As The Station Rat likes to remind us, our rat overlords own the subways—and lest we think about getting out of line, they're not afraid of crawling all over our faces. But Transit Workers Union Local 100 has nevertheless been doing everything they can to try to get the city to clean up the subways. And to promote that campaign, they've now launched a rat photo contest to raise awareness of just how many rats ride the rails with us—a reverse beauty contest!
The MTA’s largest union is asking straphangers to upload their favorite pictures of subway rats (or "ratty conditions") to Ratfreesubways.com by January 15; users can then rate the pictures based on grossness, and the winner will receive a free monthly Metrocard. In case you think they're just playing around, when you go to the site, you're greeted by a picture of two rats, one of whom is sliced open.
“We’re talking hundreds of rats, it’s so bad that when it quiets down at night they come out on the platform,” Maurice Jenkins, the union's head of stations, told CBS. “Your fare includes buses and trains you shouldn’t get no pets.” It's really too bad they haven't opened this contest up to anywhere in the city—but then again, how could anyone possibly choose between the Bronx Foot Locker rodent and the Marcy Houses rat?
