Dead Mice at the Manhattan Mall

The Manhattan Mall is an anomaly. There really should not be a mall in the center of Manhattan what with all the other great places to shop. However, there is. It was once a seven story fabulous place to shop. The big anchor stores moved out and now it has been reduced to three floors and offices. There are some great stores there like The Body Shop, Express, Victoria's Secret and Steve and Barry's. The mall itself was just taken over by a new management company and maybe in a few years it will be restored to its former glory. Having worked there for two years I do caution you about shopping there, or at least eating there. There are mice. Many mice.

Each day when I would head down to the stock room I would wonder what I would see stepping off the elevator at the basement level of the mall. Usually there were stacks of McDonald's burger buns ready to be taken up for consumption. There were also mostly dead roaches and mice. Now, the mall has tried to get rid of them. There were a few months when there were poison traps everywhere. The problem with that is that the mice would eat the poison and then die in the middle of the hallway. I can pick out the smell of death now. I would turn the corner from the elevator and the sickening smell would hit me in the face and I knew what was coming up.

If you want to see this for yourself all you have to do is wait until closing time. Linger in the mall for a bit until the music gets turned off and people stop rushing in and out from the subway. Head up to the top floor where Steve and Barry's is and look down. Three flights beneath you is the food court. Wait a minute. You will begin to see the little vermin running across the floor from vendor to vendor looking for food.

If you are in the mall during the day and you are in the food court just look down while you are eating. There is usually a trail of roaches headed to and from the subway under your feet. During the day!