From a press conference held by the New York City mayor’s office in October.

commissioner jessica tisch: Good afternoon. It is an exciting day because we are about to do something that no one has had the political will or political capital to pull off over the past fifty years. Most mayors never attempted it. Those that did failed. For more, I’d like to welcome the mayor.

mayor eric adams: Thank you, Commissioner. Fighting crime, fighting inequality, fighting rats is something that we are focused on. Everyone that knows me knows one thing: I hate rats. When we started killing them in Borough Hall, some folks called me a murderer. Well, you know what? We’re going to kill rats.

Today, we are announcing a once-in-a-generation change. We’re shifting the time when people can set out trash from 4 pm to 8 pm. It makes no sense that these garbage bags have remained on the street for such a long period of time. Look at what other countries are doing—like Buenos Aires. We have to not leave garbage out, to discourage rodents from running their version of restaurants. There are many rivers that are feeding the sea of rodents.

commissioner tisch: Shut down the all-night, all-you-can-eat rat buffet. I want to be clear: the rats are absolutely going to hate this announcement. And they also hate that we have been working holidays, that we have been seizing their food. But the rats don’t run this city—we do.

mayor adams: Please don’t see a rat and say, “Okay, you guys failed.” No, we have to change the mindset that comes with a dirty street. All of you are scared of rats. This is front and center in all of our minds. We are not going to sit back and accept that rodents are taking over our city.