The Invasion

By Joe Sarno

With no disrespect to my beloved uncles who participated in the invasions of Normandy, Iwo Jima and Anzio, I would like to relate my recollection of the invasion of North End in the early 1950s. It was of course the invasion of the rats.  The Southeast Expressway project began with demolition of buildings between North Washington St., Beverly St.  and Traverse St. which is now Valenti Way. That area included several commercial and light manufacturing buildings.

The evicted rats invaded.  North Washington, Thatcher, North Margin, Cooper and Stillman streets were hit hard.  Many of the foundations and cellars were being reinforced.  Some of the cement patch work included broken glass.  The rats were not discouraged.  They were very clever.  They exploited any weaknesses and created havoc for many of the homeowners.

My Nonna was not one to back down from this war.  She set several traps in the cellar.  She or one of my uncles would check the traps every morning and dump the dead rats into the trash barrels.  We were encouraged.  But there was one huge guy she called Lo Zoccolo.  He was occasionally seen but very elusive.  She was obsessed with him.  In her best English, she said many times “We’re gonna get that bastia.”

She was not to be denied.  She came up with an ingenious solution.  We lived in what was called a twin building.  In between the buildings on the street, there was a door leading to the rear of the two buildings where the ashcans cans were kept.   Beyond the passageway there was a good-sized area where there were some plants, tools, empty pots and other rarely used items.  This area was visible from the kitchen window.

One evening she put 2 Table Talk metal plates on the ground below the kitchen window.  One was filled with water and the other was a stack of 3 slices of white bread. In between each slice there were 2 or three generous spoonfuls of Plaster of Paris.

Very early the next morning she called me.  “We got that bastia.”  The plates were empty.  She went down and found the big guy.  The rat had a huge bulge in his stomach. She picked him up with a square edged shovel and dumped it into one of the ashcans.

To this day I can hear the sound when he landed the bottom of that empty ashcan.