Step 1 Make it legal to hunt them with an air rifle.
Step 2 Offer a bounty of $2 per rat.
Problem over and homeless and unemployed folks got money to spend.
....................
And good eats! :)
See my #19
One of the problems with a socialist model (which we have to a degree) is that with so many problems, it is the government’s problem - not ours. Garbage in the streets? That’s the city’s problem? Overflowing waste bins? The city should fine those people?
Of course, the minute someone started going after the rats with a pellet gun they would be arrested. (Pellet guns, even paintball guns, are illegal in NYC!).