The New York City Council has started to keep tabs on constituent complaints across the city. A limited view of the data for June was released yesterday. You can download a PDF of the press release here. While the Council is not releasing specific data on the number of bed bug complaints in relation to other issues New Yorkers contacted their Council Members about(*) in June, the Housing and Building category is at the top of the list citywide, accounting for 29% of inquiries. The breakdown for Housing and Building complaints in each borough is: 29% in the Bronx, 24% in Brooklyn, 32% in Manhattan, 16% in Queens and 24% in Staten Island. Queens is apparently the shiest when it comes to calling Council Members with housing grievances.
It should be no surprise that bed bugs get their own subcategory among 47 other subcategories of Housing and Building complaints, ranging from illegal hotels to construction permits and various New York City Housing Authority issues.
It is unfortunate that the Council is choosing not to release CouncilStat data on the number of bed bug inquiries, as the information would help supplement the data available from HPD-serviced bed bug complaints to 311.
A Council spokesman told the New York Daily News that CouncilStat should not be compared to the 311 Citizen Service Center, that:
“It’s more of a tool to manage the institution.”
Well, then, we await the impact of the use of this tool.
The tracking of bed bug issues being brought to the Council’s attention is encouraging but it is also evident that the Council does not yet see the bed bug issue as something they can get any political mileage from. The press release highlights 3 cases where Council Members intervened on behalf of constituents. I hope that one day New York City Council Members will see the high incidence of bed bugs in our city as an issue that requires their personal attention and concern, and will want to tout their work on behalf of New Yorkers suffering from bed bugs. That day is not yet here. It’s also worth noting that the impetus for action in other cities has come from forward-thinking politicians. So, we might see some action yet.
In the meantime, please consider calling your Council Member to discuss your bed bug problems! Squeaky wheel and all that.
(*) Yes, of course, we asked; somehow we got past the “are you a reporter?” question.
UPDATE, July 14: There is a good article in today’s Gotham Gazette, by Courtney Gross, about the CouncilStat data; she notes that the list of subcategories in each category of complaints was not part of the press release. (True, so if you want to read the list of subcategories, this is the list we got from the City Council’s press office last week: list of CouncilStat subcategories. Because our focus is on bed bugs I did not think of providing the full list but it may be useful.) She also mentions that although council members got detailed reports, district snapshots were not part of the released data. As noted, we hope more details are offered in future releases.
These pages may be of related interest:
This is a reminder of how useful it is to call and/or write one’s own city council member. It is being tracked and it will make a difference. I have written my council member as well as several others who have been involved in the bed bug issue (like Gale Brewer) and I hope others will do it. And if you did it a long time ago, do it again. If the stoplight at the end of the block was broken, and not fixed, wouldn’t you keep calling? Let’s keep contacting our council members until the problem of bed bugs is — if not entirely “fixed”– being attacked with full force and intelligence by the city.
Oh, and re: the press release:
It seems possible the bed bug complaints are a very large portion of the “housing and buildings” category…
Thank you, Nobugs!
A (very kind) person (who works for the city) wrote to remind me of the bedbug seminars. My response to that is a) as if we could forget, and b) the great promise of that announcement has decidedly not been fulfilled. We’ve given feedback, of course, to no avail.
Council Member Martinez said “we must do everything we can to stop the spread of the epidemic in our city.”
The thing, as ever, is to do what you say you will do.
Yes– the bed bug seminars.
When it becomes clear that reports of bed bugs continue to grow (even as measured inadequately by calls to 311 and complaints to city council members) — perhaps then, the city will see it needs to do more than hold a few seminars.
Pingback: New York City bed bug numbers, Bedbugger-style : Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com
Please, I am literary going crazy with this bugs. Help me, I have three kids and the bugs are controling our lives. My mother is allergic to strong smells, so the exterminator can not come to the house. I tried every thing possible to get rid of them but I can’t.
Please, HELP!!!!!!!!
Hi Brenda,
I’m really sorry that you are going through this! Unfortunately, the most reliable way to get rid of bed bugs is to have a really qualified and very, very experienced pest control professional treat your home. (In addition, the adjacent units, if you live in an apartment building, must be inspected.)
If you keep self-treating ineffectively, you may end up spreading them and making the infestation that much more difficult to eradicate.
I wish I could suggest something that would really help, but my best advice is that you try to find a pest control company that will work with you and your mother’s allergies. There are non-pesticide treatments that can be applied, including steam, which can be very effective if done correctly by someone who knows what they’re doing. Steam can be very effective. Please keep in mind that the key to defeating bed bugs is persistence. Cutting off their reproductive cycle. Treatments spaced approximately 2 weeks apart are really key — whether they are pesticides or not. A combination of methods work best.
I suggest that you visit our good and super knowledgeable friends at bedbugger.com for information and support. There are great FAQs and an amazing community in the forums.
Feel free to email me at renee at newyorkvsbedbugs dot org.
All our best…