Bedbugs in nyc 2010 (New York, York: apartment, lofts, house)

[SCote]

are they as bad as they were in 2009?

anyone have any experiences they can share?

bedbugregistry.com shows that nyc is INFESTED.

very disappointing when trying to find an apartment.

[baylovers]

My aunt & uncle live in a very clean building in Briarwood off of Main St & just had to deal with bedbug infestation. I guess all you need is one person to bring them into the building and you are screwed.

[Henna]

Originally Posted by SCote

are they as bad as they were in 2009?

anyone have any experiences they can share?

bedbugregistry.com shows that nyc is INFESTED.

very disappointing when trying to find an apartment.

The other cities are just as bad. Just because they don't have people who enjoy filling out their experiences on bedbugregistry.com doesn't mean they don't all have MAJOR problems in all cities.

If you spend even 10 minutes reading the bedbugger blog (not the forums) you will see articles posted daily about massive bedbug problems all throughout the country. There are bedbug task forces being convened in several major cities, NY included, because city govts are starting to learn they need to get a handle on this problem SOON.

The best thing you can do is be aware (which you are), educate yourself (bedbugger is a good place to start), educate your family and friends, and ask lots of questions when checking out a new place.

Even if you could find a "McKibben Lofts" type bldg that had no bedbugs, you may want to ask yourself what kind of building is going to be prone to bedbugs and difficulty in bedbug eradication.

#1 a transient population (young hipsters)
#2 a population that likes to rescue furniture and other goodies from the street and shop in thrift stores
#3 a population that lives with so many roommates they have trouble keeping control in the house when something like bedbugs occur (from what I have read you really have to have everyone in the household follow stringent orders from the PCO-exterminator)
#4 a population that is short on cash for all the extra expenses that come up during an infestation, such as tons of laundry, dry cleaning, maybe new vacuum cleaner, zip lock bags ETC.

Don't get me wrong - any building can get bedbugs, even this apartment on the Upper East Side where people live who are wealthier that you can imagine
An Inside Look at the Upper East Side's Bedbug Infestation -- New York Magazine

but not every tenant can pay $100,000 (yup, that's right, that's what this rich family in the article paid) to get rid of them.

[SCote]

im a #4, and used to be a #2 until i found out about bedbugs...

Its a very difficult situation, i wonder while looking for a place, if landlords will lie about their bed bug problems? i wonder if i should just take precautions but just DEAL with the bedbugs to have an affordable space?
regardless, im sure i will have friends over, who will bring bedbugs.

they truly need to step on it, on this bedbug epidemic.
(Non-Toxic DDT, just release it please so i can live in peace!ahhh!)