I don’t see anyone live-blogging the summit this year — here is M&M’s Natalie Raben’s take on the first day and a release about ESA participants at the summit: ESA members take part in National Bed Bug Summit.

Organized by Sam Bryks, speakers include Allison Taisey, Changlu Wang, Clive Boase, and local experts in housing, pest management and law.

Also check out this primer on bed bug management (PDF) on the IPM Consultancy (Sam Bryks’) site.

The workshop sounds very useful. Especially promising is something that is sometimes missing from this type of program, the participation of tenant advocates and housing law experts. Speakers here include Harry Fine, a former adjudicator with the Ontario Rental Tribunal, and Kenneth Hale, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services, Advocacy Centre for Tenants, Ontario.

I look forward to hearing about it.

Previous interview with Sam Bryks here.

Last night the Museum of the City of New York hosted a bed bug program. I’m very grateful to the museum and especially its director of public programs, Ryan J. Carey, for thinking of this problem and asking us to participate in discussing it. But unlike last year’s lecture at the NY Entomological Society, I don’t think I can offer a good recap (participation not being a good vantage point for observation). What I remember distinctly is that Lou talked about the hunger folds of bed bugs (conveniently expandable for taking in lots of blood), and that a certain gentleman from London said something terrible: that “whoever brought them in” should be responsible for eradicating them.

For the record, the landlord is legally responsible in New York City for the eradication of bed bugs. One can go on at length about all the ways that landlords need help in fulfilling this responsibility, and how there is no hope of success when the tenant is not cooperative (or when the pest management professional is not diligent) but, as far as the law, it’s difficult to conceive of the wholesale disaster that bed bugs would be in this city if it were otherwise.

Update: I just recalled that there were some questions in the audience about basic resources — a collection here, but some basic ones specific to the city:

• a NYC Health Department guide on how to select a pest control company (PDF) — see also
• also from DOHMH, a basic bed bug guide, in English and 6 other languages
• and, because the above guide does not include photographs, Lou’s photographs of bed bugs

Update 2: I should say that I like and respect David a lot (exhibit A, B, C, and D), but we have our disagreements like to argue from time to time. He never forgets to remind me that we only became friends after a strong initial disagreement, about something or other long forgotten.

And here’s commentary about the evening from BrickUnderground. Please note, however, that I am not aware of any new law requiring inspection of adjoining apartments. There is only a stated intention from the Health Department, announced in the summer when the bed bug advisory report was released, to hold landlords (and tenants) to “enhanced expectations” that would specifically involve additional inspections. There have been no further details about the development of such a policy. But we should all be on the lookout for news on that front (and dare we hope, actually press the city about it), as it is very promising.

Update 3: Here is another writeup from Woman Around Town.

I am not personally as excited about a second national bed bug summit as I was about the first one in 2009 (when giddy would have been an appropriate description), but obviously (or perhaps not so obviously) I think a meeting like this can only be good, and do some good. Sharon Heath is again presenting for the NYC Department of Health and again I want to mention how great we think she is. The education and communication section seems promising, among others.

There is definitely a need to move swiftly beyond strategizing into action, but that is, you know, quite the commonplace thought. Doesn’t make it less true.

Since the first summit in 2009, the scope and details of what EPA and other federal agencies are doing remain unclear. Public communications on both the issues and their work are spare. They formed a federal bed bug work group, and EPA and CDC have rolled out web pages (EPA, CDC) about bed bugs. EPA and CDC also belatedly made a public statement about the public health designation of bed bugs (EPA-CDC joint statement, August 2010). EPA also recently developed a registered bed bug products search tool, a tool which deserves a separate post.

Whichever program you attend, I hope you learn useful things.

The forum is at 6 pm on January 18 at Health Professions High School Auditorium, 345 East 15th Street. Call 212-677-1077 for more information. See additional details here. There is a second forum for public housing residents the next day.

There is a bed bug event in NYC in January! The Museum of the City of New York is hosting a panel — please see their announcement below. I am very pleased to be able to join Lou in participating in this public conversation about bed bugs in our city. The museum is offering a discount as noted below when you mention New York vs Bed Bugs. The discount is available when reserving by phone, not through the online reservation system. As details become available about the other panelists, I will update this post.

Final update 1/14/11: Program description with final panel revised below. Note the NY Entomological Society’s monthly meeting announcement about this event and a separate community bed bug forum also taking place on January 18.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.

