NYC bedbug complaints jump by 34 percent

  Eyewitness News

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Big Apple's bedbug menace is getting worse.

An advocacy group says there were more than 9,200 bedbug complaints to the city's 311 line last year, a 34 percent jump over the year before.

The group, called New York vs. Bedbugs, obtained records from the city through a Freedom of Information request.

The data shows the hardest hit areas include central Brooklyn, northern and eastern Bronx, midtown Manhattan, a section of eastern Queens, and the north shore of Staten Island.

Signs of bedbug infestation include pepper-like spots of fecal matter, specks of dried blood on bedsheets, and of course, the bites.

A city Council hearing is scheduled for next week on bills that would ban the sale of used mattresses, train exterminators to handle bedbugs, and force city agencies to develop a united strategy.

Get more Local News »

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•