A rat problem is plaguing a neighborhood in Mount Vernon.

Residents on North Bond Street tell News 12 that hundreds of rats have overrun their street and adjacent blocks in their area.

At the center of this controversy is the building at 21 North Bond St. The rats occupy the basement, with many of them overflowing into the neighborhood.

After receiving numerous complaints, the city responded by setting up rat traps on the street and cleaning up some trash.

"The challenge still remains that if property owners are putting out garbage on non-garbage days, they are not in garbage cans or they are in garbage cans without lids on them, then vermin are going to be attracted to those conditions," said Shawn Harrison Howard, the city's commissioner of Planning and Community Development.

Meanwhile, another home across the street has been unoccupied for nearly three years, and has become a dumping ground and an eyesore.

The city told News 12 that it deems the problem to be a serious one, and that a quick fix is realistic.