On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams held a press conference to “display 90 rats” caught during a “new rat trap pilot program” around Brooklyn Borough Hall. Strangely, the event involved the public ladling of some kind of soup — which you absolutely must watch:
THE RAT LADLE
— Ben Yakas (@yenbakas) September 5, 2019
According to a statement released before the event, the pilot program used “cutting-edge technology” to exterminate rats in a “hygienic, humane and sustainable way.” The technology that was referenced apparently referred to the Ekomille, a device which claims to drown rats in an alcohol-based solution. OK, but what about the soup?
“Adams wants the city to adopt this rat trapdoor,” Gothamist reporter Jake Offenhartz tweeted from the scene. “Jesus Christ,” he added.
In May, the New York Times ran a story about a spike in rat sightings around the city. As Gizmodo’s own Emily Lipstein pointed out, however, research suggests that these reports are more closely tied to gentrification than actual rat population booms. This paragraph has nothing to do with soup.
Asked what kind of soup he thought it was, Offenhartz told Gizmodo, “Good question.”