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August 26, 2009

Bedbugs in the Limelight

bedbugs_082609.jpgEverybody's least favorite scourge, the bedbug, seems to be a media star this week. The New York Times has mentioned them at least twice in the past week, with its weekend article about how bedbugs can be a deal-breaker for home buyers, and with Matt Gross' piece yesterday about maintaining your health while traveling. There was also an infestation at Penguin publishing and Bill Clinton's office, which triggered a flurry of bedbug articles, and now we've learned there was even a bedbug symposium yesterday held in Newark, New Jersey—a conference intended to educate hoteliers and building managers about these pests and how to combat them. Bedbugs can inflict psychological stress, physical discomfort, and thousands of dollars in damage to denizens everywhere.
Buying and Selling in Bedbug City [NY Times]
Health Advice from the Frugal Traveler's Doctor [NY Times]
Bedbugs at the Penguin Building [NY Observer]
New Yorkers Prefer Rats to Bedbugs [NY Magazine]




Posted by jscheff at 10:00 AM | Comments (37)
Categories: Quality of Life

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Comments

they are just going to have to bring back DDT and the whiney anti-everything toxic/chemical brigade are gonna have to STFU and deal with it or live with vermin.

there is nothing inherently wrong with DDT.

also, people when you move (everyone always forgets this) and you use a moving van, make SURE you wrap all your stuff in plastic! including stuff in boxes. a lot of bedbugs get transferred in moving vans.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 10:06 AM

I'm a bit paranoid about someone whom I pick up bringing these into my house. I'd rather catch a venereal disease!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 26, 2009 10:13 AM

However, I think The Limelight has been closed for many years.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 26, 2009 10:14 AM

Why did they get rid of DDT anyway? so you mean to tell me b/c a group of wacky anti-everything types did away with DDT then we have an exploison of bedbugs?
Seriously, I have lived here all my life and really only heard about bedbug infestation for the past 2-3 years when people staying at the Penn Hotel in the city complained about them being in every room.

Posted by: gemini10 at August 26, 2009 10:14 AM

i think one of the reasons they got rid of DDT is because they used to de-louse prisoners with it? like get them all naked than spray it on them. maybe im just thinking of the movie Reform School Girls tho.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 10:17 AM

"Why did they get rid of DDT anyway?"

Eh, because it was toxic?

"Seriously, I have lived here all my life and really only heard about bedbug infestation for the past 2-3 years"

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

"I'm a bit paranoid about someone whom I pick up bringing these into my house."

You are one Dave..

The What

Someday this war is gonna end..

Posted by: Return of The What at August 26, 2009 10:17 AM

> there is nothing inherently wrong with DDT.

Sometimes your ignorance it truly staggering.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 26, 2009 10:21 AM

The only bugs in my place are the fruitflies from my old liquor bottles.

Posted by: Lowhearts at August 26, 2009 10:22 AM

> b/c a group of wacky anti-everything types did away with DDT
> then we have an exploison of bedbugs?

DDT was banned over 25 years ago.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 26, 2009 10:24 AM

And not by "wacky anti-everything" types. By government agencies that thoroughly investigated the effects of widescale DDT use. In addition it caused the near extinction of a number of bird species, including the Bald Eagle (our national bird) by causing the egg shells to thin too much to sustain chicks.

DDT was banned over 25 years ago- if the bedbug explosion waas caused by that, don't you think it would have happened back then, rob?

Posted by: bxgrl at August 26, 2009 10:30 AM

Sorry - I don't know what DDT is, can someone just tell me?

I suspect the Comet I clean with is somewhat toxic too, so is the bleach I put in the water to get my dingies white, oh I know and the milk I drink, the cookies I eat, the fabric softener I use, the gardening spray to kill the skeeters, the chicken I grill, the bedspread I just bought,the new handbag I am dreaming about...

my point is everything we use is somewhat toxic, so why was DDT outlawed?

Posted by: gemini10 at August 26, 2009 10:32 AM

DEET was also supposed to be bad for you and everyone wants that now because of the mosquitos. I believe it's just bad for babies.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 26, 2009 10:32 AM

i didnt say getting rid of DDT is the CAUSE for bed bugs coming back, duh i know when it was banned. im just saying that it's one of the ONLY things that will stamp out this epidemic again. but i guess some people like sleeping with bugs. GROSS

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 10:37 AM

Bxgrl:
ok thanks now I get it

Posted by: gemini10 at August 26, 2009 10:37 AM

I think bed bugs can safely be explained by certain trends covered in "Freakonomics."

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 26, 2009 10:38 AM

Rob, you're really Miley Cyrus, aren't you?

Posted by: JIPS at August 26, 2009 10:39 AM

DIBS - explain

I think the explosion of Bedbugs is a real problem and unless the government comes up with some new effective pesticide - people are going to begin illegally importing DDT again.

It is INSANE that in 21st century America we can not control the bedbug.

Posted by: fsrg at August 26, 2009 10:42 AM

Absolutely Free Editorial Consultation: Mr. Scheff needs to tighten up his writing to be faster, smarter, funnier. The box material in both TimeOutNY and New York mag are actually good models of extreme economy and some throwaway wit; short form can be an art form (if a minor one). In the item above, for example: "least favorite scourge" is a "duh" lede. Maybe: "Bedbugs were bad enough as pests; now they're media whores as well." In the 3d sentence, X out "we've learned" and "intended" (better yet, replace the clause after the dash with "a war council for bugged-out hoteliers and building managers.")And just kill the whole last sentence. Or try: "Are the little bastards really resurgent, or do they just have one hell of a press agent?" (No hard feelings, Jscheff--if you weren't a promising writer, I would have just slammed you.)
Once this free trial has expired, my services as a copywriter/copy doctor and writing coach can be bought...for a price (bwah-hah-hah). Old magazine editors never die, they just shamble off to Flatbush to grow tomatoes. And raise chickens and bees...maybe.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at August 26, 2009 10:45 AM

G10, DDT was really bad, bxgirl is right. At the same time, its lack has caused worse problems with mosquitoes and malaria in Africa. I think it's being looked at again to be used judiciously. However I have to say that bedbugs are a pain but hardly a real public health emergency that would warrant easy access to a chemical that almost killed off the entire raptor population of North America.

