Bedbugs are usually thought of as something that only hotel guests have to worry about, but apparently New Yorkers who like to sit on benches while they wait for the subway should be concerned about the bloodsuckers as well.
The NYPost says:
At a recent Department of Housing, Preservation and Development forum on the subject, a city bedbug educator admitted to seeing the pests on benches in subway stations – in one case, catching a ride on an unsuspecting straphanger’s caboose at Brooklyn’s Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, according to people at the meeting.
The official, identified as Edward Brownbear, also reported seeing the bugs on wooden benches at the Union Square and Fordham Road stations in Manhattan and The Bronx, respectively.
Well, ew. Kind of makes you appreciate those frigid outdoor comparatively-pestilence-free Chicago L platforms. Sorta.
SUBWAYS’ BLOOD-BUG INVASION [NYP]
More From Consumerist
-
FTC Goes After Marketers Hawking Natural Remedies For Bed Bug & Head Lice Problems
-
If You Don’t Want Bed Bugs You Might Want To Reconsider Living In These Cities
-
Priceline Books Me In 3.5 Star Roach Motel, And There’s No Refunds
-
Bed Bath And Beyond Applies Coupon After The Fact, Alerts Me To Rebate
-
What’s The Point Of A Salad Spinner That Can’t Spin?
@XianZomby: First thing you learn in any subway city: ALWAYS AVOID the empty or near-empty car. Nothing good is in there.
Gross. I never sat down on the L because it looked disgusting. Now I’m really glad I didn’t.
Given how vital the subway system is to NYC, I am really shocked that very little has been done to update it. Outside of funding the police department, the subway should be the next most funded service in NY. I’m curious, has a mayor ever run on a platform that included subway reform?
@Lambasted: Well, the city doesn’t run the subway. If I’m not mistaken, the mayor can nominate four of MTA’s eight boardmembers (and the governor selects the other four), but they are subject to senate approval. More importantly, the funding comes from the State, not the City. There’s very little the mayor can do to improve the subway system.
Eeeewww. I guess I’m not going to visit New York subway, after all.
Guys, did anyone see subway in Moscow? It’s much more crowded. However, somehow it’s much more cleaner…
Also, subway in Montreal (Canada) is much more cleaner, even thou it haven’t been updated since 1970.
@Lambasted:
Also, when Mayor Bloomberg tried to set up congestion pricing (with the funds earmarked to expand and modernize the subways), Albany killed the idea immediately. The state govt enjoys getting their mitts on MTA money, but is far less enthusiastic about giving it back.
As for bedbugs: I hope to God I never get an infestation, after seeing how bonkers a friend of mine became trying to rid her apartment of the little buggers. They’re tenacious! It took months to wipe them out completely, and she had painful-looking welts on her body from the things. I know people who’ve decorated their apartments with furniture they’ve found in the street, but I’d certainly think twice before doing it now.
My comment was based only on North American urban centers, not international.
I expect a report like this from my local FOX affiliate, but I expect better from the Consumerist.
MTA is horribly underfunded by the state and the feds. Management is inept. Unions quite effectively block most work from getting done and drive up the costs of any improvements or expansions to ridiculous levels (it’s not uncommon for a simple station rehab to cost in the hundreds of millions). And many of the riders are total slobs who throw their nasty food trash on the floor rather than in the trashcans positioned about every ten feet. A small minority also deposit bodily fluids.
Despite all this, you still get a clean, comfortable, reasonably swift ride about 98 percent of the time. It takes you anywhere in the city and only costs $1.80.
So let’s keep things in perspective.
The public transportation systems in DFW area North Texas are awesome. I ride all the time. Have seen no shit or bugs.
eewww… I rarely sit on those but it’s still gross. And the people who sit on those benches are also the people that sit in restaurants and movie theaters… ick!