Rat Man - Nathaniel Katz

One of New York City's most unusual monuments is the bust of an obscure and mysterious colonial era figure who had a radical idea.

Nathaniel Katz is thought to be the person responsible for first introducing the rat (rattus norvegicus, or the Norway rat) to North America, and not by accident. Katz travelled to New York from England with the dream of bringing a new pet to Colonial settlers in the form of domesticated and tame rats. Many of the details of Katz's life are unknown, but he is believed to be originally from Germany and to have had a largely unsuccessful career in England as an itinerant peddler and circus performer, known to audiences as The Rat Man. Trying to show that the rodents were tame and friendly, his performances were usually met with disgust. With nothing more than a change of clothes, two loaves of bread and some cheese, he sailed to New York early in the nineteenth century with two of his rodent friends, and a scheme to sell Americans a new pet. Few people were accepting of the idea of keeping the creatures in their homes, but enough purchased rats from Katz for there to be unintended consequences. No one could believe how quickly the city became infested by Katz's rats, who escaped from homes and bred rapidly. As the city became overrun in a few short years, Katz was seen as a public enemy, and citizens demanded government officials rid the city of the vermin, and punish the man they blamed for the nuisance. Katz and his small number of supporters were unapologetic though,  and stood by the idea that the creatures were pets. As the situation became worse, Governor Dewitt Clinton decreed that in a public spectacle of punishment, Katz should be catapulted into the Hudson River. Whether he drowned or simply disappeared into obscure infamy is unknown. Also unknown is the origin of the odd memorial, presumably commissioned by a small group of The Rat Man's followers. The statue has been displayed at various locations in Manhattan over the last two centuries, and currently sits between the entrance to Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry, where it is not uncommon to spot Nathaniel Katz's "pets" rummaging in garbage pails.