Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bedbug Summit Ends, Experts Abandon Hope for Victory
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 26, 2011
Modified Feb 26, 2011
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 Feb 26, 2011
Modified Feb 26, 2011
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 two day bedbug summit in our once proud nation's capital ended earlier this month on a note of bleak, existential dread. It seems the best and brightest minds on the front lines of the bedbug war have all but abandoned hope for a future when every child can go to sleep at night and awaken with the exact same amount of blood in their veins.
Entomologist Gil Bloom, who is a former member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Bed Bug Advisory Board, was in attendance, and reports back to Brick Underground that by the summit's end, it was agreed that "the goal of bed bug elimination should be replaced by the more realistic one of achieving bed bug control which in a multifamily scenario would require continued monitoring and possibly future additional treatments." Ol' Gil also declares, "Bed bugs are not going away any time soon."
You can read his bullet points yourself, but the grim reality is inescapable. The bedbugs are here, and they will bleed us white. It's up to each and every one of us to decide how this ends—either nobly with a thorough embalming that denies our foes a last humiliating feeding, or by cunningly overdosing on Coumadin, thereby thinning one's blood to such a degree that it denies them any sustenance. It's unclear whether the bedbugs will consume the remaining survivors or merely enslave them in vast blood farms, but one thing is for certain, there is no stopping them.
Tagged
bed bug
bedbug overlords
bedbug summit
bedbugs
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
Man killed in police-involved shooting in Moonachie, NJ
A New Jersey state trooper was involved in the incident Wednesday, according to the New Jersey attorney general's office.
By
Kaya Laterman
Published Oct 28, 2026 at 9:06 p.m. ET
Queens man took girlfriend’s body to beach in a wagon, where it remained for 5 days
Seraphina Pereira was found in a shallow grave at Rockaway Community Park. Rogelio Lozano-Garita pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday.
By
Charles Lane
News
Queens man took girlfriend’s body to beach in a wagon, where it remained for 5 days
Seraphina Pereira was found in a shallow grave at Rockaway Community Park. Rogelio Lozano-Garita pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends NYC racial equity leader's term after Council pushes back on replacement
By
Elizabeth Kim
Woman charged with federal hate crimes after allegedly stabbing 2 Jewish men in NYC
By
Giulia Heyward
Ex-NYPD sergeant sentenced to 4-12 years in deadly drunken Taconic crash
By
Charles Lane
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 .