NYC Starts Taking Bed Bugs Seriously

Finally! The New York City Council voted last week to create a Bed Bug Advisory Board.

“Bedbugs are back, and for the tens of thousands whose homes have been infested they are no longer an urban legend but a personal and financial nightmare,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer, lead sponsor of the bill, according to an article in the Brooklyn Eagle.

Council Member Brewer said that the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) received roughly 9,000 bed bug complaints in 2008, while 311 received about 22,000 bed bug-related calls.

We've been following the bed bug problem since last year, when 1: we noticed a big increase in the number of mattresses we saw on the sidewalks of Brooklyn; 2: the buildings of many of our friends became infested; and 3: our building became infested.

None of the infested people we know called HPD or 311.

Last summer he Eagle chronicled the extent of the problem in Brooklyn (huge!) and advice about what to do if you get the little bloodsuckers. (Bedbugs in Brooklyn: They're Here. Get Used to It; and Part2: The Secret Life of Bedbugs).

Another great resource: New York vs Bed Bugs. They report that Mayor Bloomberg will sign New York City’s bed bug advisory board legislation on Wednesday, March 18, at 3:30 p.m. in the press briefing room, the Blue Room, at City Hall.

- Bed Bugs hearing Coming Up at NYC Council

- Six Bedbug-Filled Mattresses in Brooklyn Heights?
- The Secret Life of Bedbugs Brooklyn Eagle
- Bedbugs in Brooklyn: They're Here. Get Used to It Brooklyn Eagle
- Brooklyn Bed Bug Complaints Soar 1,900 Percent!
- Brooklyn Living: Beware of Garbage With Something Written on It
- Brooklyn's Bed Bug Club: Everybody Welcome

Photo by MK Metz

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