Village Voice’s Runnin’ Scared blog on bed bugs
By nobugsonme on Aug 12, 2008 in Village Voice, bed bugs, bedbugs, discarded items, mattress, new york, nyc, runnin' scared
Edroso is right on the money in suggesting that bed bugs are not just one of those things the alarmist media wants us to think are “on the rise;” this is a real problem which shows every sign of getting worse, and no sign of going away.
And like most New Yorkers, Edroso has his own vicarious bed bug stories:
A friend of ours a few blocks up got bedbugs in 2006. She set all her bedding out in the street with large, clear signage explaining the situation; within an hour, someone had taken her mattress anyway.
Thinking back on that — a guy or a couple of guys ripping the BEDBUGS sign off a mattress and hauling it away — it strikes us that the role of illiteracy, or just plain ignorant disregard, in the spread of this plague is not to be underestimated.
Indeed.
However, there are a few inaccuracies or misleading ideas here:
The City urges affected citizens to “contact your Management Office immediately so that a work ticket for a visit by a NYCHA exterminator can be filled out.” Those of us with absent or unapproachable landlords might try 311. Or maybe DDT.
NYCHA exterminators are only available to those in New York City Housing Authority buildings (i.e. public housing). DDT is not really a good option (though many people think it’s just a matter of finding some).
Calling 311, however, is an option for most NYC tenants (not in NYCHA buildings) whose landlords are not dealing with the problem. It’s a messed-up system, though. Hard to get an inspector in and even harder to get them to cite a violation. (Those who’ve had NYCHPD inspections report being asked to show the inspector where the bed bugs were. This is not always easy. Previously caught samples are not necessarily counted.)
Concerned Voice readers would do well to get behind New York vs. Bed Bugs’ campaign to get the city to do something.
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parakeets | Aug 12, 2008 | Reply
I love where the author refers to this blog as the “invaluable bedbugger” and has a link to us. That’s nice praise.
nobugsonme | Aug 12, 2008 | Reply
Yes– and much appreciated!
nobugsonme | Aug 14, 2008 | Reply
Follow-up from Roy Edroso in Runnin’ Scared on Thursday: Edroso interviewed Maciej Ceglowski, the man behind the Bed Bug Registry.
He recommends carefully searching your hotel room when you travel:
You can learn how to do this via the CBC’s report on bed bugs.
Edroso also reports that he also recommends Bedbugger for stories of how people got rid of bed bugs:
Thanks to Maciej Ceglowski for his work, and to Roy Edroso for writing about bed bugs in New York, and to both of them for sending folks here.
You can read those success stories (with useful tips) here and in the forums.