Say cheese, you're the ugliest rat in the underground.

The transit workers union of New York City has named this fur-challenged rodent the winner of its photo contest, which called on subway riders to submit shots of the nastiest-looking vermin they encountered on their commutes.

Straphanger Michael Spivack, 61, snapped the creepy critter on the platform of the Seventh Ave.-53rd St. station in the summer of 2008.

The architecture firm executive is a photography buff who always carries a camera. When he spotted his prize-winning subject, he was ready in a flash to take a picture.

"I was waiting for the D train when I saw something on the platform," Spivack recalled. "The thing wasn't moving but it was alive. I got as close as I dared to get."

Spivack initially photographed it to send to friends who had never seen a rat in the subways. He submitted the picture to the "Ugliest Rat" contest after the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 called for entries in early January.

On Thursday, the TWU will present Spivack with his prize - a free monthly MetroCard pass - at 53rd St. and Broadway.

He recently showed the winning photo to a woman in his office when she congratulated him on his victory.

"She started retching and ran from my office," he said.

A 12-foot rubber rat, the unofficial mascot of the union's "New Yorkers Deserve a Rat Free Subway" campaign, will also be at the event.

The campaign was launched to prod the Metro Transit Authority to be more aggressive in its efforts to reduce the rodent population in the 468-station system, where tens of thousands of transit employees work.

New York Daily News