Plague! Bed Bugs: Myths and Realities

Bed bugs, it seems, are all over New York City. In your mattress, your couch, that futon in the free pile at the end of your block. What is worse, they may have overrun your newspapers and even your TV screen. What’s hype and what’s reality? How big a problem are bed bugs, really? What is the city doing to stop them, and what can you do before they take over your apartment? Moderator Dr. Amy L. Fairchild, Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, heads a discussion that includes entomologist Louis Sorkin of the New York Entomological Society; Gale A. Brewer Council Member from District 6; Renee Corea, former Director of New York vs Bed Bugs; David Cain, Managing Director of Bed Bugs Ltd, London; Yasmine Hecker, CEO of Prep 4 Bed Bugs, and Ray Lopez, Little Sisters of Assumption Family Health Service of how the recent plague of bed bugs is affecting city life and culture. Co-sponsored by the New York Entomological Society.

Reservations required: 917-492-3395 or e-mail programs@mcny.org.
$6 museum members; $8 seniors and students; $12 non-members
$6 when you mention New York vs Bed Bugs

Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
New York, NY 10029
www.mcny.org
212-534-1672

If you would be interested in attending, please get in touch via email (renee at newyorkvsbedbugs dot org) — so that we can plan a specialized topic to discuss and other details.

The last meeting was very informal and we mostly chatted about everything, but David discussed certain interesting infestation dynamics in buildings and neighborhoods.

You can see a lighthearted set of photographs of his visit here.

“Bed Bugs: What You Don’t Know Could Come Back to Bite You” with Richard Cooper | The New York Public Library — see also the flyer (PDF):

Acquire the background on the resurgence of bed bugs in the United States over the past ten years, learn about the emotional, financial and legal impact associated with bed bug infestations, find out about the aspects of biology and behavior that make bed bugs one of the most challenging pests to eliminate, discover what is and is not effective in controlling bed bug infestations, the steps that you can take to protect yourself and what to do if you suspect that you have bed bugs.

This is a free event for a general audience but could be very useful to property managers and assorted bed bug-besieged parties…

There are so few educational opportunities in the city, I thought you’d want to know despite the very late notice.

Update: The room was full, the lecture naturally very useful and informative and, judging by the questions, very well-received.

No, unfortunately, posting will not resume. While I’m here, however, let me recommend if you haven’t seen it Richard Cooper’s (and colleagues’) recent article about bed bugs in offices (PDF).

Best…

The Great Lou

Lou is famously exacting about public education materials about bed bugs. We are all better for his insistence over several years on highlighting the differences in appearance between the life stages of bed bugs. He spent considerable time on life stage drawings and photographs (beware the missing instar) and showed us (approvingly) Stephen Doggett’s update to his famous bed bug life stages (which you can see on page 16 of the latest draft of the Code of Practice) which was produced by photographing each bed bug individually and referencing the immature stages descriptions in Usinger for each instar. Lou clearly believes—and continues to persuade many of us—that accuracy and comprehensiveness in these matters is key in public education messaging.

He showed us innumerable photographs of bed bugs and bed bug harborage sites in all their glory, from the expected to the unexpected, his words and choice of photos cautioning in so many ways against the sort of received wisdom we have been exposed to for years (not 5 eggs a day, not only nocturnal, not just clover-leaf inspections…). Alert-looking bed bugs next to dead bed bugs, numerous barely-distinguishable immature bed bugs next to one or two adults (“you are not close enough”), heartbreaking advanced infestations, across-the-hall dispersal, the limited effectiveness of vacuuming—for both eggs and bed bugs, noting that he often plays with bed bugs and paint brushes (Lou!) and often they do not budge. I am so grateful for Lou touching on all these subjects, even if it was to a roomful of pest control pros. I wish more of you had come.

It was an interactive evening of bed bugs

Lou gave each person in the audience a loupe as a gift (like the one he gave me recently). And he had these for everyone to practice on:

Live bed bug display boxes

You all know about the value of a notched MetroCard as an inspection tool:

Notched MetroCards - a Lou Sorkin bed bug inspection trick

“Grade School Bed Bug Project?”

These are two slides from Lou’s presentation which describe inexpensive monitoring ideas that you can use at home:

Folded paper passive bed bug collector - click for larger size

Improvised sticky traps:

Examples of sticky tape monitors - click for larger size

Materials: “blue painter’s tape and 2 kinds of double-sided carpet tape plus using the backing of the tape as a cover.”

Vajra Kilgour

Vajra Kilgour is Vice Chair of Metropolitan Council on Housing and associate producer of WBAI 99.5 FM’s Housing Notebook. (Both Lou and Catharine Grad appeared on the program on January 4 to discuss bed bugs—read Bedbugger’s take and recap here.) Ms. Kilgour spoke about Met Council’s hotline (Q: “My landlord says I brought them in and I’m responsible.” A: “Your landlord is lying.”), Met Council’s bed bug fact sheet which she is personally working on developing, and legislative work. She noted that “laws can make a difference; there is less lead poisoning in NYC.”

