How Many City Agencies Does It Take To Destroy A Wasp Nest In Dyker Heights?

Rachel Silberstein -

A wasp colony is threatening to ruin a long awaited block party in Dyker Heights this weekend, and apparently no New York City agencies are equipped to handle flying menaces, reports CBS.

Worried neighbor Mary Jane Koller told the outlet she called 311 about the stingers, and was told she would be “sent an application,” which she has yet to receive.

Meanwhile, 311 told CBS they have no record of the complaint and suggested Koller call the Parks Department. The NYPD told the outlet they too have no record of the complaint, and said they’d look into it.

“Animal Control, 311 — we’ve called everybody,” Koller told the outlet. “Nobody — we get the same answer from everybody — nobody wants to help us!”

Ironically, this sounds like a job for the police department’s former bee expert. Retired Detective Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis, who claims he was unceremoniously forced out of the department last year after being accused of stealing bees for his own profit, was once the NYPD’s go-to man for all bee-related crises.

The firefighter and beekeeper occasionally comes out of retirement for major bee-mergencies, such as in April, when 40,000 bees were found under a woman’s bedroom in Queens (h/t Gothamist).

“It’s ridiculous, all they have to do is give me a call and I would take care of it. It’s a 1,2,3 job,” Planakis told Bensonhurst Bean. “I have no idea how big it is, but I have taken down nests bigger than twice the size of a basketball.”

Planakis tweeted interest in the Dyker Heights nest to the 1010 WINS reporter who broke the story, but claims no one has reached out to him for his services.

“I really think it’s disgusting that no one is taking care of it,” he said. “It’s a shame, it really is.”

The news report did not specify the exact location of the nests, but if you live in Dyker Heights, are having a block party this Saturday, and your family is being terrorized by an army of angry wasps, email editor@bensonhurstbean.com, and we will happily put you in touch with Planakis.