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Bedbug-Infested Man Removed From Subway Train
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 23, 2009
Modified Mar 23, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 23, 2009
Modified Mar 23, 2009
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According to NYC the Blog, a rather revolting incident took place on on the 2 train Saturday night. Arron Howell, the blogger's roommate, revealed through a series of tweets that he "saw a homeless man on the subway with bugs crawling all over him. I am freaked out I was close to him." Howell said he has "no doubt" the critters were bedbugs, but given the tiny size of the parasites—adults don't exceed 4-5 mm in length—Howell would have had to get pretty close to the guy in order to see them.
Bedbug presence in the subway isn't unheard of; last year a city bedbug expert reported seeing them on the subway benches at the Union Square subway station. Like most New Yorkers, Howell's fears quickly turned litigious; his second tweet after spotting the man was, "If I get bed bugs I am suing the MTA." According to Howell, an MTA employee summoned the police, who ejected the man from the train. Tweets Howell: "I guess its illegal to ride train w/bugs since cops kicked the dude off. When guy rubbed hair one bug shot off him towards peeps across."
Bedbugs are known to travel from place to place in clothing, so the story seems plausible enough, though we doubt there's an MTA regulation specifically prohibiting bedbug hosts. (We're waiting for a statement from NYC Transit.) Last week Mayor Bloomberg appointed an Advisory Board to come up with solutions to the city's bedbug epidemic; they're to report back with a plan in about 9 months. In the meantime, here's a vivid National Geographic segment on bedbugs. Enjoy!
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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