NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams’ avowed hatred for rats won him little love from an administrative court judge who ordered him on Tuesday to pay $300 for a ticket citing persistent rodent-friendly conditions at his Brooklyn rowhouse.
As the Daily News first reported, Adams has been subject to rodent tickets before. But for the first time since taking office, Hizzoner’s bill came due when a hearing officer with the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings told the mayor it was time to pay the piper.
In her decision, hearing officer Samantha Chetrit wrote that the “respondent (Adams) failed to credibly rebut the allegation or establish a valid defense.”
“The photograph presented by Mr. Adams at the hearing shows multiple plastic bags, full of recyclables on the ground next to the garbage bins, not in rodent-proof bins,” she wrote. “His reliance on instruction from a Department of Sanitation employee, even if true, would not constitute a valid defense.”
Before testifying to OATH, Adams joked that he was “looking forward to be the chocolate Perry Mason.” But while he lost one battle, his defense didn’t completely fall flat — one of his rat-related tickets was dismissed.
Tuesday’s OATH hearing may not signal the end of Adams’ rat-ticket fight. Hours after Chetrit’s decision, Adams’ spokesman Fabien Levy would not rule out fighting the ticket, saying the mayor is “reviewing” the fine.
“The mayor is grateful that one of the two summonses was dismissed, and he is reviewing the second decision,” Levy said. “One decision is clear, however: The mayor still hates rats.”
