The recent New York Times “neediest cases” article about Joy Williams and her daughter, Verona, is affecting:
The low point was when she found herself huddled with Verona in the middle of the living room floor in tears, afraid to come in contact with anything.
Those of us interested in the policy issues should review this article for its description of bed bug pest control gone wrong:
After two months of calls to the city, an exterminator showed up and told her to get rid of any boxes. He left without spraying.
And even the second try, with the assistance of a charity, leaves us with some questions:
A social worker at the agency hired a different exterminator, who not only sprayed the apartment but also told Ms. Williams that she had to discard virtually everything in it. Out went Verona’s custom-made wooden bed, the bedding, their clothes, the furniture, even the television.
Ms. Williams and her daughter, like other New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) families, depend on the pest control services provided by the Authority.
This is the NYCHA bed bug fact sheet. We have to wonder if this information is properly disseminated to all residents. As we all know, NYCHA is under extraordinary financial pressure.
NYCHA’s bed bug protocol involves making three treatments spaced two weeks apart. And residents should simply call 311 if they don’t know the number for the Centralized Call Center for maintenance repairs: (718) 707-7771.
How can we get rid of everyone’s bed bugs? Access to effective bed bug control services is an enormous challenge. We must find creative ways of rising to it. We can learn from the solutions being tried in Toronto.
New York vs Bed Bugs has tried to obtain records, information and statistics from the New York City Housing Authority under the Freedom of Information Law. Our efforts are ongoing.
These pages may be of related interest:
NYCHA is corrupt and incompetent. They don’t do anything about rats either. They let some tenants go without heat for months at a time. NYCHA is garbage.