Population Growth

There has been a surge in the population of NYC apartment insects here on East 4th St with the warmer weather of the Spring. We have not had any exterminator services for some time now. Its that time of year when the Water Bugs come out and take to flight. Ugh, yes they do fly.

Water Bug

The continuous construction on East 4th St has shaken things up in the insect world here and they are running amok. Been seeing a lot of these critters in the next picture when its damp and rainy, as it has been the past week. These are Siverfish.

Silverfish

Some of the new high rent paying tenants are having problems with these insects too. Obviously the bugs don't discriminate between the overpriced rentals and the rent stabilized. They harass all the tenants. The big fear is of course Bed Bugs. 118 East 4th had them a few years ago under the AJ Clarke Mgmt. It is a big concern now with Magnum because of the transient nature of the buildings human inhabitants, created by the sky high rents. It has been observed that one of the newly renovated apartments in 120 is being used as a sort of Hotel room. This particular apartment seems to have a new "tenant" every couple of days. It's a point of concern, not only who are these strangers coming and going every few days, but which stranger will bring in the Bed Bugs. Only a matter of time.

Bed Bug

Centipede

I have personally seen 2 of these beasts in the past few months with the relentless construction. This is a centipede. They can attain a length of 2 inches. I killed one that was that large. You hit it with something like a shoe and it breaks into pieces. Each piece squirming and crawling in different directions like a horror movie. You know, you shoot up the monster and all the broken pieces re-animate into more monsters. Disgusting. Makes my skin crawl. I did a little investigating on these creatures. They like the damp, so one will not really see any in the summer, unless you live in a ground floor or garden apartment. Centipedes are carnivores that eat other insects like the smaller roaches, spiders, and silverfish. They are beneficial, unless you've seen one race across your apartment and up your bed spread and make itself a home under the covers. The info on how to get rid of them is to dehumidify, and remove  their food source..... the other insects currently running amok on East 4th St. One more thing I read. They have a nasty bite, bit like a bee sting. Somewhat venomous too, if their fangs can break your skin. Ugh, so much venom, its as if we live in Australia or something.