She suggested that in the hard struggle to persuade landlords to do what they are legally required to do—maintain apartments in habitable conditions—the strongest action that tenants can take is to organize. She talked about the desperation of people who suffer from bed bugs—housing court litigants that are “bitten from head to toe”—and the people who simply cannot afford to heat-dry all their clothes, much less afford dry cleaners or throwing anything away.

The value of a strong tenant association is one important take-away message from Ms. Kilgour’s presentation.

Catharine A. Grad

Catharine Grad (Grad & Weinraub, LLP) spoke about the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. She said that “a landlord has the obligation to eradicate bed bugs in a building; that is the law.” However, she urged the PMPs in attendance not to casually tell people (tenants) to move out or break their leases.¹ “You have to show that the situation is intolerable to move out,” and “if the situation is being treated, you can’t break the lease—it’s a question of magnitude.”

Tenants are obligated to provide access to their apartments and risk eviction for their refusal. She recognized that when landlords provide inadequate pest control services, tenants must still provide access and “work with” even incompetent pest control professionals or risk becoming part of the problem.

When pressed about alternatives to going to court by a member of the audience who had spent thousands of dollars in litigation, Ms. Grad said that court is “a blunt tool, far from a perfect tool” that takes a long time, but there are effectively no alternatives (“the alternative to court is to get a consensus in a community that is strong enough to compel landlords and tenants to act responsibly”) and so landlords and tenants should not wait. Landlords who cannot gain access to infested apartments should begin court actions as soon as possible, and the same goes for tenants who cannot get their landlords to act responsibly.

She said it would be helpful for landlords and tenants to have “more specific directives” about how to proceed with infestations.

Megan Quenzer

Megan Quenzer’s perspective was precisely that of a tenant receiving inadequate bed bug pest control in her building. A new PMP who apparently knows what he’s doing has improved the situation, but the infestation in the building remains and Ms. Quenzer believes the bed bugs are simply moving from apartment to apartment through the walls, returning to apartments where they were thought to be eradicated.

She stressed the need for community education, for landlords as well as tenants (“everybody needs to be educated”), and expressed the hope that the city will track infestations and regulate bed bug services. She spoke of the efforts in other cities, particularly in Boston, and held her ground in the face of some persistent questioning by some in the audience about the futility of control efforts in the face of tenant introductions. It was also interesting, and sad I suppose, that some in the audience urged her to simply move out.

I am always seriously impressed by people who overcome the stigma of bed bug infestations (or are simply impervious to it) and speak publicly about their own experiences. I think Ms. Quenzer reached the pest control professionals in the room.

An audience of PMPs

The audience as I said was mostly from the pest control community, but I was happy to see Council Member Gale Brewer and Sharon Heath from the Department of Health. Some of the industry folks in attendance were Cesar Soto (Freedom Pest Control), Tim Wong (M&M), Natalie Raben (M&M), John Furman (Boot A Pest), John and Sue Russell (Action Termite & Pest Control), Todd Lorah (Action Termite & Pest Control), Kitty Lee (Residex), Gil Bloom (Standard Pest), Rick Cooper (Cooper Pest), and many others.

Killer Who?

A note, however. The fact that the audience was overwhelmingly from the industry created an interesting dynamic when the guest speakers (a tenant advocate, a tenant lawyer and a tenant!) spoke in the second half of the evening. It’s useful to understand things as they really are and so I will quote one thing said by an anonymous PMP at the meeting:

“People go on the internet and become geniuses.”

Well.

Guess what, though, surprisingly, there was little back and forth about dogs! Or maybe I’m conditioned to expect the arguing about dogs that in any case did not materialize.

Bed bugs will not go away on their own

During his presentation Lou showed us this public education poster developed by WoodGreen Community Services in Toronto that I think would be a fitting way to end this post:

Bed bug education poster, WoodGreen Community Services

Source: All About Bed Bugs: An Information Guide (PDF)

Please tell someone about bed bugs.

Finally, I want to share what one person who was in attendance said. His reaction to what he heard during the meeting was, “this is so depressing.” Yes, it is in so many ways. But please remember what Dr. Stephen Hwang told us recently, because we truly can afford neither complacency nor hopelessness.

Heartfelt thanks to Lou. For more Lou, check out our interview from last year.

1. This caution about giving improper advice to tenants cannot be stressed enough. I think that it is extremely important to understand that withholding any part of the rent and other actions such as breaking the lease, especially when undertaken without proper legal advice, expose the tenant to the risk of being sued by their landlords. Tenants can and should take their landlords to housing court instead. “HP” proceedings for repairs, I learned at a legal clinic offered by the West Side SRO Law Project recently that I have been meaning to tell you about, do not expose tenants to this risk and should therefore be recommended first.