In yet another installment of pick-a-public-servant's brain on Reddit, a Sanitation Department worker is asked the question that has plagued many a wrinkled nose: "Why is Chinatown always twice as dirty as the rest of Manhattan?" After a gentle attempt at parrying ("Do I really need to explain that?") the worker responds, "Just a lot of filthy people down there. That's the best explanation I can give. I don't think it matters how hard they work to try and keep it clean." more ›

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park start around $695 a night and can range up to $4,500. That may seem steep, but according to one maid, that price tag comes with plenty of extras, like parasites to relieve you of your blood free of charge. The worker, Rosanna Polanco, tells the Times that on Monday she was asked to service the room next to 1005, but she was not told what the problem was. Polanco says she only found out when she bumped into a worker from Ecolab Inc., which supplies cleaning products and pest elimination services. more ›

A day after the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the acquisition of two bedbug sniffing dogs, the agency's Gold Street headquarters was facing an infestation. According to the Post, around November 15 of last year the entire third floor was evacuated and 5,000 boxes were sent off for fumigation. more ›

New Yorkers are besieged by rats who can read and bedbugs who eat poison for brunch (after they suck your blood for breakfast). If the feds can't help us, perhaps it's time to try a little tenderness? The WSJ reports that more women are entering the traditionally male-dominated profession of pest-control. "When people come to the door, they are surprised to see ladies, but they love to see ladies," Beverly Rice Brady, the co-founder of Pro Service Pest Control says. "They feel safer; they feel more comfortable having a girl in their home." more ›

PS 361 in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn has been attacked by bedbugs for the 31st time in one year, further evidence that the Department of Education should start declaring "bedbug days" to clear the way for exterminators. more ›

Pace University's library had a wee bedbug problem, but now that's all behind them, a spokesperson assures us this morning. We reported yesterday that the university's Henry Birnbaum Library was abruptly shut down in the afternoon, and one student said a librarian conspiratorially leaned in to say: " 'Don't tell anyone this,' and then whispered 'bed bugs.' " The school says everything's under control now, but some students are on edge because the freshman dorms are located in the same building as the library. more ›

A student who works in the Henry Birnbaum Library at Pace University tells us the library has been shut down so that it can be treated for bedbugs. Our tipster tells us, "I got kicked out of work early because of an 'emergency closing' of the library. I told the librarian i needed a specific reason to give my boss as to why they were closing, and she said 'Don't tell anyone this,' and then whispered 'bed bugs.' " College kids: they just can't keep their traps shut! more ›

Seeing as there are no actual jobs available any more, New Yorkers have turned to the tried and true method of enriching themselves using the sheer brilliance of the city: real estate. Specifically, renting out their apartments as illegal hotels to tourists. "I'm an entrepreneur, and I saw this as another opportunity," a woman who rents out her Brooklyn apartment for $100/night tells the Post. "I've been booked for the past month and a half, save for a few nights." We'd like to take this opportunity to announce that a lovely broom closet in the Lower East Side that is available for $30/hour. more ›

Remember way back in May, when the owners of the Pavilion movie theater in Park Slope, a frontrunner for the title of Nastiest Theater in the city, claimed they would clean up the theater's act, after numerous reports of bedbugs? Well, it looks like that might not be an empty promise after all, if this picture is to be trusted. more ›

Last week, a reader wrote us to relate her bedbug tale of woe—she claimed that a mattress protector pad from Sleepy's came with a side dish of two bedbugs, and that Sleepy's had been uncooperative with her appeals to pay for fumigating her apartment. But it seems the reader's attempts to "apply some external pressure" onto the company worked—as we heard straight from the mouth of Sleepy's COO, Adam Blank: "She has been taken care of completely, and now she's a happy Sleepy's customer." more ›

Still doubtful that bedbugs are taking over New York City? Try these numbers on for size: In the 2008-9 school year there were 542 confirmed cases of the pests in New York City public schools. In the 2009-10 school year there were 1,019 confirmed cases. And this year? This year there were 3,590 confirmed cases. Maybe Schools Chancellor Walcott really does need to start implementing bedbug days? Or at least outfitting teachers with those bedbug fart detectors? more ›

