The objective of this investigation was to get a better understanding of the rodent population throughout New York City: specifically, the location and time of year where they are most likely to be seen. I looked at 311 complaints that reported rodent sightings (mice and rats) in all five boroughs from 2018-2023 in order to identify any potential change over time, and to have a sizable data set of five complete years. This topic was of interest to me as a resident of NYC as well as someone who works in the public health field. Rodents can be a nuisance to residents and business owners, as well as a serious public health concern.

The audience of my visualizations could be anyone who is interested in the rodent population of NYC. This could be people living in, or looking to move to/within the City and wanting to live in an area with a low or declining rodent population. The Department of Sanitation would also be an appropriate audience for these visualizations if they are interested in the outcome of their mitigation efforts, or where they should focus their efforts moving forward.

Where are rodents most likely to be seen in the NYC boroughs?

In this visualization, I found that Brooklyn consistently had the highest number of rodent sightings between the years 2018 and 2023, while Staten Island had by far the lowest. This visualization also shows that other than a dip in 2020 (possibly due to people being outside less due to COVID-19, as well as changes to restaurant operations), rodent sightings are on the rise in Brooklyn and Queens, while they are declining in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

I chose to visualize this data using a line chart because I wanted to demonstrate change over time, a continuous variable. I broke the data down by borough, because I was interested to see any differences between them.

Are people seeing more mice or rats throughout the year?

This graph shows that rat sightings are significantly higher than mouse sightings, and that mouse sightings are consistent throughout the year, while rat sightings peak in the warmer months. This graph shows that rats, not mice, are the major concern for NYC residents, and that they are an issue particularly during the summer.

I chose a line graph to visualize these data because I wanted to show change over time. This time, however, I looked at the average change within a year, rather than change from year to year. By visualizing the data this way, I could identify seasonal changes as well as average out any outlying years, such as 2020.

Which community boards have the highest frequency of rodent sightings?

Through this visualization, I found that the community boards with the highest rodent sightings tended to be located in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while the lowest rodent sightings were primarily in Queens. This was interesting to me, because it contrasted what I found in the borough-level visualization, which showed that Staten Island had by far the lowest number of rodent sightings. This can be explained by the low population density of Staten Island, as it only has three community boards, far less than the other four boroughs.

I chose a bar graph to visualize these data because I wanted to visually break down the data by borough and rank the community boards from highest to lowest. Ideally, a map would’ve been a great way to visualize these data. The boroughs would have been distinct because they would’ve been shown geographically on a map, and it would be easier to identify hot spots if there were a cluster of community boards with a large number of rodent sightings.

How does my community board compare to the surrounding areas when it comes to rodent sightings?

Finally, I wanted to look into a personal aspect of this data by visualizing the rodent sightings in my community board (Manhattan 03) in comparison to the bordering community boards. Through this visualization, I learned two things, 1) the frequency of rodent sightings throughout the year by month, and 2) how the rodent sightings in my own community board compare to the surrounding areas. Through creating this visualization, I found that my community board had consistently higher rodent sightings throughout the year when compared to bordering community boards.

Chart type was a limitation in creating this visualization. Ideally, these data would have been expressed as a map, so the audience could get a better idea of where these community boards are located within the city and relation to one another. As a next step, I would also like to further break down the rodent sightings within my own neighborhood by street intersection. It would be interesting to see exactly where the rodent sightings are located, and what may be drawing them there (parks, restaurants, etc).