Big cheese: ‘Pizza rat’ filmed dragging pizza slice into NYC subway, internet mesmerized

New Yorkers are crazy for pizza, and apparently the city’s animals are no exception. Footage of a rat dragging a slice of pizza twice its size down a flight of subway stairs exploded in popularity Monday, leaving American internet users gleefully captivated.

In the video, the rat is seen carrying the large pizza slice – it appears to be topped only with cheese, in case you were wondering – down several flights of stairs. Though the animal, simply dubbed “Pizza Rat” by admiring social media fans, looks like he’s got enough momentum and dedication to make it down the whole set of stairs, it abandons the slice of pie.

Although some witnessed the pizza being stranded on the third-to-last subway step and condemned the rodent – “Pizza Rat Is No Hero,”proclaimed New York Magazine – it’s worth noting that we don’t actually know if the popular food was left to rot on the step.

At the end of the footage, Pizza Rat is seen staring up longingly at the pizza. Perhaps Pizza Rat was simply waiting for oncoming foot traffic to clear before going back up for the local delicacy.

Either way, Pizza Rat’s efforts were heralded across the internet.

The man who captured the footage, comedian Matt Little, said Pizza Rat’s effort was a metaphor for life in New York City.

"You’re carrying too much and you have to go too far and there’s always a lot going on," Little told DNA Info.

Others, meanwhile, noted the tale of Pizza Rat could be a tragic one if all it could afford to eat was non-nutritious food such as pizza.

Of course, one can’t witness a rat dragging pizza into New York City’s underground and not quickly think of Splinter, the rodent martial arts master who trained the pizza-loving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Many users commented that the scene showed Splinter trying to deliver the slice to four baby turtles.

The Ninja Turtles weren’t the only cultural force linked to Pizza Rat, however. Even Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English Literature born in 1343 London, couldn’t resist whipping up a poem about the rat’s heroic feat.