O.M.F.G -- 349 St. Johns on NPR for bedbugs.

My girl has bedbugs in Greenpoint. It fucking sucks donkey dick, taking a real emotional toll on her

fucking sucks ass dick huh?

Jay B wrote: What about neighboring buildings? Does anyone live next door to this place? It seems highly likely that these bugs will spread along the block. All it takes is one surviving bug to move to the next building and start a new infestation. Best of luck to everyone in the vicinity of this building!

i live at 359, and every time i walk by 349, at least when there are spray painted mattresses outside, my muscles tense up a little bit and i walk really fast so none will jump on me and move into my building. is there anything i can do to prevent them from coming in? seal up all the cracks and stuff? i already did that when i spotted an errant cockroach last summer.....

littlekates wrote: i live at 359, and every time i walk by 349, at least when there are spray painted mattresses outside, my muscles tense up a little bit and i walk really fast so none will jump on me and move into my building. is there anything i can do to prevent them from coming in? seal up all the cracks and stuff? i already did that when i spotted an errant cockroach last summer.....

I don't have any great suggestions, but if it provides you any comfort, i've read that bedbugs don't jump. So they're not likely to just hop onto you as you're walking by.

greenearth wrote: Good News Everyone! Relief is here. My name is Josh Alpert and I am the President of Green Earth Pest Control. The owners of 349 St Johns Place have hired Green Earth Pest Control to remove the Bed Bug infestation from the entire property. I will keep you posted.

:P

Josh, I now see your ad along the right-hand side of the page here.

Well done. Money well spent, IMHO.

For example, I just passed your info along to someone else that just indicated need for these services.

Go get 'em!

:rambo:

Great News! We provided the initial Bed Bug service for 349 St Johns place earlier today and were able to get into all 17 apartments. The tenants welcomed us with open arms and were kind enough to allow us to do whatever was necessary. Never in my 9+ years of experience have I seen an outcome like this. For buildings of this size that are treated for Bed Bugs, we are usually lucky to get into 40-50% of the apartments. I just want to personally thank all of the tenants for their cooperation and of course the management for hiring Green Earth to do the job. The follow-up service is scheduled for Sunday, September 7, 2008. I will send updates as soon as I have them.

Jeffery - Thank you very much for passing our information on. It is truly appreciated.

I imagine not getting into all the apartments would really hinder your chances of really getting rid of them. Is every apartment in the building infested? Gah, the thought makes me itch.

greenearth wrote:

Great News! We provided the initial Bed Bug service for 349 St Johns place earlier today and were able to get into all 17 apartments. The tenants welcomed us with open arms and were kind enough to allow us to do whatever was necessary. Never in my 9+ years of experience have I seen an outcome like this. For buildings of this size that are treated for Bed Bugs, we are usually lucky to get into 40-50% of the apartments. I just want to personally thank all of the tenants for their cooperation and of course the management for hiring Green Earth to do the job. The follow-up service is scheduled for Sunday, September 7, 2008. I will send updates as soon as I have them.

how long does it usually take to get rid of them?

It usually takes 1-2 visits to successfully remove Bed Bugs and yes it is much harder to get rid of them building-wide if you do not receive full cooperation. During the initial service, out of the 17 apartments, we found a live Bed Bug infestation in 1 apartment. The infestation was minor. Everyone else either never had Bed Bugs or did have them and were sucessful in removing them.

Subject: question

Wow. Why wouldn't people let a pest control company into their apartment if they knew there was a bedbug infestation in their building? Yeeikes.

By the way - is there anything those of us neighboring the 349 Saint Johns building can do to avoid catching the bugs? Is there anything we can ask our landlord/management companies to do to avoid an infestation like this? (Or is there anything we the humble apartment dwellers can do on our own? I'd vacuum my place twice a day and mop the floor with bleach if it would avoid this horror.)

Subject: Re: question

marsstars wrote: Wow. Why wouldn't people let a pest control company into their apartment if they knew there was a bedbug infestation in their building? Yeeikes.

I hear this all the time, and frankly, it pisses me off.

