This definitely isn't new. I had an apartment in Bushwick through the 2000s, and due to construction in the surrounding area, the rats on our block and occasionally in our building were huge and relentless.
Then my neighbor moved in. She was a pet photographer by trade, but also cared for all the neighborhood cats as well as all the area bodega cats - making sure they all had their shots and were spayed / neutered. She also traps around the city when needed. We had 4 street cats that just hung out on our block because she would leave food for them. I would occasionally feed her own three cats and whatever stray she had locked in the bathroom when she had to go out of town.
That's how I got my cantankerous orange tabby. He was abandoned on the streets of Bushwick and was fortunate for my neighbor. He hates everyone but my wife and I, and tolerates our young son. But he sleeps with us every night and rubs on our feet when he needs attention. There's no way he would have made it this far (13 years and counting) without my neighbor bringing him in as a kitten.
There was a commenter, I'm not sure if it was here, slashot or reddit, he would start with interesting premise but then halfway he got distracted and finished different story with something mundane never finishing the interesting story. He was famous for it.
The other commenters got it: ...and then the neighbor with the cats and the traps and the camera and the occasional feral cat locked in her bathroom moved in.
Before then... One time I woke up to my girlfriend-at-the-time standing in our bed in tears, wavering over me with a baseball bat in hand. We were in good standing at the time, so I was confused but thought I was done for. Turns out she was trying to hunt down a big fat rat that she saw waddling across the dresser.
I had just finished a thirty-hour stretch of work so I was in no shape to deal with it. She broke some things with the bat, and it ended up waddling its fat ass back into the walls. I think it ate some poison because it ended up scratching at the walls for about a week as it slowly expired. Then the stink arrived and it took about as long to leave.
Then my neighbor moved in. She was a pet photographer by trade, but also cared for all the neighborhood cats as well as all the area bodega cats - making sure they all had their shots and were spayed / neutered. She also traps around the city when needed. We had 4 street cats that just hung out on our block because she would leave food for them. I would occasionally feed her own three cats and whatever stray she had locked in the bathroom when she had to go out of town.
That's how I got my cantankerous orange tabby. He was abandoned on the streets of Bushwick and was fortunate for my neighbor. He hates everyone but my wife and I, and tolerates our young son. But he sleeps with us every night and rubs on our feet when he needs attention. There's no way he would have made it this far (13 years and counting) without my neighbor bringing him in as a kitten.
I was hoping to see her show up in the article.