A common topic of discussion during the early months of the Covid-19 lockdown was the increase of rat sightings. Much of this was anecdotal information from those living in New York City, claiming that rats were either propagating faster or bolder than ever, or it was perpetuated by those in the surrounding areas to add to the already extreme circumstances that NYC was under. This visualization depicts NYC Open Data rat sightings both prior to and during the pandemic, making evident that rats did indeed thrive under pandemic circumstances such as an increase in residential waste and budget cuts in sanitation. (Shanahan, The New York Times, 2021)