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Viral Video: Comedian's Camera Rolls As 'Pizza Rat' Scurries Down Subway Stairs With A New York Slice

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City comedian shot video of a rat scurrying down a subway staircase with a slice of pizza, and it has gone viral.

The rodent has been nicknamed 'Pizza Rat.'

"Watching this rat trying to carry something bigger than him down the stairs is in a way a great encapsulation of what it's like to be a New Yorker," Matt Little said.

Little, 35, of Bushwick joked that he wanted to show off the city's rodent population.

Comedian's Camera Rolls As 'Pizza Rat' Scurries Down Subway Stairs With A New York Slice

"I think this rat is the hero that this city deserves and if I was the person that had a chance to show everybody how great even the rodent population of this city is then I feel that I have contributed positively to this city," he said.

Little said his brother was shocked by the viral response to the video.

"I told my brother that it was kind of blowing up on Twitter, and he said 'all these people are getting in touch with you over a video of a mouse?' And I said, 'no, over a video of a rat,'" Little told 1010 WINS.

The rat was already well into his mozzarella fueled mission when Little's camera started rolling.

"When we walked through the turnstile we saw this guy carrying a slice of pizza as big or bigger than himself down three stairs, before I got my phone out and started recording it," Little recalled.

New York City rat taking pizza home on the subway (Pizza Rat™) by Matt Little on YouTube

Little told 1010 WINS that the rat didn't eat the entire slice, but left it on the stairs after he finished filming.

"I like to think he was sharing with us, like he saw me and my friend Pat coming down the stairs and he said 'well that looks like two hungry guys,' and left the rest of it for us," Little said.

A garlic covered gift for the camera crew, or maybe the rat had bitten off more than he could chew.

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