Bed Bug Discussion

[WhatchuKnowAboutIt]

A very good friend of mine has bed bugs, and they cannot tell the landlord because their place is very messy.They are not the cause though

Sorry to be the bitch here but someone had to do it.  They're the cause.  And that's gross, you should really stop hanging out with them.

[merm]

Out of fear we've just bought zippered vinyl mattress covers for all our mattresses and box springs. Not taking any chances!

[cabanird]

ahhh... where does one purchase such things? do they make noise as you sleep on them? (like that whole plastic moving noise... you know what i mean?)

[daisy]

I've lived in Astoria for about 8 years.  Last spring, I discovered I had bed bugs in my apartment.  Firelight 79 is exactly right on all her accounts.  Your landlord is responsible for taking care of extermination for the bed bugs - it is required by law, especially if your apartment is rent stabilized.  I basically had to inform my landlord of this and threaten legal action.  Turns out the entire building was infested with them (they just travel thru the walls to everyone's apartments), and the entire blg had to be exterminated.  The exterminator has to come at least twice.  It does not matter how clean, dirty, rich or poor you are, if you have blood, they will be there.  They are extremely hard to get rid of.  Vaccuum like crazy, and throw out the vaccuum bags.  Throw out your mattress if possible.  Wash everything in hot water.  Keep everything that's been washed in plastic bags while your place is being exterminated (so more bugs don't get in them).  You are not safe after the first extermination, but perhaps the second.  In my case, I was getting bit for 2 months before I saw one walk across my desk.  You tend not to notice the actual bugs until it's far too late, I just thought I had a mosquito problem or hives.  It was the last straw and I decided not to resign my lease.  After 3 exterminations, I put a bunch of stuff I could not wash into vaccuum sealed bags (they love books), and put them into storage for 4 months.  Then I moved.  From all the research I did, I learned the best thing you can do is move, especially if your neighbors have them - you'll probably just get them again, unless the whole blg is done, and your neighbors are as vigilant as you.  In my case, I knew they wouldn't be.  The exterminator said this is a huge problem in Astoria, he gets calls all the time, and it's due to the large amounts of immigrants here.  But in general, it's a huge problem in nyc.  These buggers are in general hitchhikers, and you can pick them up anywhere.  It was a nightmare, but I'm hopefully bug free now.  Best of luck, and please don't worry about your mess.  Just call the landlord- your body will be happy you did.

[annie]

THANK YOU. This is exactly my point: Daisy, it seems to me that you had to suffer both physical and mental anguish because essentially your entire building had been having systemic problems and unfortunately you didn't find out about it until it was too late and you too were infested.

I'm glad you moved. Where in Astoria did you live? I hope its all working out well now, it sounded horrible. And I argue that what your landlord did (or not do, when it comes to fair disclosure) was at best negligent and at worst criminal. If you had been duly notified when he first started getting calls about bedbugs, I think you could have been more prepared, if anything. I know that its probably impossible to prevent at some point (like trying to row against a friggin tsunami, I imagine) but maybe neighbors would think twice before dumpster diving or furniture salvaging if they were aware of the threat...?

It appears that we are made to pose as a sitting ducks as the infestation would move through our hallways and crawlspaces... no one is entitled to know about outstanding bedbug issues surrounding their own walls even if he/she were to call 311 and file an identical complaint. Apparently the landlord's rights to "privacy" on his property trump your right to live in a home free from public health hazards. Why don't we just go chew on our lead-paint crusted windowsills? Its not like the super's fixed the stuck window anyways...

What the f@ck? This sucks.

Sorry. I just watched the State of the Union propaganda fest and I'm feeling frustrated.

[daisy]

Sorry I didn't get to post back til late, can't do this at work...

Yeah, the whole experience was physically and mentally exhausting.  But in a weird ironic way, very cleansing.  I threw out so much stuff, moved to an entirely new place.  I would say the landlord was more negligent than criminal.  I was probably a bit more forceful about the situation than the rest of the tenants, but with good reason.  These bugs will make your life a living hell, and I don't understand how anyone can put up with it.  Another resident and I actually walked around to all the other apartments, and made a list of everyone who had the problem - and lo and behold, the majority had seen them, and had done nothing about it.  Their kids were being bit, and still they didn't say anything.  But alot of people in the blg don't speak english, and don't know the laws, or that they don't have to live with getting bit all the time.  I don't want to get into specifics, but it was on 38th and Ditmars.  The guy owns a lot of blgs in queens and astoria, sort of like a donald trump, but more slumlordish.  They did take care of the problem though, and I didn't pay for any of the treatments.  Worked out better than I expected.  But I did pay in mental and physical anguish, plus the cost of moving, getting a new bed, storage, laundering, etc.  It's pure hell.  It's been 6 months since I've moved, and I am so much happier.  It's like starting over, a brand new chapter in my life! 
-Have a good one. -D

