Best for bird watching and good for rats too: no place like New York

Good morning. It’s Thursday. We’ll revisit what surveys say about New York and how they shape perceptions of the city. We will also see why the spotted lanternfly is not your friend.

We know these things – well, everything above except the lyrics – because of surveys. Hardly a day goes by that a poll doesn’t say New York leads the nation at something or is last at something else — or sitting somewhere in the middle by yet another yardstick. Methodologies aside, all of those findings contribute to a sense of the city that is “based on some underlying truths, whether they’re surveying the public or analyzing the Bureau of Labor Statistics or census data to understand the population,” he said. Matthijs Quintthe director of the Center for Global Brand Leadership at Columbia University business school. “They all explain who these places are, as places.”

Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, echoed that idea: “New York is always attractive because there are more ways to excel in New York than anywhere else,” he said.

But he also said that “there’s nothing people feel better about than saying a number instead of an idea.”

Not all surveys are light-hearted. Some belie promotional elements and some merely confirm what too many New Yorkers already know. New York was No. 292 on a list of 300 cities ranking affordability for homebuyers by the personal finance website WalletHub. Los Angeles was even less affordable than New York, as were four places near Los Angeles (Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, and Santa Monica). No. 300, the least affordable of them all, was Santa Barbara, California.

New York was number 71 in another WalletHub ranking best places to raise a familybehind Cheyenne, Wyo., and before Garden Grove, California.

It is the third most bike-friendly city, behind Davis, California and San Francisco, according to te co-working reservation site Coworking Cafein which factors such as cycling infrastructure, road safety and coworking opportunities with bicycle facilities were analyzed.

In the 1960s, New York became known as a ‘fun city’. The term was “slightly derisive,” stated “The Encyclopedia of New York,” popularized by a Daily News columnist after Mayor John Lindsay slogged to City Hall during a transit strike, declaring, “I still think it’s a fun city.”

That’s probably what he’d say about a study that only ranks New York fourth for the funniest states in America. The study did not look at cities. But it said New York, as a state, led per capita in theme parks, restaurants and the performing arts.

The best birdwatching statistic was obtained by comparing several factors, including how many birdwatching groups a city has (New York tied with San Diego and Denver). But New York led in two other metrics in the study, access and retention.

And then there are rats, who have preyed on Mayor Eric Adams personally and professionally. As a homeowner, he punched a $300 ticket for a rat infestation in a row house he rents out in Brooklyn. A hearing officer dismissed the case late last year after Adams said he spent nearly $7,000 chasing them off. As mayor, he appointed a rat czar in April whose mission is to reduce the rat population.

The pest control company Orkin said New York had moved into second place, from third last year, in its count of 20 metropolitan areas by the number of new rodent treatments they needed between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 31. from last year. Chicago was No. 1 both years, prompting the company say in one press release that “Chicago may soon have to change its name from ‘the windy city’ to the ‘rattiest city’.”

Weather

Enjoy a mostly sunny day near the low 80’s with a west-northwesterly breeze. Be prepared for a slight chance of showers at night. Temps will drop to the mid 60’s.

ALTERNATIVE SIDE PARKING

Effective until Monday (June 16).

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Again, the message is: if you see one, stomp on it. Crush it. Lubricate it. Suck it up when you go out with your vacuum cleaner.

We’re talking about the spotted lanternfly, a colorful beetle that may soon be after the grapes for the wine you drink. Ecologists say you should kill spotted lanternflies. Last summer, they popped up in parks, patios, and even the Union Square subway station. Now, as our writer Asmaa Elkeurti points out, they’re back.

Originally from Asia, the lanternflies arrived in New York City during the pandemic summer of 2020. They are small, only about an inch long. It is an invasive species that can damage plants and poses a threat to New York’s wine industry as adult lanternflies party damage on leaves and stems.

“The spotted lanternfly is knocking at the doors of vineyards in Long Island and the Finger Lakes region,” said Julie Urban, an evolutionary biologist in Penn State’s department of entomology who has studied lanternflies for decades. “I’m afraid if it gets into these vineyards, the volume will kick up a notch in terms of economic impact.”

You don’t have to be a wine producer to have an adversarial relationship with the lanternfly. As president of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club and a member of its pest control committee, Neal Weissman goes between plots in his large community garden with a handheld vacuum cleaner. He aims it at all the lanternfly nymphs he encounters.

“Yes, I’m leading the fight” on pest control, he said. “But they win.”

He described an “exponential” increase, adding that his traps caught the same number in one hour as they caught in an entire weekend last year.

And the daily vacuuming “started giving me nightmares,” he said.

The club has considered using tape to trap them, but that carries the risk of trapping beneficial insects, such as pollinators, or even small birds. For now, the island’s gardeners are using pesticide-free strategies, including tree traps that specifically target lanternflies.

They multiply easily in the wild. But they’re also adept at elevators: They’ve appeared on cargo flights to California, underlining the environmental impact of trade as supply chains become increasingly intertwined. Invasive species accompanying imports will need to be controlled, even if some people are reluctant to kill them.

“I like them, and I don’t like killing them either,” said Urban. “But killing them by stomping is better than destroying them with pesticides.”

METROPOLITAN Diary

Best seat

Dear Diary:

There’s a tavern on the corner opposite my apartment building where I’ve been coming for lunch more or less weekly for a while now.

The staff are friendly, the place has tasty bar food and there is an inviting outdoor seating area where one can watch the passing parade.

But the benches at the outdoor tables are uncomfortable for this old-timer, so whenever I visited, I always brought a stadium cushion as a souvenir that I got at one of my alma mater’s bowl games.

On a particularly cold day, I hadn’t brought the pillow because I’d decided to eat inside. When I was escorted to my table, I heard one of the waitresses shouting across the room.

“Go Rutgers!”

—Walter Stab

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here And read more Metropolitan Diary here.