Bedbug-Infested Man Removed From Subway Train

I rode the uptown train with the homeless man in question in February and I didn't have to be very close to him to see that his clothes were absolutely alive with little creepy crawlies. If there were two men who fit this description, it would be sad and I would be very surprised. I don't know on what grounds the police can remove him from the train, or keep him from getting back on, but I hope he received help getting a new coat and a place for the night.

http://gothamist.com/2008/04/09/coffeeteaor_the.php

This is why I try to avoid sitting next to asians on the subway.

Wait a minute...Isn't this the New York City grit you all want????

god these bums are disgusting. The homeless should be burned at the stake. The city can charge admission for each one and then we can enjoy the benefits of a city with more money, less disgusting vagrants, and less human feces on the subway steps (except those nyu kids rofl)

#37 there are plenty of people out there who don't have a sense of their surroundings and have no idea who or what is around them at the time.

So here's what i don't get(and i've had my fair share of homeless experiences).... how is this guy sitting close enough to see tiny bugs, on what he describes as clearly someone who is homeless, honestly, when was the last time you were sitting THAT CLOSE to a homeless person and only moved when you saw bugs, maybe my nose is super sensitive but, this just isn't making sense.

This is why working as an EMT or paramedic in Manhattan can be a miserable job sometimes.

Who do you think has to deal with people? Your EMS service!

/vomits

There's a smelly bum on the Broadway-Lafayette platform who every so often takes his ratty sneakers off to air out his crusty, ashy, sore-covered, vomit-inducing feet that he props up when crossing his legs so every passerby can be repulsed to his delight.

That man has been there for almost a decade. He is very polite. Says hello to those he sees on the platform daily and nevers asks anyone for anything. Often when not sleeping on the bench he can be seen drawing on a piece of scrap paper or a sketchbook someone probably gave him.

Yes, he does smell some days but I don't think he can help it, maybe he couldn't take a shower that day or get new socks. His smell isn't nearly as offensive as some of the ones who are in subway cars. Atleast he has enough consideration not to trap us in a car with his smell. Someone must be looking out for him because he is not starving and or annoying anyone and he has stuff off to the side in bags.

He's a harmless hobo. There are so many other's that you can pick on, he's not one of them.

Ugh, this is one of the few downsizes of NYC.

NY Bugs and not clean NY people: EEEW.

But i truly find more scary the singing/talking alone on subways.

I sat next to this well-dressed lady but her hair was a large unwashed bun and something from it jumped to me. I ran home to scrub myself raw.

You know, none of you seemed that terrified by the posts about machete-wielding gangs, random arrow shootings, NYC sinking into the ocean, economic doom, or massive mass transit cuts.

But a few lice on a homeless dude and everyone is pissing their pants. I love it.

Randomness, natural disasters, and economic doom are overwhelmingly terrifying. So much so that I'd rather not think about them. But I can take one homeless guy and his insect menagerie.

that is until you try to get into the room his cello is in, then he'll go all F-bomb on you.

Why can't the homeless all play the cello like the nice man I saw on 60 Minutes last night.

Easy solution. Start killing bums ad winos and no more disgusting freak out episodes anymore.

Remember, "homeless" is an euphemism. You give those guys a home and they would still be bums.

Weren't the vampires and werewolves supposed to do that, like in 'Wolfen'?

I witnessed a bum taking a shit on the platform while seated on one of those wooden benches. He dropped his pants shifted forward and crapped right in front of a Transit Cop... too bad I didn't twitter about it!

S(h)itting is not an option on those benches.

yuck.

The city is liable for this and should be sued if this incident results in spreading bedbugs to our less unkempt citizens. The Mayor should have forseen this and formulate some sort of plan to combat dirty bums. Such a plan should include Soap & Water, and possibly the introduction of 'Food Stamps' that are accepted at local laundry mats.

OMG- next stop, your laundry bag!

I once saw a large roach fall out of a homeless guys pants when he got off his seat in the train. A group of kids freaked out and and I lifted my feet up as I saw the thing crawl towards my seat. Luckily, my stop was up next. Bed bugs/lice are creepier because you may take one home without even knowing it. Thanks Gothamist! I'll be feeling skeeved all day.

"If I get bed bugs I am suing the MTA."

is "arron" a teenaged girl?

I am pretty sure they were baby bedbugs, not full grown and too big to be lice for sure ... my take is that the dude was smoking or shooting in some den for days, he still looked faded, and when the itching got to bad he left the place ... so I must of saw him just after he started moving.

The cops did kick him off, the MTA employee did point him out to the cops, and yes it freaked me out.

It is sad people make racist slurs and talk about killing the homeless ... maybe you should all watch "Night and Fog" I am sure it is available in the library.

There is a special place in bed bug hell for some of you for sure.

FYI - The homeless man had his whole bench, some drunk girl was right next to him and I was like four seats away. I didn't notice the bugs until the MTA employee pointed them out to me, and I only was sitting down for a second.

Jeez! This why I hate blogs, give my the NYTimes any day.

No, that's just the quality of content when it comes to twitter.

avoid the wooden benches at all costs. Its sad that any human being would be covered in bugs, but also kind of gross for everyone else.

Once I was about to sit down on one of those wooden benches on the platform when a man crawled out from underneath. I think he'd been sleeping under there.

Mr. Howell missed the opportunity for a healthy snack:

http://tinyurl.com/dkp5kj

wouldn't mind paying the higher prices the MTA wants if they took the homeless out of there...

That's the stuff of nightmares. I'm now itching all over.

And this is why I refuse to sit on subway benches.

Has anyone ever wondered why you would choice to be homeless in NY? i mean for the ones that kind of have a choice where to be homeless

"Has anyone ever wondered why you would choice to be homeless in NY? i mean for the ones that kind of have a choice where to be homeless"

Because NYC is so exciting and hip! Why shouldn't homeless people enjoy it!

Ok, lets move them all out... Obama and Bloomberg can set the income limits on who may and may not live here.

s/ off

Yellowfoot, that has to be the winner for the most stupid post I have ever seen on Gothamist!!!

If you had the choice to not be covered in bugs and your own piss, likely an addict and/or mentally ill, generally filthy and socially outcast, you'd probably choose not to be. 99.99% of the humans in the universe would choose not to be. To choose it, one has to be very screwed up, very desperate or very ill and perhaps not inclined towards good decision making in general, methinks.

Or maybe they're an NYU student conducting a social experiment.

Me Too!!!!

Last time I really needed to rest my feet and sit on a subway bench, 3 rats ran under and around my feet. Freaking out alone on a narrow desolate train platform covered in aggressive rodents gave me the energy I needed to keep moving.

Speaking of infestations, thanks Gothamist for giving your reading population a collective case of the heebee jeebees.

Stuff of nightmares, whether is was bedbugs or lice. I would have run from that train car screaming.

I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral one year for Christmas Mass. It was very crowded and my party and I had to split up among the pews. One of my friends sat right behind a homeless guy who was passed out in a pew, and was covered with bugs. My friend tried his best to be Christian and not pass judgment, or throw up, but it was tough!

At least those bugs found salvation.

Maybe it was lice?

Much more likely, really. Bed bugs are the current big fear, so they're what people think of first right now but bed bugs don't stay on people for long periods of time. They're generally nocturnal, and nest in dark and enclosed places. You might find one or two on someone's clothing if they've been out to feed when the person dressed and left (they may stay in unworn clothing for some time) but they don't swarm all over someone the way lice or fleas will.

how could he have bedbugs when he doesn't have a bed?

and, it's below freezing this morning, can they survive in extreme cold temps?

They've got blankets!