We are really very happy to have attended the Greenpoint bed bug seminar this evening. Thanks to HPD and Mr. Edward Brownbear who conducted the seminar. Miss Heather and Pastor Ann Kansfield get our heartfelt thanks for organizing the evening; it is very inspiring to see people who want to protect their neighborhood, to spare others the suffering and the unpheaval of an infestation.
For a play-by-play account with visual aids and extensive notes, I must defer to the tireless Miss Heather.
Please read her full account, but I can’t resist quoting her on the horror centerpiece of the evening:
It was at this point that one of the more terrifying points of this entire meeting (in my opinion) was brought up: bedbugs make good “hitchhikers”, e.g.; they can attach themselves to a person’s clothing and spread. Five different subway stations have turned up positive for bedbugs. Three of them (the ones Mr. Brownbear could recall) are:
- Fordham Road, Bronx
- Union Square, Manhattan
- Hoyt-Schermerhorn, Brooklyn
The latter most were found on a subway bench, which makes sense given it is has been established these little critters like wood.
Lou Sorkin (American Museum of Natural History) and Cesar Soto (Freedom Pest Control) were at the seminar and both spoke to the audience at different points, sharing their knowledge and perspectives on the issues. One of the most gratifying parts of the evening for me was hearing from people how much they appreciated Lou and his incredible generosity to all of us who have suffered an infestation and sought his help.
Greenpoint is lovely. I’m really sorry I had to go there because of bed bugs but very glad to have met so many nice people. Two neighborhood residents I talked to told me they’d already had bed bugs twice. Twice. Once is plenty, I assure you.
It’s time for New York to lose the bed bugs.
These pages may be of related interest:
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I owe a report, which I will have to edit this weekend. Sorry for the tardiness. In the meantime I want to say the HPD Seminar was overall very good and I am enamoured with Ed Brownbear. I think he is great.
However, his superiors gave him a lot of wrong information, which he then dutifully repeated. I am very frustrated by the incorrect information being disseminated to the public, especially when we know the HPD was approached by experts and the HPD refused their help.
More soon
Will there be a bed bug seminar in 2009?
Hi Maria,
NYC HPD is not offering any additional seminars at this point. They were very basic-level seminars in any case and the city may be past this 101 stuff. I don’t know, I have conflicting thoughts about that.
On the policy front, there’s a big meeting in Washington, though, a national bed bug summit organized by the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s a groundbreaking event and you can read about it here.