Rats! Town of Huntington says it's addressing infestation near vacant insurance building

Huntington is scrambling to address a rat infestation in its popular downtown, with town officials saying there was "clear evidence of rodents" at a vacant property, and Suffolk's health department citing some businesses for "rodent activity and improperly stored garbage," officials said.

The town received multiple complaints late last week from residents about the infestation near the intersection of West Carver Street and New York Avenue, officials said in a statement on Tuesday. The rats were near the Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance building at 175 W. Carver St., which is vacant, according to a statement provided by the town.

"Huntington code enforcement and sanitation inspectors immediately inspected the property finding clear evidence of rodents," Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth said in the statement.

The town spoke with the property owners who then "engaged professional exterminators." The exterminators "will continue to be there until the problem is resolved," the statement said.

The town's statement said a team from the Suffolk County Department of Health inspected 56 food service vendors in the area in response to the rats' discovery. Approximately 20 establishments were issued violation notices by the county, the statement said. Several vendors were told to change the way they store garbage before it's collected.

The Gundermann building is at the center of a legal dispute between John P. Paci III and a local developer, Newsday previously reported. 

There were no rats or food in the building, Paci, who said he manages the property and pays taxes on it, told Newsday. He said he has hired pest control to take care of the issue. 

“I don’t want to see rats in Huntington,” he said in a phone interview.

Unsettling discovery

The rat sightings have unnerved residents, diners and others who frequent the area.

Frank Carfora said he and his wife, Christine Nelson, were out to dinner last Thursday at about 8 p.m. when they found parking in front of the Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance building. He said they were “curious and surprised” to see rats scurrying about on the property and around the bushes separating it from an adjacent building.

“There were about 20 to 30 rats frolicking about and doing the things that rats do,” he said. “I was compelled to take a video because I had never seen that in Huntington before.” He said the couple has lived in Huntington Station for 13 years.

“We’ve of course been to New York City so many times, so you are used to that,” he said, referring to the sight of rats. “We were just surprised to see it in the town we live in.”

He said they were taken aback by the concentration of the animals. “It was a spectacle.”

Michele Stollow, 53, a regular visitor from Cold Spring Harbor, said the sightings have grown noticeably worse in recent weeks. While the town has taken steps to manage garbage and curb rodent activity, she said she still has concerns.

“They have really tried to mitigate the garbage situation,” Stollow told Newsday. “It used to be everyone had dumpsters, then they switched it over to picking the garbage up twice a day. But when you have abandoned buildings, where are the rats going to go?”

Follow ups scheduled

Bart Rissetto, 76, who has lived in Huntington for more than four decades, said the situation is unprecedented.

“I’ve seen the occasional rat here and there, but this thing on Carver Street, I’ve never seen before,” Rissetto said.

Grace Kelly-McGovern, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Department of Health, said in an email staff "have visited with representatives of the Town of Huntington, more than 50 food service establishments, and several non-food service establishments. Several violations were cited for rodent activity and improperly stored garbage."

She added, "staff provided education to all concerned on how to identify, prevent, and eliminate rodent activity." The department will "follow up later this week to confirm that all necessary measures are being taken to reduce and eliminate the rodent activity."