other city in the developed world-- including all the others in the United States-- somehow managing to master this arcane technology.
This is actually somewhat common in city centres for space and access reasons; lots of places do it. Here's one recent attempt at fixing it: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2023/06/21/plastic...
(Once you go outside the canals it's wheelie bins, but they are not considered suitable for use in the very centre, for reasons I was never super-clear on)
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#45>> [...] a lot of people don't want to give up street parking spots for garbage containers. This is an understatement. A New Yorker with a car that doesn't/can't pay the monthly indoor garage fees will fight tooth and nail for street parking.
On the other hand, a New Yorker without a car, who walks around piles of leaking garbage bags on the sidewalk, is ecstatic about replacing parking spots with garbage containers.
Fortunately, it's a good thing to realize that each neighborhood is different. The busy neighborhoods with the most trash (e.g. much of Manhattan) have the smallest number of car-owning residents because it's a lot of tall buildings, while the neighborhoods with the most car-owning residents (e.g. much of Queens) generate the least trash, because it's a lot of houses.
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#46Has the option for rat birth control failed? https://time.com/6264623/rat-birth-control-poison-contrapest...
It's only semi-effective, you need to get rats to drink the substance, and it makes them less fertile for about 100 days. Could work along with other methods, but not a silver bullet.
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#47>> [...] a lot of people don't want to give up street parking spots for garbage containers. This is an understatement. A New Yorker with a car that doesn't/can't pay the monthly indoor garage fees will fight tooth and nail for street parking.
Fuck cars. Everyone street parking in NYC is a "rat breeder", simple as. It's on their hands.
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Substandard, decrepit, and unreliable to the point of necessitating alternative means compared to advanced economies.
The real problem is that, for all that, it's still probably the best transit system in the USA. I live in Boston and I would trade the MBTA for the NYC MTA in a heartbeat. (Though to be fair, I would also trade the MBTA for a handful of shiny rocks, that being about equivalent in value.)
It really is crazy how bad the T is! I suppose the long tradition of MBTA management seats being used as patronage rewards has not helped.
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#49>> [...] a lot of people don't want to give up street parking spots for garbage containers. This is an understatement. A New Yorker with a car that doesn't/can't pay the monthly indoor garage fees will fight tooth and nail for street parking.
My anecdotal experience is that as it relates to manhattan, a huge portion of street parking is used by commuters (even from other parts of NYC) a resident parking plus metered solution would free up a ton of space.
Re: NYC's new rat-killing weapon is wildly successful – for now
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, it's a reminder of how car-brained we are. You can fit a dumpster in the space that a single SUV takes up, but even in NYC that driver's convenience is more important than a basic amenity like waste management.
This assumes the only way to provide waste management is to replace parking with dumpsters.
it's that or the sidewalks, there's not enough space