Doubtless the little critters are also riding the TTC as well. 
jwm
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2...s-ride-around-besides-just-beds/index.html?hp
May 9, 2008, 3:26 pm
Where Bedbugs Ride Around, Besides Just Beds
By Jennifer 8. Lee
Reports that the city’s bedbug epidemic was spreading to subway benches certainly alarmed New Yorkers this week.
But the Department of Housing Preservation and Development quickly established an arm’s-length distance to the statements, which were made by Edward Brownbear, a lead instructor for the department, at the Greenpoint Reformed Church on Tuesday, as part of a continuing educational series on bedbugs.
The agency issued a statement: “The HPD employee who spoke of bedbugs in subway stations at a recent HPD seminar was reflecting on his own personal experience, not his work at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. HPD is responsible for enforcing the housing maintenance code and our inspectors only issue violations for bedbugs found in residences. The agency does not regulate subway stations.”
But that begs the question, so can bedbugs really live in subway stations (which are, in theory, bedless?)
City Room decided to ask one of our favorite urban entomologists, Michael Potter, of the University of Kentucky, who is author of one of the most authoritative pages on bedbugs.
The short answer is: Yes.
“If you go way back 100 years ago, bedbugs were very common on trains, on buses, in taxicabs, in all modes of transport,” said Dr. Potter, who had just come from New York City where he was speaking to pest control specialists.
He added that bedbugs can get into the cracks and crevices on the benches and in the trains.
Bedbugs were a huge problem during the turn of the century, through the 1940s. Starting around World War II, they were curbed with DDT, the miracle insecticide turned environmental threat and perhaps perceived as a savior again. In the last five to seven years, bedbugs have experienced a resurgence in New York and elsewhere.
Dr. Potter said: “In other areas of the world where bedbugs are also a big problem, like India, there have been reports of massive problems of bedbugs on trains and on benches. I’ve heard from some pest control companies that work in India, that you have to be careful on which benches you sit in. There have been reports of bedbugs in trains in Europe.”
And it isn’t just a matter of watching where you sit in subway stations. “They used to be extremely common in movie theaters,” he said. (Netflix suddenly seems more appealing.)
The bedbugs hitchhike on people, in part because humans are a source of food. “They have to feed on blood,” Dr. Potter said, “so they are waiting for another blood meal to come along. If bedbugs are sitting on a park bench, or a subway bench, they will just wait for their next meal.”
And they are very patient. “Bedbugs can persist a long time between meals,” Dr. Potter said. “They’ll just hunker down. Studies show that bedbugs can live many many months, a year, perhaps longer without feeding.”
Suddenly, the chaotic image of panicked New Yorkers and a paralyzed transit system must have popped into his head, because he interrupted himself and said, “This is still probably a rare occurrence and people shouldn’t stop riding the subway.”
His point is that yes, it is possible in theory, that bedbugs pass through train stations and reports have surfaced recently but it’s not very common. Mr. Brownbear supposedly said he knew of bedbugs at five subway stations (warning: strong language).
Dr. Potter re-emphasized, “People shouldn’t stop riding the subways because I think it’s quite a rare occurrence.”
jwm
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2...s-ride-around-besides-just-beds/index.html?hp
May 9, 2008, 3:26 pm
Where Bedbugs Ride Around, Besides Just Beds
By Jennifer 8. Lee
Reports that the city’s bedbug epidemic was spreading to subway benches certainly alarmed New Yorkers this week.
But the Department of Housing Preservation and Development quickly established an arm’s-length distance to the statements, which were made by Edward Brownbear, a lead instructor for the department, at the Greenpoint Reformed Church on Tuesday, as part of a continuing educational series on bedbugs.
The agency issued a statement: “The HPD employee who spoke of bedbugs in subway stations at a recent HPD seminar was reflecting on his own personal experience, not his work at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. HPD is responsible for enforcing the housing maintenance code and our inspectors only issue violations for bedbugs found in residences. The agency does not regulate subway stations.”
But that begs the question, so can bedbugs really live in subway stations (which are, in theory, bedless?)
City Room decided to ask one of our favorite urban entomologists, Michael Potter, of the University of Kentucky, who is author of one of the most authoritative pages on bedbugs.
The short answer is: Yes.
“If you go way back 100 years ago, bedbugs were very common on trains, on buses, in taxicabs, in all modes of transport,” said Dr. Potter, who had just come from New York City where he was speaking to pest control specialists.
He added that bedbugs can get into the cracks and crevices on the benches and in the trains.
Bedbugs were a huge problem during the turn of the century, through the 1940s. Starting around World War II, they were curbed with DDT, the miracle insecticide turned environmental threat and perhaps perceived as a savior again. In the last five to seven years, bedbugs have experienced a resurgence in New York and elsewhere.
Dr. Potter said: “In other areas of the world where bedbugs are also a big problem, like India, there have been reports of massive problems of bedbugs on trains and on benches. I’ve heard from some pest control companies that work in India, that you have to be careful on which benches you sit in. There have been reports of bedbugs in trains in Europe.”
And it isn’t just a matter of watching where you sit in subway stations. “They used to be extremely common in movie theaters,” he said. (Netflix suddenly seems more appealing.)
The bedbugs hitchhike on people, in part because humans are a source of food. “They have to feed on blood,” Dr. Potter said, “so they are waiting for another blood meal to come along. If bedbugs are sitting on a park bench, or a subway bench, they will just wait for their next meal.”
And they are very patient. “Bedbugs can persist a long time between meals,” Dr. Potter said. “They’ll just hunker down. Studies show that bedbugs can live many many months, a year, perhaps longer without feeding.”
Suddenly, the chaotic image of panicked New Yorkers and a paralyzed transit system must have popped into his head, because he interrupted himself and said, “This is still probably a rare occurrence and people shouldn’t stop riding the subway.”
His point is that yes, it is possible in theory, that bedbugs pass through train stations and reports have surfaced recently but it’s not very common. Mr. Brownbear supposedly said he knew of bedbugs at five subway stations (warning: strong language).
Dr. Potter re-emphasized, “People shouldn’t stop riding the subways because I think it’s quite a rare occurrence.”
