The Rat King House Is Gone!

August 4, 2008 by
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg 

The last few days I have been sick. REALLY sick. But that didn’t prevent me from noticing this comment regarding the demise of the Rat King house. Close observant writes August 2, 2008:

The only thing that’s gone is the house.

Feeling better today (and having serious case of cabin fever) I swung by today. Close observant was right! As we all know, before the Rat King relinquished his homestead he took to pigeons.

And they have clearly taken a fancy to him. They’re waiting for him across the street…

next door…

and around the corner.

It was downright eerie. Are all these pigeons (or as Woody Allen once called them “rats with wings”) laying in wait for their leader to return? And as I understand it, he will. Eventually.

I was asked by a (freelance?) writer for the New York Post about the Rat King July 24, 2008. He wrote:

I once contacted you. I’m a reporter with the New York Post.

I’m interested in what’s going on with the Rat King’s House. I’ve never heard of the Rat King, except from reading about him on your blog.

Do you know his name? Do you know how I can get a hold of him?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Whoa!

I am not journalist by education. New York Shitty is my avocation. Why do I do it? Because I want to know what’s going on here and wish to share my findings with others. This “hobby” of mine demands that I pound the pavement 3-4 days a week. It is a labor of love. Why would/should I tender my findings to a reporter who will (undoubtedly) be compensated for exploiting my work?

Do your own damned investigating!

Miss Heather

Comments

5 Comments on The Rat King House Is Gone!

  1. bellario on Mon, 4th Aug 2008 4:43 pm
  2. Hi Heather,
    Yes, the Rat King’s house is gone, but the rats are now EVERYWHERE ELSE in the surrounding area! It’s GROSS, and we’re all spending fortunes on exterminators! And that nightmare of a man keeps putting down birdseed for them to eat. It’s horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
    During the demolition process, my wife asked one of the crew what it was like inside the house. “You don’t wanna know!” was the response.
    Please, PLEASE, forward the Post reporter’s information to me? We’re all desperate to do something that will finally make the City bring some pressure on this guy and his family. PLEASE!
    bellario@yahoo.com
    Bless you, and keep up the good work!
    Tony B

  3. close observant on Tue, 5th Aug 2008 2:13 pm
  4. One thing that always amazed me about the Rat King, as you call him, is that he admits he feeds the pigeons, because he loves them but he says he doesn’t feed the rats, even though he knows and sees the rats eating the food along with pigeons. He says, “Don’t blame me for that, blame God because he created them.” He doesn’t care, doesn’t take the blame and he will not stop it. His old house is gone but he’s still there.

  5. addrobinson on Wed, 6th Aug 2008 9:03 pm
  6. I still don’t know why you call him the Rat King, his name has always been and will always be ‘The Pigeon Man'(to me at least), I think it has a much nicer ring to it, and Rat King just makes him sound like willard or something evil. He is actually kinda nice, at times, if you put all his muttering to himself aside. And you are correct Heather, he can very easily be found, I see him several times a week, you just have to look.

  7. missheather on Wed, 6th Aug 2008 10:16 pm
  8. addrobinson: Even I cannot remember why I call him the Rat King. I guess the moniker could be construed as being more evil than “pigeon man”. But given that I once had a pigeon shit on my head (in the middle of summer, hot, NASTY), rats strike me as being less evil. 😉

  9. close observant on Fri, 8th Aug 2008 11:32 am
  10. As addrobinson said, “I call him the pigeon man”.
    I’ve tried to tell him that feeding the pigeons on the sidewalk in front of the house or “now” property draws the rats but I can’t seem to convince him. Even being shown on TV didn’t help.
    Can someone please try to make him understand.

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