KFC TO ASK POPE'S BLESSING FOR FISH SANDWICH !

CBS/AP) Even for New Yorkers who had seen everything, the sight was a jaw dropper: hordes of rats running freely through a closed fast food restaurant in the West Village.

Agile, plump, leaping and bounding from table to table, the rodents ran across the floor, between counters and tables and onto children's high chairs.

They even perched on top of an ATM machine.

Rats have long been a presence in New York, with such a dense population and such a large and readily available food supply for the rodents. But it is rare to see so many rats congregating in one place in public view, rather than scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, or dashing across parks.

News crews flocked to the KFC-Taco Bell restaurant, and video footage taken through the store window was widely disseminated Friday on TV stations and the Internet.