Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bloody Bedbug Nightmare Turns Brooklyn Man into Pariah
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 17, 2010
Modified Aug 17, 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 17, 2010
Modified Aug 17, 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
Chances are you know somebody who's been afflicted with bedbugs, and have heard plenty of horror stories about sleepless nights and traumatic insemination. But there's always room for one more! 38-year-old East Williamsburg photographer Jeremy Sparig tells the Daily News how bedbugs turned his life into a living nightmare: "For several months I got into bed every night wrapped up like a Tibetan Sherpa. But I'd still wake up every few hours with them crawling on my face." Not appalled enough yet? You will be.
Sparig says that after he complained the building's superintendent came and sprayed pesticide, but that didn't stop the hungry little critters, and the building's landlord was unwilling to do more. What's worse is that the landlord seems to have known about the infestation before Sparig moved in. (A new law requires landlords to disclose this information.) Sparig finally reached his breaking point when one night "he slapped at a bug, and, when it burst, blood sprayed into his eye." Let's just let that image hang in the air for a minute...
After some legal wrangling, Sparig won a settlement in Housing Court, giving him a 100% waiver for 8 and 1/2 months' rent. But he's required to move out at the end of this month, and he says most landlords won't show him an apartment when they hear about his bed bug experience, and the others are requiring him to throw out everything he owns. "Most landlords don't want to deal with me," Sparig tells the News. One suggestion for Sparig: Maybe stop making yourself a bedbug poster boy by talking to press?
Tagged
bedbugs
brooklyn
housing court
landlord
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
A reliably Republican part of NJ, until ICE came to town
The Trump administration’s plan to convert a warehouse in Roxbury into an ICE detention center has upended local politics ahead of the midterm elections.
By
Mike Hayes
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
NYC school integration debate exposes tensions between Black parents and Mamdani
Some see a blind spot when it comes to the representation of Black New Yorkers in Mamdani's administration and agenda.
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
NYC school integration debate exposes tensions between Black parents and Mamdani
Some see a blind spot when it comes to the representation of Black New Yorkers in Mamdani's administration and agenda.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Queens man charged with hate crime at Jewish-owned bagel shop displaying Israeli flags
By
Giulia Heyward
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
By
Stephen Nessen
High-ranking NYC officials to testify in ex-buildings boss Eric Ulrich's corruption trial
By
David Brand
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 .