Comments
hellobeau t1_j4c6u6x wrote
If you’re a New Yorker, you’ve dealt with bed bugs. I remember my family had a small outbreak (probably from my taking the subway daily and travelling back and forth on the airplane every month to visit college campuses) and it took two months of weekly treatments from an exterminator to get rid of it. Along with basically incinerating everything in the dryer and throwing away my mattress and the frame. These little fuckers are sneaky bastards
MemoLePewPew5 t1_j4c72gu wrote
No surprise there. Had them shits about 2-3 times in the past, 2 different apartments. Haven’t seen one in about 7 or so years. Definitely not planning on having those little hell parasites in the future lol. Disgusting, embarrassing and overall a sensitive pain in the ass to get rid off
ECK-2188 t1_j4c79v4 wrote
No surprises.
See all the second hand furniture/mattresses being thrown out in the street all the time.
The turnover on these occurrences are probably as frequent as restaurant staff.
dropdeadbarbie t1_j4c9ilj wrote
30 years of NYC living and i caught 1. a single fucker in my gym bag. nothing ever materialized from it. however, i go to extreme measures to avoid them. fuuuuuuck that.
pixel_of_moral_decay t1_j4cddvc wrote
I'm sure it's common, however I'm skeptical NYC is actually number 2. Bed bugs have a strong correlation with poverty/density ratios and NYC isn't close to the top there. Bed bugs can travel from unit to unit, people forget that. NYC has poverty/density. But not nearly as much as some other cities have.
NYC however does have a lot of landlord/tenant disputes, and a fun way to fuck with your landlord is to claim you have bedbugs and make the landlord pay for extermination just to make your occupancy more of a financial burden (and sometimes to just get your landlord more willing to let you break lease with no financial repercussions). It's a thing people do in NYC. And Orkin has contracts with lots of management companies so it makes sense that would result in this list.
NYC is likely more towards the middle of the pack.
Vigolo216 t1_j4cdylj wrote
I had bedbugs that apparently came down from my upstairs neighbors (it was a townhouse, my neighbors above were 3 grown men living together and to call the place a pigsty would have been an understatement) years ago. The whole thing gave me PTSD for months. Even today I worry excessively when traveling or even going to the movie theater. If you get them don't hesitate, don't try self-remedies, just call someone immediately. It's a harrowing experience, wouldn't wish it on my enemy.
knockatize t1_j4cf8xt wrote
And they’ll take your THUMB, CHARLIE.
koreamax t1_j4clch4 wrote
It's based on raw numbers and isn't proportional, so it's really a surprise it isn't number 1
Jacques-Tits t1_j4co930 wrote
Had these little bastards in an apartment in Brooklyn around 10 years ago. Awful welts/itching - still have PTSD. What finally got rid of them for me was putting diatomaceous earth in every fucking crevice I could find in the apartment and around the bed.
Something very satisfying about the way they die after all the bites they inflicted on me and my SO.
clorox2 t1_j4cqj8t wrote
Been here close to 15 years. Never had an outbreak or known anyone who’s had one. Lived in prewar apartments the whole time.
Vegetable-Length-823 t1_j4cveoo wrote
We need to find the common factors on this top 50 list
brihamedit t1_j4czozi wrote
Its insane we still don't have proper products to fight bed bugs.
Aboy325 t1_j4d66m4 wrote
Steam is shockingly effective
dontbealuddyduddy t1_j4d92ft wrote
Same, once in an infested building (I moved), and once when a friend brought one in via a book (was resolved, thankfully). I’m always paranoid. And I will now always check hotel beds/mattresses before I unpack! Nightmare.
mikey-likes_it t1_j4db9a8 wrote
Moving back to number two from number one few months
PM-Nice-Thoughts t1_j4dhj6j wrote
Chicago must be a shit show if they have more than us despite the massive population difference
booboolurker t1_j4dkz4u wrote
The second hand furniture that other people actually pick up off the street and bring home!
ECK-2188 t1_j4dlkox wrote
Please don’t be one of those people
Slggyqo t1_j4dp0d2 wrote
We do….they just evolve so we have to constantly develop new ones.
They were almost non-existent in the mid 20th century due to the invention of powerful insecticides like DDT.
There’s similar trends in basically every pest control field, and in antibiotics. It’s an ongoing battle against nature, and frankly nature is way more consistent than human beings are.
I had bed bugs and got my apartment treated with Aprehend, which is a relatively new product that involves spraying fungal spores that infest and kill bed bugs. Which is some “The Last of Us” zombie sci-fi horror shit, but it did work.
There’s also a surprising amount of bad information out there, much of it promulgated by pest control technicians.
I’ve heard “they can’t climb metal” and “they don’t bite fingers”. You can literally find videos of bed bugs climbing metal online. And if I’m in the middle of a bed bug infestation (confirmed with a captured bedbug) and I’m waking up with bites on my fingers…where do think those came from? He just didn’t want to come back for a respray, even through he was contractually obligated to do so if they we’re willing active after thirty days.
ooouroboros t1_j4dx6u6 wrote
I was talking to a friend about bedbugs and describing how I thought they acted.
They corrected me about their behavior, something like "They actually can move a lot faster than you described". I was like: "what makes you such an expert on bedbugs?". My friend admitted they had had bedbugs in their apartment like a year ago but didn't tell anyone about it.
I had been to their place a few times and they'd had parties there. I did wonder if I had known if I had gone over there.
ooouroboros t1_j4dxp0q wrote
I'm surprised there is not a bigger business in people who would hire themselves out with bed bug detecting dogs - that seems like a good way to know if you are worried you have them or have gotten rid of them.
booboolurker t1_j4e8emd wrote
I am a germaphobe so I am absolutely not one of those people
ECK-2188 t1_j4e8u4j wrote
As an Asian-American, ☝🏼 this gives me faith in this city.
Bless your heart.
booboolurker t1_j4e9l72 wrote
I’m Asian too but I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not by saying “bless your heart”
Anyway, if you have an instagram, there’s an account dedicated to “stooping” which is where people post pictures of furniture left on the street for people to pick up. It’s called @stoopingnyc
ECK-2188 t1_j4e9rk3 wrote
No /s at all my sister
🫰🏼you already know
Edwunclerthe3rd t1_j4g3j5g wrote
Yeah fuck reusing perfectly usable furniture. It's not like it takes only a few minutes to disinfect shit
ECK-2188 t1_j4g4gno wrote
You can do whatever you want homie. It’s a free country.
Just don’t complain later on when you don’t use germicide or proper antiseptics and then those body warmth feeding vampires start nipping at your scrotum.
I’m sure you’re going to monologue why you think this is not the case for everyone but I’ll spare you frustration and tell you I don’t care.
Edwunclerthe3rd t1_j4g71uq wrote
A lot of different situations in NYC so yeah use your head and Make sure it's clean, but there's people who throw out perfectly good stuff that doesn't need to be in a landfill and might save someone some money
Traditional_Way1052 t1_j4g7sps wrote
I don't want to jinx it but I was born here and never had them. Nor anyone in my immediate family...
Eriosyces OP t1_j4c5ftd wrote
Not worth it picking up those couches and beds on the streets that look new