By: Jordan Baker

Mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa says he has the purr-fect plan to fight New York City’s rat problem — deploying feral cats as a natural strike force to chase rodents out of parks and playgrounds, the New York Post reported.

The longtime Guardian Angels founder and Republican candidate pitched his idea just a day after the New York Post revealed a worsening infestation at the Tarr-Coyne Tots Playground on West 67th Street. Families complained of rats running past strollers, swiping children’s snacks, and even hopping onto wheels.

Speaking at the very same Central Park playground on Sunday, Sliwa argued that unleashing feral cats would be an effective — and inexpensive — solution. “This is Mother Nature’s way of preventing rats, rodents and others from plaguing any area of the city,” he told reporters, according to the New York Post.

Sliwa explained that the cats would need only minimal care — small shelters like plastic Tupperware boxes for bad weather, plus food and water. “The rats, the mice will smell them. They will not come in the areas, and this costs nothing to the city of New York,” he said, as quoted by the New York Post.

The GOP candidate described the roaming felines as “patrolling like Batman and Robin — Gotham’s caped crusaders at night,” since rats and mice are most active after dark.

In addition to his Republican ballot line, Sliwa also announced he is running on the independent “Protect Animals” line, which backs no-kill shelters and other humane policies, the New York Post reported. He took the opportunity to slam Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of failing to deliver despite creating a $170,000-a-year “Rat Czar” position in 2023.

“As a veteran of dealing with rats, you will never win the war,” Sliwa told the crowd. “You can only have détente and just keep them at bay,” he added, according to the New York Post.

City statistics cited by the New York Post show that New Yorkers filed 6,614 rat complaints with 311 so far this year, only slightly below the same period in 2024. Despite Adams pledging an aggressive crackdown — including an $877,000 rat-control initiative that required special garbage cans and even a carbon monoxide “death squad” — Sliwa argued that the results speak for themselves.

His counterproposal is simple: let cats do the dirty work. He emphasized that feral cats already live outdoors, avoid human interaction, and hunt mostly at night, making them “perfectly suited” for the task, the New York Post reported.

New Yorkers who heard the idea at the playground Sunday offered mixed reactions.

Wei, a 38-year-old mother of two, voiced skepticism. “What’s it going to look like, the cat colonies? Are we going to have a cat problem later on? I’m not sure,” she told the New York Post. “I’ve been in New York for 10 years, and the rats just keep growing and growing. I don’t know if some cat colony is going to control it.”

Others were more intrigued. Martin Petrella, 51, who visited the playground with his daughter, admitted the concept had appeal. “I have a cat, so I do love cats. I think they’re amazing hunters. I think it’s an interesting idea,” he told the New York Post. Still, he cautioned that introducing colonies could disrupt wildlife in Central Park, particularly bird species.