The nightmare of every subway rider was caught on video after a chubby sewer rat crawled up the leg of a sleeping straphanger on a No. 4 train in Brooklyn and came face-to-face with the man.

Of 98 local cases from 2001 to 2023, the median age was 50 years (total range 20 to 80 years). The cases also usually involved men, and were mostly reported from the Bronx (37), followed by ...