Rats Run Free At NYC Restaurant

NEW YORK -- It's hard to believe how bad the rat problem is at a downtown Manhattan fast-food restaurant.

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The rodents were everywhere at a KFC-Taco Bell restaurant in Greenwich Village.

A viewer called the WNBC-TV tipline with information about the rats. When a reporter visited the restaurant, he said he was shocked when he saw the rats running wild across the floor.

The restaurant was planning to open at 11 a.m. Friday but will be closed until the Health Department clears it for business, said a senior official with the Health Department.

News photographers gathered quickly and showed about a dozen rats running on the floor. The pictures were taken from the sidewalk through the window of the restaurant.

A handful of people looked on as the rats ran along the floors and on wooden children's high chairs and gave play-by-play accounts as the rodents moved about.

When one rat came close to the store window, a person on the sidewalk was heard saying, "He's coming for his closeup" as news cameras shot.

There was no answer at the phone number displayed in neon on the store window below the words "We Deliver."

Managers of the restaurant showed up Friday morning, fought through the crowd of photographers, and rushed inside without speaking about the issue.

This restaurant has had problems with the Health Department before, having been cited in2004, 2005, and 2006. Two months earlier, the restaurant had been cited with having "evidence of live mice," but since then, the Health Department Web site shows that the issue was resolved.