October 16, 2006
Bedbugs and Your Real Estate
We bet every person who read the NY Times' article, Everything You Need to Know About Bedbugs but Were Afraid to Ask, checked the nooks and crannies of their apartments, prayed they would never see a bedbug and then took a swig of a hard liquor to make the scary go away. But it was a very informative article - we learned:
- Landlords are required to get rid of bedbugs within 30 days of an inspection from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (call 311)There are many more, but we were intrigued by the case of Peter Young, whose Ludlow Street apartment was infested. Young slept on an inflatable bed and then a metal cot while the landlord tried to get rid of the bugs to no avail. So Young did what any self-respecting, sick-of-bedbugs tenants would do: He stopped paying rent. A judge ruled in Young's favor, saying, "In this case, the bedbugs did not constitute mere annoyance, but constituted an intolerable condition, notwithstanding the landlord’s efforts to exterminate them," and Young got a rent abatement. Young, who now lives in Brooklyn, told the Times and sleeps on a futon, “Psychologically, I’m afraid of beds. I feel traumatized.”
- Co-op and condo owners are on their own, but "building could be responsible if, for example, bedbugs have affected multiple apartments and their source is not readily traceable"; if a unit owner is found responsible, he/she needs to immediately take action
- Bedbugs don't necessarily mean the apartment is dirty - it just means the bedbugs happened to like your warmth and CO2: "they pierce the skin and withdraw blood for about 5 minutes before retreating to a hiding place"
- "Exterminators look for tiny tar-black speckles — fecal droppings made up mostly of digested blood"
- "People searching for bedbugs do not know to look along the seams of mattresses, under box springs, behind headboards and picture frames, and even inside alarm clocks and telephones"
Here is the city's bedbug fact sheet. And there are bedbug plush dolls out there - just $7.99!
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"fecal droppings made up mostly of digested blood"
OH MY GOD – I'M A BEDBUG!!!
The plush bedbugs are inexplicably cute. The major university sells them in the bookstore. I'm sorely tempted to buy one and show it to people. "Look, a bedbug!"
After battling bedbugs multiple times and pulling one off my forehead one night last week (yes, I KNOW - disgusting), I am soooo sick of hearing about bedbugs. They make me want to puke.
However, the plush bedbug doll is pretty cute.
I've been bitten by something while sleeping. While looking for bed bugs, I found a red insect, but round at the bottom, not flat like a bed bug. Anyone know what this could be?
Ewwww, I am so skeeved.
An engorged bedbug?
I knew of someone who was battling bedbugs and they came up with a solution so simple it was brilliant.
Bedbugs are nocturnal and need a host to survive. So what my friend did was at 10pm he would turn on all the lights in his apartment and stay at a friends house. After two weeks the bedbugs were dead and he never had a problem after that.
that is bizarre that worked, because mine were sealed in bags for a few months and survived. I had heard they could live for years without eating. i'm jealous.
Does anyone else think is the best way to live rent-free for a month or so in NYC? So what's a little bug bite here or there!
The other night, I found a young woman inspecting a matress on 22nd St. and 3rd Ave. My fried clued her in:
"You know there's a bedbug infestation in NYC, right?"
She answerd "I heard that, but I dont have a bed and I want one so bad!"
What are you gonna do? I could only yell over my shoulder "Nothings worth what you'll have to go through!"
Plus, street mattresses are nasty!
Bedbugs are a NIGHTMARE. The Toronto Star did an article on them last week; they said that if the epidemic grows at the current rate, in five years they will be as common as roaches, mice and carpenter ants. The thing is, they are SO much harder to get rid of than the others, and so much more uncomfortable to live with.