Posted by: denton at August 26, 2009 10:49 AM

"You got rats on the west side
Bed bugs uptown
What a mess
This towns in tatters
I've been shattered
My brains been battered,
splattered all over manhattan..."

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 26, 2009 10:52 AM

If you loved this post, Brenda, you would have really loved his Crown heights post (and his Bed-Stuy ones.) Not sure where his promise lies, but journalism doesn't seem to be it.

rob- no one likes to sleep with bedbugs so your snarky comment was just....dumb. And for the record there are other chemicals they use. The insecticide industry hasn't packed up its bags and left the country because DDT was banned. There are also Public Health exemptions for the use of DDT such as California being allowed to use it to control fleas and the spread of bubonic plague.

So before you go off half cocked about something you know so little about, do a little reading. The biggest factor in the spread of bedbugs is ignorance.

Posted by: bxgrl at August 26, 2009 10:58 AM

Bedbugs live solely on human blood. Isn't that interesting? You would think someone would invent a little "bedbug motel" that smells like human blood where they check in but don't check out. One of the signs you have bedbugs is a regular pattern of dots on your skin. Like a dit...dit...dit morse code pattern. Their bites are not random. Another huge problem in Brooklyn are furniture/carpet beetles. They're all over and they are hard to get rid of too. They will just eat your clothes and furniture though, not your vital bodily fluids. Keeping a clean house really really helps.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at August 26, 2009 11:18 AM

bxgrl--- and you being snarky and blaming Rob for bedbugs?
"The biggest factor in the spread of bedbugs is ignorance"

Posted by: Petebklyn at August 26, 2009 11:19 AM

i think there are a few revenge sites on the internet where you can order live bedbugs in a jar to sprinkle around the houses of your enemies. kinda f'ed up if you ask me! but pretty good revenge

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 11:21 AM

pete- did you not read his comment?

"i didnt say getting rid of DDT is the CAUSE for bed bugs coming back, duh i know when it was banned. im just saying that it's one of the ONLY things that will stamp out this epidemic again. but i guess some people like sleeping with bugs. GROSS" rob@10:37

Posted by: bxgrl at August 26, 2009 11:24 AM

read his comments. Mine was tongue-in-cheek. Yes, plenty of his comments are off-the-wall and offensive and (to be kind) don't show much thought....but they do often make me chuckle and he is cute.

Posted by: Petebklyn at August 26, 2009 11:54 AM

mmm...free protein

Posted by: ftgreenepark at August 26, 2009 11:57 AM


"I'm a bit paranoid about someone whom I pick up bringing these into my house."

"You are one Dave.."

LOL

Posted by: East New York at August 26, 2009 11:57 AM

Sorry pete- didn't pick up on that- my bad :-( (but yes he is cute)

Posted by: bxgrl at August 26, 2009 12:13 PM

*blushes*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 12:18 PM

Brenda, I think Mr. B. should hire you to write thread posts. You rock!

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at August 26, 2009 12:34 PM

East New York, ew.

Posted by: mopar at August 26, 2009 2:45 PM

As a landlord who has dealt with bedbugs in my tenants apartments, I really wish they would allow the use of DDT on a limited, tightly controlled basis. The issue with DDT was that it was used improperly and allowed to enter the ecosystem. Used in buildings for bedbugs, DDT is safe for humans and will not hurt the environment. The chemicals that they use now just do not do the job. You can get rid of the bedbugs temporarily, but they just retreat into the walls of old buildings and come back when the pesticides wear off.

Posted by: JoeBushwick at August 26, 2009 3:34 PM

> DDT is safe for humans and will not hurt the environment.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT#Effects_on_human_health

"exposure to DDT ... might cause preterm birth and early weaning … toxicological evidence shows endocrine-disrupting properties; human data also indicate possible disruption in semen quality, menstruation, gestational length, and duration of lactation."

"Human epidemiological studies suggest that DDT exposure is a risk factor for premature birth and low birth weight, and may harm a mother's ability to breast feed."

"a 2006 study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley suggests children who have been exposed to DDT while in the womb have a greater chance of experiencing development problems"

"DDT exposure is associated with early pregnancy loss, a type of miscarriage."

"in utero DDT exposure may affect thyroid hormone levels and play an important role in the incidence and/or causation of cretinism."

"There is good epidemiological evidence (i.e. studies in humans) that DDT causes cancer of the: Liver, Pancreas, Breast..."

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 26, 2009 3:54 PM

that's why you f'ing move out for a few weeks while the DDT treatment on a building, enclosed, is being done, moron snark! no one is telling people they should be breastessess feeding while the exterminator sprays it. jeez. talk about pulling facts out of your ass that arent relevant.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 26, 2009 6:38 PM

rob- before you diss snark, why don't you read up on DDT and how it gets into the body, how long it stays, what it does. None of this is irrelevant- it just shows how little comprehension you have on these matters and for a guy like you, who has brains, its disappointing. Between this and not knowing who ted Kennedy is, you need to get out more :-)

Posted by: bxgrl at August 26, 2009 8:12 PM

[sound of eyes rolling skyward, punctuated by a heavy sigh]

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 27, 2009 8:03 AM

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