I'm thinking it could be a number of things. Fear of the chemicals causing harm to a pet of theirs? Or it might have something to do with shame. Maybe the place is a complete dump, and the people are just ashamed of letting outside strangers see. Either that, hopelessness about the whole situation -- if the problem seems to be too pervasive, and they think nothing can help so it's just not worth their time.

Either way, it stinks, because this is exactly what keeps bug infestations around. Especially for things like waterbugs/cockroaches, if there's a problem in two apartments and you only spray one, it will be totally useless.

Fear of a bed bug free existence.

Subject: Re: question

possibly_maybe wrote: [quote=marsstars]Wow. Why wouldn't people let a pest control company into their apartment if they knew there was a bedbug infestation in their building? Yeeikes.

I hear this all the time, and frankly, it pisses me off.

I'm thinking it could be a number of things. Fear of the chemicals causing harm to a pet of theirs? Or it might have something to do with shame. Maybe the place is a complete dump, and the people are just ashamed of letting outside strangers see. Either that, hopelessness about the whole situation -- if the problem seems to be too pervasive, and they think nothing can help so it's just not worth their time.

Either way, it stinks, because this is exactly what keeps bug infestations around. Especially for things like waterbugs/cockroaches, if there's a problem in two apartments and you only spray one, it will be totally useless.

Or it might pure unavailability. For example, I currently live alone and have things I need to get my super to repair. Time has been dragging on with the problem because he works 9-5 only on the weekdays and I'm generally unavailable from 8-7 then, so I've been shit out of luck. Not everyone can hang out at home waiting for things to happen because we have to go to work inflexible jobs to pay for those spaces.

Subject: Re: question

Candicissima wrote: [quote=possibly_maybe][quote=marsstars]Wow. Why wouldn't people let a pest control company into their apartment if they knew there was a bedbug infestation in their building? Yeeikes.

I hear this all the time, and frankly, it pisses me off.

I'm thinking it could be a number of things. Fear of the chemicals causing harm to a pet of theirs? Or it might have something to do with shame. Maybe the place is a complete dump, and the people are just ashamed of letting outside strangers see. Either that, hopelessness about the whole situation -- if the problem seems to be too pervasive, and they think nothing can help so it's just not worth their time.

Either way, it stinks, because this is exactly what keeps bug infestations around. Especially for things like waterbugs/cockroaches, if there's a problem in two apartments and you only spray one, it will be totally useless.

Or it might pure unavailability. For example, I currently live alone and have things I need to get my super to repair. Time has been dragging on with the problem because he works 9-5 only on the weekdays and I'm generally unavailable from 8-7 then, so I've been shit out of luck. Not everyone can hang out at home waiting for things to happen because we have to go to work inflexible jobs to pay for those spaces.

Lost in this discussion are the bed bugs themselves. Do they not have rights?

Talk of long inflexible hours -- bed bugs are forced to ply their trade on the graveyard shift, in dangerous, non-OSHA compliant work environments.

And don't even get me started on the traumatic insemination.

Some people just do not understand the benefits of having a pest-free living environment. We are only thankful for those who do and support our business.

The best weapon of Bed Bug defense is knowledge. Read up on them, learn their habits, etc. Once you have this knowledge, do everything in your power to avoid them. There are preventative wall void treatments that can be done. They are highly effective, just no guarantee on how long they will last.

All Bed Bug situations are unique. If anyone has specific questions about their situation or wants to refer us to their landlord, we would be more than happy to assist. I can be emailed directly at [email hidden]

Thu Aug 28, 08 9:01 pm EST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow. Why wouldn't people let a pest control company into their apartment if they knew there was a bedbug infestation in their building? Yeeikes.

By the way - is there anything those of us neighboring the 349 Saint Johns building can do to avoid catching the bugs? Is there anything we can ask our landlord/management companies to do to avoid an infestation like this? (Or is there anything we the humble apartment dwellers can do on our own? I'd vacuum my place twice a day and mop the floor with bleach if it would avoid this horror.)

Subject: Re: question

Lo Kee wrote:
Lost in this discussion are the bed bugs themselves. Do they not have rights?

