The New York's urban legend claiming there's eight million rats lurking in the Big Apple simply ain't true.

A new study released in the journal, Significance, revealed that out of 842,000 property lots in New York, only 40,500 are infested by rats. The data was based on the rat sightings recorded by service and information hotline 311.

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Statistician Jonathan Auerbach from Columbia University, however, said it's quite challenging to get an accurate count of rats infesting New York City. To come up with a more accurate figure, Auerbach used a method called capture-recapture estimation.

The study in Significance assumed that about 40 to 50 rats make-up a typical colony, resulting in a total rat population of some two million in New York. Auerbach believes this method is wrong.

"This is because we treat every lot with at least one rat sighting as evidence that a full colony of rats inhabited the lot for the duration of the study period. However, it is possible that the territory of one rat colony encompasses several lots," he clarified.

While it proves the urban legend wrong, the city still does have a problem with rodents.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's approach to count the exact number of rodents involves the use of "rat indexing" that inspects multiple properties in areas where rats concentrate. The agency recommends that homeowners hire exterminators if inspectors find evidence of rats. It can issue violation notices if property owners don't have the rats exterminated.

Training courses are also being offered for building superintendents, property managers, homeowners and interested tenants.

The city government is allocating US$611,000 for the anti-rat program, targeting areas where rats often congregate.

The agency also requested New Yorkers to put their best effort to prevent rats from entering their residences.

TagsRats in the city, New York urban legend, rodents, 8 million rats in NYC, Big Apple rats