Bed Bugs Reported at Sheepshead Bay Multiplex

Try not to think about bed bugs next time you watch a movie.

The New York City Health Department received an anonymous report last week about bed bugs at the UA Sheepshead Bay 14 movie theater in Brooklyn. According to the Health Department, managers have hired a pest-control company to investigate. But a spokesperson for Regal Cinemas issued a statement saying, "At Regal, the welfare of our guests and staff is of utmost importance. We have taken all reasonable measures to assure their health and safety and been advised by the environmental professionals that there exists no current health or safety risk for our guests or staff." Feel reassured?

When told of the possible infestation, some moviegoers outside the cinema were creeped out but undaunted; one man tells Fox, "I'm not happy about it, but I guess we'll take our chances. Hopefully they took care of it if there is a problem." This is a man who has not had bed bugs. The fearmongering Fox segment is worth watching, if only for the stock footage of bed bugs in action. Those buggers can move! They're also notoriously resilient, difficult to eradicate, and adept at traveling in clothing. So perhaps Astroboy can wait for Netflix.

In September, John Jay College shut down a building because of a bed bug infestation. This is the first report about bed bugs at a movie theater, but it makes sense, since they like to feed on your blood when the lights are out and you're distracted by sleep or Hilary Swank. Mice and rats have also been observed at other multiplexes around town, and last year we saw a mouse scurrying around at the Union Square Regal Cinemas.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on October 24, 2009 10:10 AM

Comments [rss]

craigspr

TurkeyburgerDLX.....I agree

http://www.craigspr.org

TurkeyburgerDLX

Yes, how dare those fear-mongers monger fear. Gothamist would never do that...

leepresson

Think about the conditions of theatre floors. Dark, warm (relatively), an abundance of sugary foods dropped on a daily basis. Every theatre in the city has rats and/or mice. The odds up picking up bedbugs in a theatre is pretty small, they have to reside in furniture, they can't last very long on a moving person. Perhaps if you slept for hours in a theatre, but really....

Mr Mel

Not only bedbugs but swine flu as well.

bornbrednewyorker

One more reason to aspire to be a shut in.

Sela

I heard there were bedbugs at the Union Square theater in August (people were bit at showings of Inglourious Basterds). Haven't set foot in there since.

bond0007

why am i not surprised? That movie theater is perhaps the reason why I dont go to the movies. It is always packed with hoodlums from the ghetto and it is extremely dirty. The movie theater in battery park city is so much nicer