Mayor Adams just can’t catch a break — from rats.
For the second time in less than a year, a tenacious city Health Department inspector has ticketed the rat-hating mayor for failing to root out a rodent infestation at his Brooklyn rowhouse, according to summonses reviewed by the Daily News.
The inspector, Shirley Jean, dinged Adams for the latest violations in two separate tickets — that carry a combined possible max penalty of $1,200 — after detecting during a Dec. 7 inspection that an infestation was still plaguing his Bedford-Stuyvesant building.
In the first ticket, Jean reported spotting recyclables littering the front yard of the four-story property, creating “harborage conditions” for the vile critters. And in the second ticket, she listed off various “active rat signs” she had witnessed during the visit.
“A rat burrow was observed along the ledge of the fenceline at front right,” she wrote. ”Fresh rat droppings were observed in front of the garbage bins in the yard at front right ... An active rat runway was found along the property line at front left.”
Jean’s levies do not indicate that the four-legged creatures had made it inside Adams’ house.
A hearing on the summonses is set for Jan. 12 before an administrative court officer. An Adams spokesman told The News on Tuesday that the mayor’s looking into the matter, but would not immediately say whether he plans to challenge the fines.
Ironically, the December inspection took place the same week Adams convinced an administrative hearing officer to dismiss a ticket Jean first issued back in May over similar rat violations at his Brooklyn digs.
In a Dec. 6 hearing that prompted the dismissal, Adams told the officer that he had shelled out nearly $7,000 last spring on professional extermination services to address the infestation. He said he had also tried various extermination actions on his own, including deploying the “rat trap” he once showcased to reporters while Brooklyn borough president — a device that’s designed to plunge rodents into a revolting, poisonous goo.
Months prior to that hearing, Adams had tapped a City Hall attorney to appear before the officer to ask for a pause in the proceedings — a move that stirred some controversy over whether it was a proper use of government resources.
Adams isn’t the city’s only high-level politico with rat woes in Brooklyn.
Frank Carone, Adams’ first chief of staff who stepped down from the administration last week, also received summonses at his home address in Mill Basin for rodent violations this past August at a Sheepshead Bay Road building that houses a company owned by his family trust, according to administrative court records.
The company, Boca Partner Ventures II, has a $600 balance due over the summonses, the records show.
Carone, who placed his assets and investments in a blind trust upon becoming Adams’ chief of staff last year, told The News on Tuesday that he hasn’t gotten a chance to review the summonses since leaving City Hall.
“I haven’t yet ended the blind nature,” said Carone, who’s expected to lead Adams’ 2025 reelection bid. “So I am not aware of (this) issue at all.”
The persistent pest problems at Adams’ Brooklyn house come in spite of the fact that he has made killing rats a hallmark of his political career.
In November, Adams announced he’s hiring a “rat czar” to oversee his administration’s citywide war on rodents. He has also pushed through several new policies aimed at cracking down on rats — including signing legislation requiring building owners with two or more rodent-related violations to use vermin-resistant trash containers for at least two years.
“I hate rats. And we are going to kill some rats,” Adams said during a Nov. 18 press conference while unveiling some of the new mitigation efforts.
Beyond rats, Adams’ Bedford-Stuyvesant property attracted scrutiny during last year’s mayoral campaign as his opponents raised questions about whether he truly lived there. Adams has maintained he counted the building as his primary residence for years before moving to Gracie Mansion upon becoming mayor last January.
