Bed Bug Complaints Soared in 2008

The bedbug policy advocacy group "New York vs Bed Bugs" had to file a Freedom of Information request to get the city to confirm what everyone already suspected: New York's bed bug population is booming! The group says there were more than 9,200 bed bug complaints to the city's 311 line last year, a 34% jump over 2007. The hottest neighborhoods for bed bugs right now are found in central Brooklyn, northern and eastern Bronx, midtown Manhattan, eastern Queens, and the north shore of Staten Island, the Daily News reports. In an attempt to turn the tide, the City Council will consider bills next week that would ban the sale of used mattresses, train exterminators, and force city agencies to develop a united strategy. Last month the Times called for a bed bug task force to focus on the resilient bastards, noting that "there are a lot of agencies that do a little about bed bugs, but nobody that can help with the whole shebang." And a recent study found that NYC bed bugs have developed nerve cell mutations that make them almost impervious to the most toxins used by exterminators.

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By John Del Signore in News on February 17, 2009 1:09 PM

Comments [rss]

New York Pest Control

Our company noticed an increase in bed bugs over the last 5 or so years. I wouldn't agree that they are becoming immune to our treatment, its that the treatment used 50+ years ago are no longer allowed to be used.

We came across this site that gives more detail into why bed bugs are starting to reappear in massive numbers:

New York Bed Bugs

chopp3r

OMG! Save the bedbugs! It's immoral to kill our fellow creatures! Check out YouTube for videos of bedbugs being abused!! They're being traumatized by being forced to live in the city!!

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

ding dong, bed bugs are not visible to the eyes.

jaycjay

Huh? Of course they are.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

then i guess I don't have bedbugs yet. thank goodness.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

My bedbugs and I came to an understanding, as long as they don't bite me in the middle of the night then we are fine.

snickerdoodle

DEPORT THEM ALL!

Barbj8

Whatever... they're still gross.

TKaisen

If only there was a poison that killed them consistently that's never been conclusively proven to cause problems in human.

jaycjay

We may just have to adapt to accepting them as being just like mosquitoes. They'll be irritating but you know that you're going to be bitten. If you want to defend yourself, try a repellent with DEET, but you're never going to kill them all.

I've read, too, that most people eventually build up a tolerance after repeatedly being bitten. So maybe eventually it won't be such a big deal.

99centmenu

except that they're not like mosquitos. at all.

bedbug bites are terrible, irritating, and humiliating. it's not like a mosquito bite where you get bit once or a few times -- you get bitten all over, in the same areas, night after night, so they stay red as hell. oh, also, your friends won't want to come over anymore because the damn evidence is all over you. so no, i'm not accepting bedbugs as anything but bedbugs

JonnyLeather

One of these days, these bugs will learn to carry and transmit disease, and we'll suffer the contemporary version of the bubonic plague.

jaycjay

"Just another third-world attribute the city seems anxious to adopt."

I realize a lot of people don't get out much, so I will point out that this isn't a NYC issue. Bedbug reports have skyrocketed in all 50 states, as well as in Canada and throughout Europe. And most likely much of the rest of the world.

ides_of_march

Just another third-world attribute the city seems anxious to adopt.

Celebrate diversity!

Rocknrope

What with the beg bugs, the financial meltdown, the discussion of NYC on the verge of economic collapse, I feel like I need to break out my copy of The Grapes of Wrath.

jaycjay

"I feel like the city has been discussing banning used mattress sales for a while. Also, beware of anything—mattresses, furniture, etc—left on the street."

Exactly, because bedbugs don't only live in mattresses. Sure, that's where you see them when they've come out for a meal, but they're very happy living in wood. Wood bed frames, dressers, baseboards, picture or mirror frames, even just holes or cracks in walls.

Really a ban on used mattresses is pointless. It's not going to accomplish much at all.

jackdonaghy

Wasn't there a warning about the presence of bed bugs on those wood bucket seats in subway stations? I pity the fools that sit on those.

ziggyziggy

These bugs are all chilling in Hotel Carter.

NannyState

You'd think so but the silverfish currently control The Carter after the the brutal turf war of 2004.

Jen Chung

I feel like the city has been discussing banning used mattress sales for a while. Also, beware of anything—mattresses, furniture, etc—left on the street.