Wednesday's parting shot

Flashback to 2010 tonight on Avenue B near Fourth Street...

Notes left on discarded mattresses are usually awesome

Generally speaking. Here's one on East Eighth Street...



Would you take this mattress home? Maybe after a movie and dinner?

Previously on EV Grieve:
This week in discarded mattress epidemics in the East Village

No! No! No! This is the SUMMER OF THE BEES!

Spotted yesterday on Seventh Street... Bedbugs had their time in the sun. It's the Summer of the Bees! So it should read... "Free: Not Bees Infested." Or something in keeping with the spirit of the note.

Avenue A, 7:17 p.m., June 30

This week in discarded mattress epidemics in the East Village

If I took a photo of every discarded mattress that I spotted this past week, well, then I'd have a lot of photos of discarded mattresses to share...

Still, with these, you get the idea...

Dave on 7th sent these next three shots along... And Dave on 7th said, "never seen so many discarded mattresses as I have in the last week."

Seconded.

And I only spotted one mattress that had been wrapped in plastic per the City's wishes...this one of Avenue C at Second Street...

Are more people throwing away mattresses these days?

Dave on 7th sent along this photo from this morning on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Which reminds me that I have about 10 photos of discarded mattresses on my camera from the last few days (students moving out?) ... And most of them weren't wrapped in plastic per the City's wishes. In the photo here, it appears that the mattress was wrapped, but the bedbugs simply broke free.

Landlords enter bed bugs battle

Several readers noted the arrival of these letters from their landlords this past week...

So, basically, to avoid the spread of bed bugs, you have to wrap your mattress and box springs in plastic before dumping it on the curb — whether or not you even have bed bugs. There is a fine of up to $100 if your bed isn't wrapped. Landlords such as Brownstone Building Mgmt here will fine you the tenant then. If they can figure out who the mattress belonged to, that is.

New documentary series wants your unwanted pests

A legit e-mail from the EV Grieve inbox...

PEST PROBLEM? — OUR TV SERIES WANTS TO FIX IT FOR FREE

A new documentary science series on a prominent non-fiction TV Network is looking to solve pest problems and infestations in all five boroughs. We'll set you up with an accredited local pest control company that will tackle your pest problem FOR FREE, and follow the process of making your home or business pest-free. We're looking for severe pest infestations of any kind, from cockroaches and bedbugs to rats and raccoons. No infestation is too severe for our team. All correspondence will be kept strictly confidential AND we won't even need to mention or show the name or location of your business or home/apt. This is a great opportunity to have some of the best experts in the business put an end to your infestation.

If Interested, please send an e-mail to PestExterminatorCasting@gmail.com with a brief description of your infestation along with any photos/documentation of the problem (if possible). In the subject line of the e-mail, please indicate what kind of pest you-re having a problem with.

[Image via]

Summer of Bedbugs moves into the Winter of Bedbugs

The other night on St. Mark's Place. By Samuel Mark.

Opportunity bites

A reader notes that this flyer has been on his building's front door all week ... and they do seem to be everywhere. The ads. And probably the bedbugs.

Wealthier people are to blame for NYC's bedbug problem

The Guardian UK checks in on NYC's bedbug infestation...Per the article:

Richard Cooper is a director of BedBug Central, an educational website and prevention company that last week organised a nationwide "summit" in Chicago, attended by about 400 of America's top bedbug experts. He also sits on Bloomberg's advisory board.

Over the last 10 years he has got to know the bloodsuckers very well, watching them multiply from virtually nothing to take hold of New York, and now other US cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Cincinnati. So what does he think of them?

"I'm fascinated by them. I respect them. They have extraordinary strategies for succeeding."

One reason often cited for the resurgence of the pest is the banning of the toxic chemical DDT, with which they had previously been brought under control. But Cooper believes the main cause of their success today is human ignorance. People are unaware of what to look for and miss the early signs, allowing the bedbugs to establish themselves and spread throughout a dwelling. Part of the problem is the assumption that infestation is confined to poor neighbourhoods with dirty and crowded living spaces.

Wrong, says Cooper, who is taking a PhD in the impact of bedbugs on low-income communities. The bedbug invasion began among the wealthy and middle classes, where frequent international travel for work and/or leisure allowed the insects to penetrate salubrious homes via luggage.

[Image: Photomontage by Guardian imaging/Getty]

Think outside the bug

Bedbug artist Samuel Mark shares this photo from in front of the Taco Bell on 14th Street...

Spreading the fear of bed bugs to the F train

Thanks to our friend AWKWORDrap for these shots....

Bedbugs from the big chair

Yesterday, on the Bowery and East Fourth Street.

Mattress factory

Seems to be a more active move in/move out end-of-month/beginning-of-month period than usual... seems as if more people are moving out than moving in... While walking around yesterday and today, I counted 17 abandoned mattresses... I started taking pictures of them... but you get the idea...







And none of them were marked "bedbugs."

A terrible experience prompts bedbugs art

We've posted some bedbug art by Samuel Mark here in recent weeks... there's a short Q-and-A with him over at The Wall Street Journal... As he says about his bedbug art: " I am actually just trying to raise awareness. To me, it’s a big problem. I actually experienced bedbugs firsthand and had a terrible experience."

[Photo by EV Grive reader Dan N.]

Bedbugs getting bigger, more colorful

More from Samuel Mark. Undisclosed location.

Bedbug artist strikes again with a tribute to bedbug-riddled stores

A mysterious e-mail just arrived with another bedbugs creation by Samuel Mark... On St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue last evening... And the e-mailer confirmed his identity as the elusive street artist Samuel Mark, who previously left a bedbug-ridden couch for Shepard Fairey.

Now with some video...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Bedbugs inspire local artists

The Summer of Bedbugs continues...

What does the sign say...? I can't make it out from this distance...




Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

Meanwhile, CNN had a piece last night on the city's new battle against bedbugs...

Bedbugs inspire local artists

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Dan N. for the photo here on St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue... As he noted, "This kind of makes having bedbugs look like one wacky experience that all New Yorkers should love."

And the Summer of Bedbugs continues...