A representative of PETA is saying that New York City’s rat problem is actually a trash problem driven by “disgusting human behavior.”

Ashley Byrne told the Daily Mail that Mayor Eric Adams’ recent hire of a “rat czar” is a political smokescreen that overlooks the cleanliness issues bringing rats to the Big Apple.

“As long as humans are littering and leaving garbage, rats will be there,” Ms. Byrne, PETA’s director of outreach, told the news outlet. “You can hire whoever, rats will come and go as they please as long as the streets stay filthy.”

Mr. Adams picked Kathleen Corradi to be the city’s first director of rodent mitigation last week in order to get control of the city’s 2 million vermin.

One of Ms. Corradi’s first objectives is to tackle the rat problem in Harlem. The $3.5 million plan involves hiring full-time exterminators, adding “rat slabs” to prevent floor burrowing in public housing and requiring at least two inspections per year for all buildings in Harlem.

The rat czar also said during her introductory presser that no more “dirty curbs” will be tolerated, referring to the piles of trash seen outside. The Adams administration had already implemented rules for how long trash bags can sit curbside before being picked up.

Still, Ms. Byrne said the press conference was “ghoulish political theater.”

“Holding a conference and referring to the creatures as some sort of malevolent beings gives the appearance of doing something, when in reality, it does nothing. It’s just cartoonish and entirely unhelpful,” she said.

She also defended rats as “sensitive and intelligent creatures.”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.