The holding-cell area in the 120th Precinct station on Staten Island has been shut down as officials grapple with a bed bug infestation that has made conditions there unpleasant for prisoners. A defense attorney tells the Staten Island Advance that for months now bed bugs have been a problem in the holding cells, which are notoriously filthy. You may recall this dump from the story about the licensed massage therapist who was arrested and forced to clean an overflowing toilet at the station house before cops let her go without charging her. Looks like cops need to arrest a couple of exterminators now. more ›

As if the fear of bed bugs wasn't enough to keep you up at night, now there's the fear of violent criminals exploiting that fear for their own frightening ends. Bugs! Blood! Terror! Police tell CBS2 two armed men wearing dust masks knocked on the door of a Murray Hill apartment on the morning of May 24th and told the tenant they were bed bug exterminators. Once the door was cracked, they allegedly brandished a gun and bashed the 60-year-old resident on the head. more ›

Just when you're kicking as much ass in Rockin'Yoga as an aerobics class named "RockinYoga" will allow you to kick, now you have to worry about parasites (not the ones wearing Bluetooths) when you hit the showers. Fancy Upper West Side gym Reebok Sports Club has bedbugs. Again. This time they found them in a locker in "the men's executive locker room," where it was probably feasting on the blood of some hedge fund manager because it tastes like butterscotch. more ›

If all the bedbug fart-detecting machines and protective seat covers in the world have failed you, turn now to a new "bedbug-resistant" bed, featuring "an ultra-slippery coating, splayed legs that push the bed away from walls that bedbugs might climb, an angled metal frame that the bugs can't bore into and a mattress sealed in medical-grade nylon." more ›

The seemingly never-ending saga of the disgraced Pavilion Theater in Park Slope continues today, with a rather amusing takedown from F'd In Park Slope, who was invited by the theater's new owners for an exclusive sneak preview of the redone space. What they found wasn't pretty. more ›

It appears that the much-maligned Pavilion movie theater in Park Slope, which at one point was a strong contender for Nastiest Theater in NYC, is under new ownership, and they've vowed to help the theater clean up its act (which allegedly includes a healthy bedbug population). But will they win over the neighbors, many of whom have given up any semblance of hope? more ›

Grab some continental breakfast and wake the Germans in the next bunk: the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement has begun cracking down on a law that went into effect on May 1 that bars apartment rentals for less than 30 days and prevents building owners from renting a single unit for temporary use. more ›

Going to the movies this weekend? Don't forget your bed bug seat cover! Entrepreneur Joseph Harary tells us that after reading reports of bed bugs at the Pavilion movie theater in Park Slope, his wife refused to join him for a night at the movies. On his website, he elaborates, "In the coming months I went to see a Broadway show and this time came in with a plastic sheet to sit on. We got several smiles, a few laughs and many compliments. I realized right away that everyone knew why we sat on them and all seemed to approve. At intermission I held a mini focus group study gathering advice and ideas." And so the BugOff seat cover was born! Here's an instructional video showing how it works: more ›

A judge has dismissed a former Fox News staffer's suit against the the company's landlord over bed bug bites she got at the office, saying that the building "took extraordinary measures" to keep the bugs out. Jane Clark claims she had to leave her job in 2008 after her coworker's apartment became infested and brought the bugs to work. But Justice Carol Edmead said there was nothing more the building can do. Who's excited for this summer? more ›

Last week bedbugs were found at the upscale Reebok Sports Club on the Upper West Side, where Taye Diggs, Chris Cuomo, and PR big shot Ronn Torossian all work out (it's also where Jerry Seinfeld met his future wife, who was married to someone else at the time!). The club admitted it had a problem, but not to its members, most of whom found out about it by reading a gossip item in the NY Post. Now members are lashing out at the management for allegedly trying to hush up the whole thing, with "Marketing and Brand Strategy Consultant" Ashley Hart leading the charge on Facebook. Hart writes on Reebok's wall: more ›

So far, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council have appointed a bed bug task force, created a "bed bug czar," and started a “Bed Bug Academy” for building & property managers cursed with an infestation. But despite all these measures, the bed bugs continue to blithely feed on the nectar of our world class blood. Residential bed bug complaints have increased dramatically citywide, even infiltrating the offices of the Manhattan and Brooklyn district attorneys! But today city officials are turning things up a notch, with a hot new website and tough new rules for landlords with bed bug tenants. more ›