A group of taxi and limo drivers turned a Midtown park into a garbage dump over the summer, and now residents are dealing with an out-of-control rat infestation.
The secluded area around MacArthur Park, near the FDR service road at East 49th Street, is a popular hangout for hacks on break or in between shifts.
But the litterbug drivers dumped so much food and other refuse in the park in July and August that an army of aggressive rats has moved into the playground area.
The city Parks Department even installed special closed-lid trash containers to keep the vermin out, while the Taxi and Limousine Commission said it conducted a two-day sweep last month in which investigators issued 39 summonses in an attempt drive out the loitering hacks.
“The rodent infestation over the summer in MacArthur Park was horrible,” said one woman. “East 49th Street is more or less rodent- [free], but the park is still heavily infested.”