Bedbugs have been a steadily growing horror in densely populated areas like New York City, so today’s news that some cars on the N line have been taken out of service due to the hardy and terrifying creatures is (as you can imagine) not very well received.
Anyone who has battled a bedbug infestation knows that precious few situations in life approach the frustration, uncertainty, and worst of all, expense of eradicating (hopefully) the scourge of bedbugs.
The N train infestation is doubly unsettling for New Yorkers, who often find their spendy bedbug efforts useless, considering the propensity of the little monsters to simply take refuge in neighboring apartments until the exterminator business cools off. In essence, once bedbugs get into your dwelling (apartments especially), good luck not having to nuke it from orbit to solve the problem.
What’s even scarier about bedbugs (not to be a fearmonger about it) is that they are often underestimated by those unfamiliar with the horror of an infestation. And the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) seems slightly underwhelmed by the fact that who knows how many subway riders were exposed on infected N trains prior to the discovery of bedbugs in seats. Ugh.
The New York Daily News reports that the bedbug infestation affected more than one N train car last week, and the paper adds :
“Two trains were taken out of service Sunday after the unwanted riders were found onboard some cars, officials said. And on Tuesday, a third N train was also sent to the Coney Island yard in Brooklyn for fumigation. Some of the bugs were found in seat cushions in train cabs, which are used by conductors and motormen, sources said.”
Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Adam Lisberg tells the paper that the MTA “exterminated them” when the bedbugs were located, which (obviously) does not address the fact that riders may already be spawning infestations of their own at home. The MTA seems to be unaware that bedbugs are world class hitchhikers, and they simply love to climb into bags, pockets and anything else they find handy.
Clever NYC-area businesses are already using the N train bedbug issue as a segue to market their goods and services:
Bedbugs on the subway? No thank you! http://t.co/ULOW4rJN4l Book a ride with Dial 7 instead! http://t.co/UtfcXYlvkM #nyc #nyctravel
— Dial 7 Car Service (@dial7carservice) August 6, 2014
This guy gets it:
welp time to burn down the entire public transit system http://t.co/RbYKDjmJ51
— Miles Klee (@MilesKlee) August 6, 2014
As of now, the bedbugs found have only been on N trains, and no other reports have surfaced of MTA bedbug issues.
[Image: squidoo.com]