Author Archives: pcenet

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

NEW YORK Old apartment buildings unlike hotels are often not made for short term stays, particularly when it comes to bed bugs crawling from one wood framed apartment to the next.

You can imagine this problem might intensify in buildings where tenants are illegally renting out their units for short term rentals.

Getting to the bottom of this situation isnt easy.

Many AirBnb hosts are rent stabilized tenants. They dont want to talk about bed bugs, or AirBnb out of fear theyll be evicted.

Enter Ari Teman, co-founder of Subletspy.com.

The companys research team began looking at AirBnb complaints from its landlord clients and bed bug complaints filed by city residents to the 311 line.

At the very least, where you find AirBnb in a building, you find the neighbors and the other tenants complaining about bed bugs, said Teman.

Subletspy.com found with a sample of 100 buildings across New York City between January of 2014 through this July, that 89 percent of those buildings had at least one documented bed bug 311 complaint around the time of an AirBnb rental.

Is this a coincidence? Or does AirBnb have a bed bug problem?

AirBnB spokesman Peter Schottenfels called out the study.

This irresponsible and inaccurate study was written by someone who profits by attacking middle class AirBnb hosts," Schottenfels said. "This report is not based on actual addresses of AirBnb listings, relying instead on misleading data and false assumptions, and therefore cannot in anyway determine if host addresses match those on the City's website. Whenever a guest has an issue, of any kind, our global customer experience and trust and safety teams work to address them immediately.

40.783060 -73.971249

Read more here:
Company finds potential link between bed bugs and New York Airbnb locations - New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV

A review of news and product information from industry suppliers.

Editors note: Suppliers and PMPs, if you have a bed bug-related news item or product youd like to have highlighted in an upcoming issue, please send a press release and a high-resolution photo to jdorsch@giemedia.com.

The year: 2008. The place: Nassau County, New York the Village of Hempstead in particular. As Nassaus assistant district attorney (ADA) for community affairs, Ren Fiechter wanted to address issues that most affected quality of life in Hempstead.

Conversations with community leaders revealed that bed bugs ranked high among issues that tenants often felt powerless to control. So Fiechter lost no time in convening a 60-member Bed Bug Task Force to help landlords and tenants better understand and manage this scourge. Task force members included Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, community IPM coordinator for the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM) at Cornell University.

Now, for nine years of focused leadership on the Bed Bug Task Force and his commitment to Hempstead and Nassau County as well as IPM Fiechter received an Excellence in IPM award.

Ren wasted no time in learning everything he could about bed bugs, said Gangloff-Kaufmann. Hes also just a thoughtful, friendly person. Those are attributes you need if youre going to bring together such an array of tenants, landlords, pest professionals and community agencies, then make it work.

The publics knowledge of bed bugs often is based on myths and misconceptions. Helping people get past these was among the most important issues the task force faced, said Bryan Matthews, director of environmental investigation with the Nassau County Department of Health.Myth number one? If you have bed bugs your house is a mess. Not so. Anyone, anywhere is fair game. Bed bug control requires a comprehensive approach and the involvement of community leaders is critical.

Ren is a shining example of how one person can serve and protect his community using IPM, said Jim Skinner, president of A & C Pest Management. Under his leadership over the years, the task force held public events that drew hundreds of people and promoted IPM as key to coping with this growing crisis.

Fiechter received his award on March 24 at the annual meeting of the Community IPM Coordinating Council.

Delta Five Systems offers a Telemetered Pest Monitoring System (TPMS) that provides early detection of pests, including insects and rodents. TPMS is a remotely monitored pest detection system that will alert pest management professionals the instant a pest is encountered. The lure-agnostic and placement-agnostic device maximizes PMPs ability to capture pests while minimizing cost, the firm says. Features include: Real-time alerts, including photos; discreet and compact; WiFi enabled; helps eliminate infestations; and proven 98% effective at capturing bed bugs and other insects before a customer/guest encounter, the company reports. For more information visit TheBedBugSolution.com.

The Bugo, a simple-to-use adhesive disc-shaped device that lasts up to eight weeks, is virtually invisible and acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector to infestations, the manufacturer says. The Bugo disc sticks on the floor around the bottom of the bed legs to prevent bed bugs from getting into the bed. New from the manufacturer is the The Bugo Tape, a product for floor beds and beds with no legs. Each packet of The Bugo Tape is available in rolls of 32.8 feet, which is enough for one application around a king-size bed, the firm says. Like the original Bugo Discs, the tape acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector. It is virtually invisible, lasts up to eight weeks and uses no pesticides. The Bugo Tape is easy to apply and discard, and it is available in soft floor application for surfaces such as carpets and rugs, or hard floor application for surfaces such as floor boards and tiles.

The Bugo is available through its distributors, which can be found on The Bugo website thebugo.co.uk/where-to-buy.

