Guardian Angels founder offers feral cats to NYC mayor to fight rats
NEW YORK (PIX11) --- Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who made a name for himself tackling New York City crime, on Wednesday offered to tackle the city's rat problem.
In November, city officials began looking for a director of rodent mitigation. The job pays $120,00-$170,000; Sliwa offered to do it for free. Mayor Eric Adams said he'd take Sliwa up on the offer.
"If he says he would be my rat czar for free, I'm going to call him, and I would like for him to come on board to do it," Adams said. "Don't put it out there if you're not willing to live up to. If you're going to write a check, make sure you can cash it. So, yes, tell Curtis, come to be my rat czar. Okay? And he's going to realize this is not a Tom and Jerry playful commercial here, this is real stuff."
Sliwa, who has 18 rescue cats with his wife, also suggested organizing a feral cat colony for a building owned by Adams. He brought two with him to the building owned by the mayor.
"You keep two cats together on a block, feral cats, consider them like Batman and Robin, they'll patrol the whole block," Sliwa said.
The mayor had previously been cited for rodents at a building he owns. Adams has spent thousands of dollars on rat mitigation efforts.
"I hope he leaves some of the cats on the block, because whatever it takes, I would rather see a cat than a rat any day," Adams said about Sliwa.