That was a hoax, those kids put that on the train, there's no rat with that much heart bold enough to just walk up willy nilly and jump on a dude....
nasty.. but we see raccoons and possums more at night than rats (not as big as NYC rats) here.
Raccoons live in my backyard. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxmatt/3839078742/http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxmatt/3939804181/