See:
AMNY
Gothamist
Wired

See also this post on Consumerist which is about the rumor (via the Post), not the Straphangers’ list (which, again, apparently does not contain bed bugs). On Consumerist, the comments alone are worth the trip.

A few months ago, it happened on Thai trains — and the Thai rail officials blamed American backpackers, which I thought was a nice twist on the “people from other countries bring bed bugs” theory.

Winston, it looks like Michael Potter is also with you and Lou:

Dr. Potter said: “In other areas of the world where bedbugs are also a big problem, like India, there have been reports of massive problems of bedbugs on trains and on benches. I’ve heard from some pest control companies that work in India, that you have to be careful on which benches you sit in. There have been reports of bedbugs in trains in Europe.”

And it isn’t just a matter of watching where you sit in subway stations. “They used to be extremely common in movie theaters,” he said. (Netflix suddenly seems more appealing.)

The bedbugs hitchhike on people, in part because humans are a source of food. “They have to feed on blood,” Dr. Potter said, “so they are waiting for another blood meal to come along. If bedbugs are sitting on a park bench, or a subway bench, they will just wait for their next meal.”

And they are very patient. “Bedbugs can persist a long time between meals,” Dr. Potter said. “They’ll just hunker down. Studies show that bedbugs can live many many months, a year, perhaps longer without feeding.”

Suddenly, the chaotic image of panicked New Yorkers and a paralyzed transit system must have popped into his head, because he interrupted himself and said, “This is still probably a rare occurrence and people shouldn’t stop riding the subway.”

Potter also said,

If you go way back 100 years ago, bedbugs were very common on trains, on buses, in taxicabs, in all modes of transport…”

The upholstered seating in trains, taxis and buses does seem especially problematic.

Of course, I would never encourage folks to stop riding the subway. I ride it all the time. I do sit in the subway benches (which makes a few around here gasp in horror) but I admit I do not sit in the station benches.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/where-bedbugs-ride-around-besides-just-beds/

Sorry, Renee! Your comment went into the spam filter too. Like Paula’s, I discovered this after linking to the article you mention. Not sure what’s going on with Akismet today.

But though Seaton added that there have been no similar complaints from subway customers in the past, at least one Manhattan pest control professional said bedbug infestation has been a growing problem on the city’s subway system.

“I’ve been talking about it for five years,” said Jeffrey Eisenberg, president of Pest Away Exterminating.

Eisenberg said he personally reported bedbug sightings to subway administrators as long as seven to eight years ago.

“I have seen bedbugs firsthand on the subway,” he said. “I called the [Metropolitan Transit Authority], and they said they were looking into it. … They didn’t do anything about it.”

Cindy Mannes of the National Pest Management Association is also asked about the possibility of bed bugs in the NYC subway:

Cindy Mannes, spokeswoman for the National Pest Management Association, said her organization has not received any such reports.

“I have not heard of anything relating to bedbugs in the subways of New York City or anywhere else,” Mannes said.

She added that such infestations could be possible, especially considering the steady human traffic in such facilities.

“If you think about large groups of people, in many cases this is how bedbugs are transported,” she said. “I know they’ve been found in movie theaters and other strange places. I know of nothing specific to any subway station, but if there’s upholstery anywhere, they can live in it.”

Despite a shortage of upholstered surfaces in most subway trains, Eisenberg said bedbugs, much like humans, can use trains to move from place to place.

“Subways don’t have a lot of [upholstery], which I think is their saving grace,” he said. “But buses do have upholstery, so that is a problem.”

Lou Sorkin interviewed on WNYC:
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/98532

[REPORTER:] Lou Sorkin, an insect expert at the American Museum of Natural History, says people unknowingly bring bedbugs with them from home into public. But, he says the subway isn’t the most likely place they’d turn up.

SORKIN: The theater and an office would have a higher priority of bedbug infestation than a subway bench or even park bench. It depends maybe on the geographic location of that particular subway bench or park bench.

REPORTER: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says its pest experts are focused mainly on rats, not insects, but that subway platforms, benches and stairs are regularly power-washed with hot water and detergent. How often depends on how much traffic they receive.

If nothing else, this is a good opportunity for people to learn more about bed bugs and how they spread. Thanks Lou!
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