Rodent Control in Port Richmond

Rodent Pressure in Port Richmond

Port Richmond is in the northwestern corner of Staten Island, along the Kill Van Kull waterfront that separates Staten Island from New Jersey. The neighborhood has a more urban character than the interior of the island — Port Richmond Avenue is a dense commercial strip with food markets, restaurants, and ethnic food retail serving the neighborhood's diverse population, and the attached houses on the residential streets resemble the Brooklyn row house stock more than the suburban interior of Staten Island.

The Kill Van Kull industrial waterfront creates significant Norway rat harborage along the neighborhood's waterfront edge. The port facilities, former industrial sites, and the waterway itself create the conditions that sustain large waterfront rat colonies. Buildings on the streets closest to the waterfront — Richmond Terrace, which runs along the shore — see the highest waterfront pressure.

Port Richmond Avenue's food market density generates Norway rat pressure comparable to the commercial corridors of the urban boroughs. The blocks between the avenue and the waterfront see both the commercial corridor pressure and the waterfront harborage pressure simultaneously. The attached two and three-family houses on the residential streets have shared basement wall vulnerabilities similar to attached housing in Queens and Brooklyn.