Rats are everywhere in New York, all the time, and the best thing people who live here can do for their mental (if not physical) health is to simply pretend not to see the giant vermin as they scamper among the garbage bags placed just outside the very places where humans purchase and consume their own food. But every once in a while, a person shoots a video that forces all of us to truly contemplate what the rodents are doing behind closed doors. The latest reminder comes via YouTube user Pjayone, who posted footage of a rat crawling all over the breakfast pastries at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 37th Street and Eighth Avenue.
In an email to Gothamist, which first discovered the video, Pjayone provided some horrifying context: “At two-thirty [in the morning] every [day] the workers load the shelves with the mornings wares. Shortly thereafter like clockwork the rats come out and party … My phone ran out of power, or I would’ve filmed the outright nine deep rat assault which followed the action.”
He did, however, direct them to this very special bonus feature:
As you can see, the rat is stuck in between the glass and the curtain of the Dunkin’ Donuts window. “What was he doing up there?” Pjayone asked. “Meanwhile while he’s up there, his friends are at the party on the rack!” So, basically, the scene inside was so gross that even some rats couldn’t bear to watch it.
After seeing the videos and conducting an inspection, the Health Department deemed the vermin situation inside this particular store “severe” enough to shut it down for a while. Gothamist notes that inspectors had previously given this place an “A” grade. For those contemplating packing their own breakfast tomorrow: Don’t bother — you know the rats are in the grocery stores, too.
