Washington Market Park is opening late two mornings a week to deal with its rat population. And while everyone has their rat problems these days, it really was time for the humans to fight back at the park.

(I had a true standoff with a giant rat in Bogardus late night recently. It’s amazing — the park had at least a dozen people in it, yet the rats just kept making their rounds. I have a foot-stomping thing I do to keep them out of my path but it wasn’t working with this crowd.)

The park will open later — around 9a — on Tuesdays and Fridays for this month and likely Fridays continuing till the job is done.

The Parks Department uses different techniques to curb infestations in parks: Burrow RX, which uses hot carbon dioxide to kill them in their burrows (watch the video!); rat ice, aka CO2 dry ice pellets; burrow blockages; and CO2 machines. (Duane Park has been using CO2.) But it’s not easy: there’s usually an exit to every hole. You can read the Parks Department’s policies on pest management here.