Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Are Bedbugs Checking Out The Library?
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 5, 2010
Modified Aug 5, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 5, 2010
Modified Aug 5, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The local library is one of the best places to escape the sweltering summer heat (besides our freezing office); they've got A.C., Internet access and chairs! But cooling off for free could come back to bite you in the ass at the Mid-Manhattan Public Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, where anonymous employees claim bedbugs are taking over. But the New York Public Library insists the issue has been contained... and actually was never an issue to begin with.
A library employee told WPIX that a co-worker was bitten by a bed bug in early July, while checking out books for a patron at the circulation desk. Administrators brought in dogs to sniff for bed bugs, and the tipster says "some books have been taken out of the shelves to be thrown away or frozen, so it is in the public areas, not just where we work. Employees keep finding bed bugs in the bathroom, in people's offices. They fumigate wherever somebody says they found something. They're not fumigating the whole library. They're doing it in spots. Everybody's scared that they're going to get into their homes." (Note: This quote has been removed from the WPIX story.)
But Gail Snible, spokesperson for the NYPL, emphasizes, "We have been working with the bedbug sniffing dogs, fumigating, and cleaning the entire library, taking proactive measures in response to the two bedbugs we found. We did not have an infestation, and we do not have bedbugs now."
Ironically, this is the same library that held a lecture on bed bugs back in May. And last year The Denver Public Library had to quarantine and fumigate four areas at the main branch because of bed bugs, and ended up having to destroy over 30 rare books. This bedbug assault on our civilization's libraries is certainly alarming, but we'll save our panic for when they infiltrate the Internet.
Tagged
bedbugs
new york public library
nypl
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.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: Can't stop the sticker bombers
Because the one influencer who tried removing them got dragged, here are your early links: Upper West Side woman adopts a lot of dogs, Big Apple Triathlon returned, "NCIS" lands in New York and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 8:48 a.m. ET
Cyclist dies in wrong-way crash with an ambulance on Staten Island
The ambulance driver stayed at the scene and was not charged with a crime.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Cyclist dies in wrong-way crash with an ambulance on Staten Island
The ambulance driver stayed at the scene and was not charged with a crime.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
With election 3 weeks away, Hochul and Blakeman to square off in lone NY governor debate
By
Jon Campbell
NYC's taxi union teams with Uber, hedge fund to demand healthcare 4 driver deaths
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Ramsey Khalifeh
Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
By
Liam Quigley
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .