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Bedbug Mania: 5 Train Taken Out Of Service Because Of Bedbugs
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 9, 2014
Modified Aug 9, 2014
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Original empty subway car via jill slater's flickr
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 9, 2014
Modified Aug 9, 2014
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The bedbug assault on our mass transit system continued yesterday as a 5 train was taken out of service because a straphanger spotted bedbugs on the train. Joe Costales, chairman of Transport Workers Union Local 100, told the News that the rider saw a bedbug fall off a homeless man. That straphanger was reportedly heard whispering hoarsely, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...all those moments will be lost in time, like bedbugs in rain."
And that wasn't the only surprise Friday: yet another N train was reportedly taken out of service because a motorman reported bedbugs in the car. Which means at least five subway cars have been destabilized by bedbugs since this bugademic broke out, and we are finally prepared to invest in a DuPont -Tychem TK HazMat Fully Encapsulated Level A Coverall suit.
MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg was nonchalant about the prospect of bedbugs jumping aboard the Lexington Avenue line after a week of terrorizing N trains: "The subway system has 5.5 million riders every single day and we can’t check all of them for bedbugs before letting them on the train," he told the News. "That said, when we get reports of bedbug sightings we investigate — and exterminate. This is an interesting story but not a big problem."
Maybe we've been overreacting—after all, it's just been a few N train cars and one 5 train. This can't be the first time a homeless person has brought a bedbug along with them onto a subway. And it's not like mass hysteria is spreading or anythi—
"I killed it with an old MetroCard receipt," Hector Berrios told the News about a bedbug he claims he killed on the floor of a 4 train on Friday. "I turned it over and was like ‘Whoa! It’s a bedbug alright.’ There was blood all over. I don’t even want to think about it being on my clothes."
He took a photo, and showed it to Gil Bloom, president of Standard Pest Management, who confirmed it was indeed a bedbug: “Bedbugs are a presence in our society and are an issue," Bloom said. “They will from time to time get on people’s belongings and inadvertently will be carried onto areas like the subway, restaurants, offices...I don’t think people should get crazy about it, but you need to be aware of certain threats out there and you need to learn to be careful about them.”
Sure.
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5 train
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Lexington Avenue Line
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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