Bed Bug Fix, which eliminates and prevents bed bug infestations, is now scent-free, the manufacturer reports. Formulated to be 100 percent natural, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-staining, and used around children and pets, this product is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS). Its also approved as a 25b product by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and part of the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDAs) BioPreferred program. Octopamine, the insects equivalent to adrenaline, regulates their heart rate, movement, behavior and metabolism. Bed Bug Fix targets and blocks octopamine neurotransmitter receptors, and kills on contact, according to the manufacturer. To place an order, call 800/825-9973.

P.E.S.T. Relief International embarked on its first disaster relief project in Kinston, N.C. in February. The Kennedy Home for Children was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew, and many of the homes were left vulnerable to flooding. P.E.S.T. Relief International responded to the call to partner with Bed Land located in Shallotte, N.C., to provide encasements for 48 new mattresses that were donated to improve the homes livable conditions.

A team of P.E.S.T. Relief Responders, including Marty and Cindy Jones of Prestige Pest Control and Kevin Yow with Seaira Global, visited the home to deliver and install mattress and box spring encasements which were donated by Mattress Safe.

P.E.S.T. Relief International was created for the pest management industry to bring comfort and relief to orphaned, abused, and at-risk individuals in-order to give hope and enable life-transformation. For more information, visit the organization at http://www.pestreliefinternational.com.

See original here:
Bed Bug News and Notes - PCT Magazine

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE June 22, 2017 06/22/2017 12:34 pm By Adam K. Raymond Share BUG.

OMG. EWW. WTF. BuzzFeed has bedbugs. Carole Robinson, chief communications officer for the company, sent an email to employees Thursday telling them to work from home because of the infestation at their Gramercy Park headquarters. Poynter has published that email.

Please be advised that bed bugs have been detected at BuzzFeed HQ at 111 East 18th Street. We are acting out of an abundance of caution and asking you to work from home tomorrow to give facilities the chance to deal with this in the fastest and environmentally safest manner. Fumigation will take place as soon as possible tomorrow.

The email goes on to tell employees that they can swing by until 11 a.m. to snag their laptops, but advising them against taking home items that are currently on the floor in the office.

The incident at BuzzFeed HQ is only the latest recent insect attack on a new-media property. Last week, bees swarmed the Vox Media offices in the Financial District.

The Great Drake BellJosh Peck Feud Just Keeps Getting Pettier

Where Would We Be Politically If Hillary Clinton Had Won?

Everything in the World Is Bad, Except This Dancing Gorilla Who Is So, So Good

Joe Biden Owned a Hedge-Fund Billionaire Who Mocked Him Over His Late Son

Snapchats New Map Feature Is the Best Social Media Time-Waster in Months

What It Was Like to Star in the Trump-Themed Julius Caesar

New Snapchat Map Feature Lets You See Where Your Friends Are

The Secret to Small Talk

Pornhub Is the Kinsey Report of Our Time

Is Sex in Silicon Valley As Bad As Sex on Silicon Valley?

Most Popular Video On Daily Intelligencer

Were about to find out what Mattiss Pentagon will do with mostly unchecked authority to conduct a war.

Should Democrats in places like Georgia keep trying to rebuild white support? Or should they focus on minority mobilization? The debate goes on.

A new report suggests Obama knew about Putins intervention in the 2016 election and its aims, but didnt move aggressively until it was too late.

The emergence of a new game plan, from persuasion to motivation.

Look, I dont know who you are, wiseass, Biden reportedly said.

Oops!

One surprised music critic reviews Mystified.

The Justice Departments handling of the Clinton email investigation is at the center of the senators questions.

Dean Heller of Nevada said he could not support legislation as written. Now things get dicey for Mitch McConnell.

Turns out, the former FBI director was attending an event for a nonprofit that works with abused children.

D.C. might still be revolving around legislative gridlock and investigations. But the electoral landscape would be very different.

A U.S. representative said he couldnt back the resolution which condemned violence against women because it supported safe abortion.

Obamacares popularity seems to be peaking just as Republicans get closer to taking it down in legislation that is not popular at all.

The Saudi-led coalition wants the tiny Gulf state to cut off ties with Iran and close Al Jazeera, ultimatums Qatar isnt likely to meet.

Change is slow. Thats why we have to keep working.

She met with a handful of Republican senators this week, but they couldnt agree on a plan.

Unfortunately, this will have to be a Republicans-only exercise.

The president also admitted that his tape bluff was an attempt to intimidate Comeys testimony.

A quick break from the off-camera briefings.

Inclusion of this House deal in the Senate bill shows McConnell playing the long game. But it could encourage shakedowns by fence-sitting senators.

See the original post:
BuzzFeed Has Bedbugs - NYMag - New York Magazine