[Jtrane]

Leonard Lopate on WNYC radio is interviewing an entimologist about bed bugs today.  If you miss it, they'll post the archived interview later today or tomorrow.

http://wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/02032006

[daisy]

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0650,altman,75270,2.html

Bed Bugs & Beyond
An outbreak of paranoia (and lint) sweeps the city

The above article made me laugh.  The woman he interviews is such a nutcase but as a fellow victim, you have to identify with some of her behavior.  The experience really can make you a bit crazy!! 

Has anyone seen any lately?

[enigmacat]

I haven't. I think I've got them licked - knock on wood.

Great article, thanks for sharing :)

[FOODJUNKIEVPC]

Hi Daisy and fellow Astorians,
   I had been getting bitten or something (I thought it was a rash as a result of a bad reaction from a migraine med I was started on), however after consulting with my neuro doctor and a couple of doctors I work with and also realizing that for some reason I was getting bitten and my partner was not, I put two and two together and realized it must of be happening on our couch and low and behold, that night I went home and found about five of them on the underside of my arm rest, which is where I put my legs when I fall asleep on the couch when watching T.V. at night. So we cleaned the couch and vacuumed and since then have only found one, however this past weekend we spoke with some people in the apartment building (one of which is the landlord, who ever so nonchalantly said "oh yeah, I've known about the problem"), in which I proceeded to go nuts; asking why he did not tell the whole apartment building about this, to which of course there was no answer (BIG SURPRISE), anywho, it turns out the whole place has them (30 apts.) and according to the landlord they are going to be spraying 6 apts. at a time. I think we are lucky (if you can say that) because, we are very clean, we are a top, corner apartment and they have sprayed the apt. below us a couple of times already and the guy who lives there said he has not seen any lately. This article does however sum up how I have been feeling for a long time now, as at first I did not know what was going on with my body as I just kept getting new spots all over my body each day and no one really knew what it was from and when I found the bugs, it was in a sense a relief, until we found out that this problem was in the whole building and it has been going on for a while now. We are going to see "what" they do this Saturday and then, if need be we will and are prepared to take it to housing court to get back what we are going to lose from this whole situation. I never thought the old saying about "sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite" would ever come true, but it has and it has been a nightmare. We just love Astoria, however if this does not get resolved it looks like I will have to visit all of you guys from another part of Queens , which truly makes my sooo mad, but its not like we have not had other problems with this apartment building, but we have such a great deal, great spot and now we have these intruders taking over our lives as well, ugh, thanks for letting me vent! I hope to report back with positive news. Life changing and as I said before I would not wish this on the worse of presidents :roll:

[daisy]

Oh my gosh, that sounds exactly like what I went through with my blg.  The whole thing was infested.  Reads through the "bugs in my apartment" thread, there's lots of helpful info in there on dealing with the mofo's.  How I hate them.  Feel free to pm me if you have a question.

[FOODJUNKIEVPC]

Thanks Daisy, we have read that thread like the bible and it has been very helpful, actually, my partner was reading it because I told him about the "what to do when your neighbors are too loud during sex" thread because it was sooo funny and he saw the BB thread and decided to read through it, not knowing we would actually need to use it for real :-o Anywho, we are going to wait and see what happens and hopefully I will report back when we either by a place or god knows what, thanks for your kind help though, -Vin

[enigmacat]

You have my complete sympathy - I hope your situation improves.

And let me know if you want some diatomaceous earth, i have pounds and pounds left.

[Rachel780]

I had MAJOR bedbug paranoia after reading the messages here a while back. Funny article.

[FOODJUNKIEVPC]

You have my complete sympathy - I hope your situation improves.

And let me know if you want some diatomaceous earth, i have pounds and pounds left.

Thanks for the support and offer :) In regards to diatomaceous earth, how did you use it? In spray form? Did you see quick results? As I said before, I think that we have the least problem out of anyone as we have only seen them on the couch, however it is what is behind the walls, under the floors, etc. that is on our minds. I am also not happy with the fact that they are going to come in and spray some god knows what solvent that will probably smell like a salon on a Saturday before Easter Sunday at the nursing home and I am one who cannot take fumes, esp. with my migraines. Ugh!! Very interesting about the earth though, thanks for that and we will look into this.  :mrgreen: