The educator from HPD, who led the seminar, gave a very good presentation. He presented clear illustrations. He was warm and gracious. He kept the audience engaged and alert by asking questions and inviting us to answer. It was especially impressive how he graciously handled audience members questioning some of the items he presented, and in a few instances, correcting him. He allowed space for, and acknowledged, every comment with friendly ease and kept the seminar moving along.
Further, the educator briefly shared his personal story of his struggle with bed bugs, and held space for audience members to speak to their own experiences.
These seminars are intended to be an introduction to bed bugs. Many of the audience members had already experienced bed bugs themselves, and hence already knew much of the information presented. However, everyone seemed to get a little more information from the seminar than they had before.
Nevertheless, it appears, based on this seminar, that New Yorkers may be ready for more in-depth information. Information about landlord/tenant rights, resources, and treatment protocols would be particularly useful at this juncture.
Some interesting highlights above and beyond the basics:
- Reconditioned Furniture: The educator cited reconditioned furniture as partially responsible for the resurgence of bed bugs. He explained that reconditioning is simply a dry cleaning process, which means some bugs might escape the treatment process and survive to infest the next owner of the furniture. He said that inspectors do certify that such furniture has undergone the reconditioning process and label it accordingly for the protection of consumers. If we encounter a reconditioned item as being represented as new, we were urged to report the company.
- HPD Understaffing and Priorities: HPD is very understaffed and must respond to urgent safety complaints first before having time for less urgent complaints. For example, a tenant who has no heat or hot water is a higher priority than a tenant whose landlord is slow to respond to their infestation of bed bugs, as bed bugs (except in rare, extreme circumstances) do not actually cause any danger.
- Bed Bugs in the Subways: The press picked up on the educator’s statement that bed bugs have been spotted in subway benches. It appears that this information is anecdotal.
We particularly appreciate the educator’s emphasis that bed bugs don’t necessarily nest on beds. They are very likely to nest in the walls, in cracks in the floors, or in picture frames, etc. Hence, disposing of mattresses is not necessarily going to eradicate an infestation.
Some of the information that was presented on behalf of the HPD appears to not be wholly accurate. Of particular concern was the emphasis on the supposed safety and usefulness of diatomaceous earth. Other items under question are the attraction of bed bugs to lactic acid and the precise number of recorded complaints to 311 in 2007.
In summary:
The presentation was useful as an introduction to bed bugs, and the most important points were valuable and accurate, but many items presented were inaccurate or questionable. This underscores the importance of our need for coordinated efforts. The HPD, a city agency, needs to include the counsel of entomologists and experienced pest control operators in its material to present more meaningful content and factual accuracy.
Additionally, many of the audience members already knew much of the material presented on bed bugs themselves, but needed more information on the responsibilities and rights of both landlords and tenants, alike; as well as more information on resources and treatment protocols. The public is ready for a new level of information.
If you haven’t already, please call and/or write letters to your elected representatives to support our campaign for a bed bug task force, or please visit our CitizenSpeak page. You can enter your name and address and a pre-written letter will be sent to the appropriate officials.
As always, we welcome questions and feedback. You can reach us at founders {at} newyorkvsbedbugs {dot} org.
These pages may be of related interest:
Thanks for the report, Mangy!
Funny about the bed bug stats! What’s it going to take, huh?
Mangy
Thanks for the your thoughtful critique.
The report of bed bugs in the subway stations may be anecdotal, but it has done more for bed bug awareness than all of the seminars to date.
People often judge the seriousness of an event by calculating the likelihood that the event could affect them on a personal level.
Accurate or not, the headlines that stated that bed bugs are infesting the subway stations are somewhat akin to telling a person that they have bed bugs in their residence or their car.
Suddenly the perception that bed bugs are an unlikely event has changed to…Damm I ride the subway…This could happen to me… Boom, we quickly observe a totally new consciousness about bed bugs for millions of public transportation consumers.
People will react to this news in a variety of ways. Some will stop riding the subway, while others will simply avoid the benches in the station. Some people will desensitize in time, while others will never feel safe again
My suggestion is to bring in the dogs.
Bed Bug Dogs could be utilized to protect the public transportation system using the same techniques that are currently being used to protect cruise ships & hotels.
The simple fact is that until we see a drastic change in the way that bed bug infestations are handled in areas frequented by the public, we will continue to be at risk any time we visit any type of public accommodation.
Subways, trains, taxis, limos, theaters, schools, shelters, nursin homes & many other locations (use your imagination) are all at risk of exposure to these little hitchhikers.
Early detection is the key to control the transmission of parasites in public areas.
Most experts agree that visual inspections by an unassisted human inspector have a fairly low efficacy for detecting bed bug infestations in the early stage. The best method currently available to perform these inspections is to use a well trained K9 team.
Thanks for your comments, Doug! You are very right, the reports of potential subway infestations did raise a lot of awareness, and that is a wonderful thing. And it seems likely to me that bugs *would* harborage in subway benches. They are perfect environments for their purposes.
Hopefully the awareness will endure. Perhaps you should write your council member and offer your recommendations for dog-led inspections.
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Bedbugs infesting subways is not new. I read that there was a boy who saw bedbugs on the bench of the 59th Street subway station in Brooklyn. There are a lot more about bedbugs that is going on that is not mentioned.
Hi PrettyGirl,
Yes, I am a bit surprised at the mileage this story got.
In a city where there are bed bugs in hospitals, offices and schools… how can people be surprised that there are bed bugs on public transportation? However, I suppose whatever gets people to look for bed bug information can’t be wholly bad.
But it is one more sign, as if we needed more, that a good public education campaign is necessary.
I read on bedbugresource.com that the cheapo way of travelling to and from Philly to NY on the Chinatown buses are infested. I also heard from a pco that a Greyhound bus needed to be fumigated because it was infested. What about the LIRR, MetroNorth, Amtrak, buses to and from Great Adventure, Altantic City. There is a lot more going on that we do not know about. Those beautiful plushy seats. Some of them are ripped. Perfect houses for bbs where all-you-can-eat buffets are sitting right on top of their homes inside the ripped seats.
BTW: The post about the 59th St. subway station was posted back in 2006, almost 2 years ago.