Kenny Bollwerk has amassed over 240,000 TikTok followers by offering a glimpse into the dark secret world of New York City’s rat population.
The creator of “Rat Tok” realised there was something in his nightly livestreams of the city’s most rat-infested streets, when the videos started clocking millions of views. Bollwerk decided to step it up a notch, now offering free rat tours to “rat hotspots” across the city, seven nights a week.
The late-night rat routes are in Flushing, Sunnyside, and Queens, with another near the Rockefeller Centre. Up to 10,000 people at a time tune in to Bollwerk’s TikTok livestreams while he explores rodent-infested areas.
It’s like going on Safari out in the jungle. You never know what you’re going to see. It’s so unexpected, it’s entertaining. It’s unpredictable. You never know what you’re gonna see on the streets of New York City after dark. But I think at the end of the day it is entertaining, and people really like to see what’s going on…and especially with the rats they want to see if it’s really as bad as they think it is.
On todays episode of The Briefing, Bollwerk discusses with Tom Tilley where he thinks the fascination has come from.
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