Talk of long inflexible hours -- bed bugs are forced to ply their trade on the graveyard shift, in dangerous, non-OSHA compliant work environments.

And don't even get me started on the traumatic insemination.

I laughed out loud for this one

Hello everyone! Earlier today we provided the 2nd and final Bed Bug service to 349 St Johns Place. While we did not have 100% cooperation, we were able to access 14 out of 17 units during this service. For reasons that we cannot divulge, there was actually one tenant who refused the service. Other than that nobody in the building has been bit by a Bed Bug since the first service which took place on August 24th. It sounds like a complete success. From here on in anyone who has problems with Bed Bugs has up to 90 days to report the problem to management or directly to our office. I will keep you guys posted on any feedback that we receive from the building.

If there are any 349 St Johns residents on this blog, please let us know how everything went. We would love to hear your opinions.

Josh Alpert, President
Green Earth Pest Control

For what its worth, I saw a heap of stuff outside of the building today labeled "Bed Bugs." Its gonna take a lot of work to rid the building. I saw a woman in a building on the block two weeks ago arguing with a man wanting to take her infested mattress. Evidently, he sells the mattresses and she didn't want him to spread the problem by re-selling her mattress.

RBG wrote: For what its worth, I saw a heap of stuff outside of the building today labeled "Bed Bugs." Its gonna take a lot of work to rid the building. I saw a woman in a building on the block two weeks ago arguing with a man wanting to take her infested mattress. Evidently, he sells the mattresses and she didn't want him to spread the problem by re-selling her mattress.

Saw the same guy trying to take an infested one up the block a few weeks ago. He's always driving around the hood looking for mattresses. They need to start going after bed resellers. Scumbag!


:evil:

This should be a Department of Health issue.

People that live there cannot, nor should they be forced to, just relocate without restitution.

But this is a public health issue and a condemnation should be on the table.

... Everyone that lives there should consider litigation.

Yeah in Bushwick they sell "refurbished" mattresses which I find FOOOOOOOOOOOULLLLLLLL.

Anyway, that sucks 3 units were not cooperative because that is going to make it really hard to get rid of the bedbugs.

Funny that refurbished mattresses are big in Bushwick--that neighborhood is the most infested in Bklyn...They should crack down on the sellers of these used mattresses. The woman who was asking the guy not to take her mattress told us that she purchased a used mattress. You could literally see the BBs crawling on the mattress.

If you don't want your bedbug-infested mattress to be resold, I don't see why they don't just take a kitchen knife and a can of spray paint and go to town on it -- that would make it unsellable and would probably be pretty cathartic as well.

Anyone buying a used mattress from someone they don't PERSONALLY KNOW in NYC at this point is building in a floodplain, as far as I'm concerned.

apollonia666 wrote: If you don't want your bedbug-infested mattress to be resold, I don't see why they don't just take a kitchen knife and a can of spray paint and go to town on it -- that would make it unsellable and would probably be pretty cathartic as well.

<edit> err...sorry, I skipped a step in explaining my thoughts. The guys who go around collecting mattresses are probably not planning on selling them as-is. They take them to some place that "refurbishes" them and sells them cheap. In williamsburg, I used to see a guy who drove around my neighborhood with mattresses stacked 10 high in his pickup.<edit>

I think in refurbishing they put a new layer of padding/fabric on the old metal springs/internal frame. Not sure if they remove the old padding or just layer over it. Either way, if you want to guarantee that an infested mattress doesn't get refurbished, you'd probably have to do a lot of hacksawing of the internal frame.

To davers point - I'm not sure the "refurbished" mattresses are always advertised as such. Although I'm sure they are supposed to be.

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/ban-on-used-mattresses-may-not-eliminate-bed-bug/39928/

This DatelineNBC story will make you think twice about buying that refurbished mattress...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24226788/

got mine at Sleepy's brand new, I hope it is brand new anyway.....

daver wrote: Anyone buying a used mattress from someone they don't PERSONALLY KNOW in NYC at this point is building in a floodplain, as far as I'm concerned.

AH ha! Finally someone who shares my don't build on a flood plain viewpoint.