Bed bugs invade New York City Department of Health offices

nobugsonme — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:56:55 +0000

The New York Post reports that New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene workers are being bitten by bed bugs.

Workers in the department’s tuberculosis-prevention unit complain that the painful pests have invaded their offices on the eighth floor of 346 Broadway for the second time.

“People are really upset,” one worker said, adding that while it was never made public, a bedbug colony took up residence on the same site two years ago.

“They told us we were crazy,” the worker said, referring to higher-ups. “I said, ‘I know what I saw. I’m not crazy.’ ”

Officials confirmed that bedbugs were found in the TB unit in 2007 and again within the last few days. In both cases, exterminators were called in.

“It’s fairly common to have a couple of bedbugs brought in by an individual,” said department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti. “It’s not an infestation.”

The “condition” of bed bugs in the tuberculosis-prevention unit of the NYC DOHMH suggests that the DOHMH also needs a “bed bug prevention unit.” Not for their building, but for the city.

Bed bugs don’t kill you like TB will (at least not in most cases) but they certainly are a quickly-spreading parasite which messes with one’s “mental hygiene” big time.

NY Magazine’s Daily Intel also questions the “it’s not an infestation” spin from John Jay and Department of Health, reminding me that “I’m not crazy” either.Similar Posts:

Bed bugs infest multiple areas of New York’s John Jay College (CUNY)

nobugsonme — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:55:09 +0000

Colleges are bracing themselves for H1N1 this fall, but students and staff should remember that bed bugs are always a problem in colleges. Yes, even in commuter colleges with no student housing!

CBS2 in New York reports that students at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice found out in an email Wednesday night that the first floor of the college’s North Hall has been infested with bed bugs:

The word came in a mass e-mail identifying several offices, including admissions, financial aid, health, student government, the registrar and a conference room as among those that have — not an infestation — but rather in the words of the email, a bed bug condition.

Unfortunately, having a “bed bug condition” in at least five offices and a conference room does indeed amount to a bed bug infestation.

Bed bug treatment is going to be carried out on Saturday to avoid disrupting classes.

Some students in the CBS report claimed to have been bitten already; of course, in New York, bed bugs are now so commonplace that this might also happen on a bus, in a subway seat, in a cafe or someone’s home.

We can only hope students, staff and faculty at John Jay are also getting a briefing on how to detect, identify — and respond to — bed bug infestations at home.

Watch the video and see the story: John Jay College Overrun By Bed Bugs – wcbstv.com.

Update (9/24):

As Buggedinsomerville notes in the comments below, The New York Times City Room blog now has a story on this.

City Room reports that North Hall has been closed until Tuesday for treatment, and there’s a Q&A with the college president and a pest firm in the College Theater at 2 today.

In it, Jim Grossman, a John Jay spokesman, explains the whole “bed bug condition” thing:

John Jay is calling it a bedbug “condition.” Mr. Grossman said, “Infestation is when you can see them swarming.”

[Emphasis mine.]

Oh dear!

This is terribly inaccurate and just shows an ignorance of how bed bugs act normally — they hide and they do so very well.

If you can see bed bugs swarming, you have an extremely serious bed bug infestation.

This level of infestation is very rare, though we’ve heard of a few cases.

It’s possible to have a considerable bed bug infestation and see few, if any, bed bugs.

City Room says that

Bedbugs were found on the first three floors of the four-story building, though they were concentrated mainly on the first.

[Emphasis mine.]

Three quarters of the building? That, my friends, sounds like a sizeable bed bug infestation.

Update #2 (9/24):

Don’t look now, John Jay PR folks, but NBC called this a “bed bug infestation” no less than five times in this article alone.

The New York Times did not dip into that pesky conundrum.

And Running Scared (Village Voice) blogger Chez Pazienza had a bit of fun:

We don’t need to tell you that the past few years has seen near-epidemic bedbug “conditions” in New York City…

Yes, indeed.

By any other name, a bed bug problem smells just as nasty.*

In deference to our friend Winston, I will surrender the “i” word for now.

Here’s the thing, though: you have bed bugs (plural) in multiple offices and 3/4 floors of a building?

You have a bed bug problem. A serious one.

One which appears to have been going on since at least mid-August, according to the New York Times.

(I’m not discounting the importance of getting rid of even one single male bed bug, honestly, but am trying

And remember: there’s no shame in having a bed bug problem. What matters is how swiftly, carefully, and fully you respond to it.

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*Yes: bed bug infestations can smell, but no: most people don’t report noticing this most of the time. Just taking a bit of poetic license.Similar Posts:

Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com » John Jay College

Bed bugs invade New York City Department of Health offices

Bed bugs infest multiple areas of New York’s John Jay College (CUNY)