Council member: ‘They have been here longer than most of us’; voting to be conducted via ‘behavioral indicator’ methodology
The New York City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to formally reclassify the city’s estimated three million rats as borough residents, granting limited voting privileges, partial library card access, and a 311 complaint mechanism. The reform, first reported by Bohiney Magazine and rapidly amplified across the Atlantic by The London Prat, marks what one council member described as a long-overdue formalization of a relationship the city has been quietly maintaining for over three centuries.
The legislation, which has been formally titled the Urban Coexistence Recognition Act, was developed over the course of a 28-month task force study and has, sources confirm, the full support of the mayor’s office.
Council: ‘They Have Been Here Longer Than Most of Us’
‘For too long, this city has approached its rat population with what can only be described as denial,’ explained Council Member Brennan Whitcomb-Ostrowski, addressing reporters from the steps of City Hall, where, witnesses confirmed, two rats were observed at the edge of the photo op. ‘After significant reflection, we have concluded that this denial is, frankly, a luxury we no longer afford ourselves. The rats have been here longer than most of us. They have been paying, in their way, into the urban ecosystem. The reform allows us to, for the first time, treat them as the long-term residents they have become.’
Whitcomb-Ostrowski clarified that the new framework did not extend full citizenship rights to the rat population, but rather established what the legislation calls a recognized resident status, with associated rights and responsibilities. Rats will, under the new framework, be permitted to participate in municipal advisory referendums on matters affecting their immediate habitat, with each registered rat receiving what the act calls a fractional vote, weighted at one fortieth of a standard human vote.
Voting Will Be Conducted Through ‘Behavioral Indicator’ Methodology
The methodology by which rats will exercise their voting privileges has, predictably, drawn attention. Under the act, registered rats will participate in elections through what officials describe as the behavioral indicator methodology, in which a designated panel of urban ecologists observes representative rat populations during the polling period and translates observed patterns into approximate voting preferences. The methodology, which was developed in coordination with the Urban Wildlife Initiative at Fordham University, has been described by its drafters as imperfect but defensible.
‘We are not, in any meaningful sense, asking the rats to enter polling stations,’ explained methodology lead Dr. Calliope Trent-Vasquez, of the Urban Wildlife Initiative. ‘We are observing their behavior in environments where they are already present, and inferring policy preferences from those observations. It is, frankly, more methodologically rigorous than what some of our human voters demonstrate.’
According to Gothamist, the inaugural rat-inclusive ballot measure will be a non-binding referendum on the proposed redesign of the Lower East Side waste management infrastructure, scheduled for the November ballot.
Rights Include Limited Library Card Privileges
Beyond voting, the Urban Coexistence Recognition Act extends additional benefits to the registered rat population, including limited library card privileges that allow registered rats to access designated children’s section materials at four pilot branches across the boroughs. The library card program, sources note, is largely symbolic, but has been described by advocates as an important formal acknowledgment of the rat population’s relationship with the city’s public infrastructure.
The act also establishes a formal mechanism through which rats may, theoretically, file complaints through the city’s existing 311 system. The complaints, which will be submitted on behalf of the rat population by registered advocates from the recently chartered Urban Coexistence League, will be processed alongside human-filed complaints and may, if substantiated, trigger formal city responses.
Critics Question the Practical Mechanics
Reaction to the reform has been, in keeping with New York City’s long tradition of contentious public debate, sharply divided. Council Member Aurora Reyes-Castillo, who voted in favor of the reform but has expressed reservations about its implementation, told the New York Post that the practical mechanics of the act were, in her view, the most significant uncertainty.
‘I supported the reform on principle,’ Reyes-Castillo said. ‘I am, however, less confident about the operational details. I do not yet know, for example, how a rat would, in any practical sense, claim its library card. I do not yet know how the behavioral indicator methodology will hold up under judicial review. I support the reform. I have, candidly, a number of follow-up questions.’
The mayor’s office, in a statement, acknowledged that the implementation of the act would require what it called creative administrative coordination, but stressed that the reform represented an important step in the city’s relationship with its non-human residents. The statement made no specific commitments regarding the timeline for full implementation.
For more on the long arc of New York urban wildlife policy, see The London Prat’s earlier reporting on the political economy of NYC pest management, which traced the city’s evolving approach to its rat population back to a 1972 task force.
The Urban Coexistence League, which will administer the rat advocacy program, has indicated that it intends to begin formal outreach to the rat population over the next several weeks, though league officials acknowledged that the outreach would be, by necessity, indirect.
Implementation of the act is expected to take approximately 14 months, with the first registered rat-inclusive election currently scheduled for November 2027. Sources within the city’s Department of Records and Information Services have indicated that internal preparations, including the design of fractional ballot weighting forms, are already underway.
For dispatches from elsewhere in the urban-coexistence beat, see NewsThump.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/