NEW YORK — Jewish New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a candidate for city mayor, has sparred with his rivals about antisemitism, public safety and city transportation.

But last week, he took a break from his Passover preparations to open a new front in the race: rats.

“New York City’s trash collection policy has turned our city into an all-night rat buffet,” Lander said in a campaign video set to ominous music. “I’m in this rat race for mayor because it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Cleaner streets, fewer rats, happier New Yorkers,” Lander vowed.

Lander took specific aim at New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who holds a famous hatred of the rodents. Adams has repeatedly voiced his loathing for rats, pledged to kill them, hosted a “National Urban Rat Summit,” appointed the city’s first “Rat Czar,” and declared, “Rats don’t run our city.”

“The rats may be listening and we want to surprise them,” Adams warned in a 2022

© The Times of Israel