Has Flatbush’s Bed Bug Problem Subsided?

If the Department of Health is right, we have been having a very serious bed bug problem in Greater Flatbush — perhaps the worst in the city.

According to data from the city’s Community Health Survey, an estimated 12 percent of adults in Flatbush and East Flatbush reported needing a bed bug exterminator in 2014, the highest percentage of adults with such a complaint in any New York City neighborhood.

A whopping 28,000 adults in Flatbush and East Flatbush reported needing an exterminator for bed bugs in 2014, the latest year for which data is available.

The DOH stresses that these numbers are estimates and should be interpreted with caution. But we were struck by how poorly Flatbush and East Flatbush compared with other neighborhoods. Just over 5 percent of adults across New York City, and 6.4 percent of adults in Brooklyn, reported bed bugs, half the rate in Flatbush and East Flatbush.

Greater Borough Park reported an estimated 12,000 cases, which represents 5 percent of its adult population.

Flatbush and East Flatbush were followed by Central Harlem/Morningside Heights (10.8), the South Bronx (9.8) and East Harlem (9.3) in terms of percentages of adults reporting bed bugs.

What can you tell us about bed bugs? Do you know of cases in our area? Do you think the problem is subsiding? We will continue to follow this issue.