'I can't believe this is actually a thing,' says man offering rat tours of New York City

Kenny Bollwerk says he never meant to become the guy who leads rat tours of New York City.

Bollwerk — or, as he's sometimes called, "the rat guy" — has built up a substantial following in recent years livestreaming some of the city's most rat-infested areas on TikTok.

But for some curious "RatTok" fans, the videos aren't enough. So he's started taking tourists and locals along with him as he documents the critters, offering what are essentially free walking tours of New York's rat hotspots. 

"I can't believe this is actually a thing," Bollwerk told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

"I think it's because of the excitement. Like, there's so many things that they've come and they've done already. They've seen the Empire State Building already. They've seen Central Park already. They want to see something different."

And he's not the only one. Luke Miller, owner of Real New York Tours, says several years ago he added a stop to his tours in Columbus Park for tourists who are curious about the resident rodents.

"There seems to be a strange fascination with rats these days," Miller told CBC in an email.

"On my tours over the years, people have always been intrigued and asked questions about the rats in NYC, but it was after a video of a rat dragging a slice of pizza down the subway stairs that went viral that I began getting more questions about where to see rats."

He says people have been long been fascinated by — and eager to monetize — New York City's rats.

"During the mid-19th century, you had people like Kit Burns and his famous rat pit where hundreds of people gathered to gamble on how many rats a single terrier dog could kill in an allotted amount of time," Miller said. 

"There are some pretty gruesome tales of humans and rats throughout NYC history."

One stop has generally been enough to sate the rat enthusiasts on his tours, he said. But since he was quoted in a New York Post article about rat tourism last week, he says rat-related requests are skyrocketing. 

"I never had a specific rat tour, but since the Post article came … I'm seriously considering starting one," he said. 

Bollwerk says that when he moved to New York from Missouri in 2019, he was taken aback by its robust rat population. Sometimes, he says, he'll see upwards of 100 in a single spot.