r should do? If the exterminator wants to treat an apt but they are not allowed access, what should be done then?

If people with bedbugs are walking through the bldg and doing laundry, is anyone educating them about what they are doing or shouldn't be doing?

If you feel that dependable exterminating is using ineffective products, have you talked to them and management to recommended more the more effective products you seem to know about, or are you content with just complaining and emptying out the building?

ts with problems take their infested beds, sofas, chairs etc. out through the elevator and the building lobby, they wash their clothes in the building washer and dryer etc. Even if you don't have them, in this building you are constantly at risk of picking them up just by taking the elevator and walking through the lobby or doing your laundry. It's hard to see how anyone in the building has managed NOT to get bedbugs. Of course, it's heartwarming that another building managed by the same management company as this one has resolved its bedbug problem. But, for some mysterious reason, in this building, the problem has been festering for well more than two years. It's hard to imagine how they will ever clear the building of this scourge. By now, they are in the walls and they can live for as long as a year without feeding. If you really want to move into this building, before you sign anything,(1) DON'T MOVE INTO THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING (2) ask for something in writing that the apartment you want has never been treated for bedbugs (3)find out whether any of the surrounding apartments has been treated (4) check to make sure that the apartment you want has been given bedbug proofing before you move in (for example, caulking around the floor boards and electrical outlets, etc.)(5) bring in a bed bug dog to check the apartment before you sign the lease. Or, better yet, you could just move into a building that doesn't have bedbugs. Bedbugs are a nightmare that will permanently change your life. You decide.

e that a lot of work goes into preparing an apartment for treatment--treatments you'll need at least twice to even have a shot at eradicating an infestation.

It's great that your building is doing so well, but this woman is not considering moving into your building.

There is a woman in my bldg who produced a series of 7 1-page pamphlets to educate the people in my bldg about how to prevent getting bedbugs in one's apt; how to deal with them if they are in your apt; what to do when you travel; and offering non-toxic alternatives to keeping bedbugs out of one's apt.

If anyone at 101 Cooper would like my file of these pamphlets, I'll send them to you for free. Simply email me with your email address: ahawkins@sovereignrealestate.com

mor (still unconfirmed) is that this time Dependable actually did contact surrounding apartments before exterminating in the infested apartment. If so, it's a big improvement over the approach they've had to the problem on the south side. Now if the buidling management would just pay for treatments that actually work, there might be hope of beating them. As for prospective tenants, there are quite a few open apartments on the south side.

ou imply, tenants are not taking control of a situation you do not deny exists, is reason enough to not want to live here.

the last month or so).

From what I have heard, the first tenant is having everthing they own "gased" in a moving van in the hope that any bugs still in their possessions will be killed before they move into their new place. Good luck to them. The case of the second tenant is brand new. Rumor is that there may also be another new case on this floor as well. These three cases are in addition to the ones that already had arisen on this floor!

Of course, these tenants moved their own infested items out the to garbage area, they did their laundry in the laundry room etc. What else could they do? Nevertheless, each new case greatly increases the risk of the spread of the problem to apartments that are not yet affected.

In the meantime, as reported in several posts below there have been many tenants who have moved out JUST BECAUSE OF BEDBUGS. I can count at least six from the south side of the building alone in the last year. You don't have to subscribe to extreme conspiracy theories to acknowledge that apartment turnover in this building is way above what it was before bedbugs. Who benefits from turnover?

Whatever your theoy as to who is responsible for this problem at 101 Cooper Street, there can be no denying that the problem is severe, current and spreading. If you move in here, you must assume you will get bedbugs and that you will have to destroy much of what you own. And, then there's also the fact that even after you think you've beaten them, and you've got your old infested things replaced, you may have to throw those new things out as well. Bedbugs can last for as long as an entire year without feeding, hiding in the floor boards or woodwork. And, even if you really did beat them in your apartment, you can always get reinfested from the apartments around you that have not succeeded.

There's clearly no building-wide effort to eradicate the problem here and therefore the problem is just going to continue to fester and spread.

So, think carefully BEFORE YOU MOVE IN about how you will cope with this sort of crisis in your life (emotionally and financially). Good luck!

ot currently doing enough, you don't want to live there. If the other tenants aren't doing enough, you don't want to live there.

In-fighting on this board is not going to help anyone.

nto your apartment all you are doing is spreading them. Learn to follow instructions and you will not have a problem. PUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE GONNA THROW OUT IN A BAG, SEAL IT. BEFORE THROWING OUT THE MATTRESS SEAL IT. USE COMMON SENSE PEOPLE.

e bugs being put in the elevator and outside for someone else to get). If items must be thrown away, they should be tightly wrapped and properly marked. Tenants need to make sure they aren't spreading their problem to others, as much as management needs to be responsible for the treatments.

re more than offset by the cost incurred in preparing the apartments for rental.

A question is whether the people who are putting up these posts are doing anything to help improve their building besides complaining here.

visit.)

Third, some of the tenants with a long-standing problem are still being plagued after multiple treatments.

The south side of the building has the worst problem. Several apartments have recently turned over because of bedbugs.

One theory why the management company is providing such a lackluster response to the bed-bug problem is that it increases apartment turn-over. This is a rent-stabilized building and the more apartment turn-over there is, the easier it is for the management company to raise rents.

This seems like a plausible theory. How else can you explain the fact that this problem has been going on for almost two years?

I am aware of co-ops that have had a much more wide-spread bedbug infestation than this building that has succeeded in completely eradicating bedbugs. These buildings succeeded because they wanted to get rid of bedbugs. In this building, it is almost impossible to deny that they seem to want to tolerate them to increase apartment turn-over and rent hikes.

Thus, if you don't mind the risk of this becoming a major problem in your life, don't hesitate to move into this building. If you think you would rather not deal with it, don't move in.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

k time off from work to allow her apartment to be treated three times, paid to have her cat housed elsewhere during the treatments, encased her new mattress in two bedbug protectors, took numerous other expensive protective steps to stop the bedbug problem AND nevertheless continued to be plagued by bedbugs. (Her apartment was on a high floor on the south side of the building overlooking Broadway.)

She reported at a tenant's meeting (and in private conversations) just before she finally gave up and moved out of the building that the management company (1) showed great reluctance to continue treating her apartment after the first three treatments failed, (2) claimed she couldn't break her lease because of bedbugs (not true) and that she would be responsible for all the rent remaining on her lease, and (3) offered to allow her to move into another apartment (with a higher rent) on the same floor of the south side of the building. Astonishingly, the apartment they offered her was, in fact, one of the few lines on the south side of the building that has not had any bed bug problem yet! Thus, the management company were inviting a woman with an active beg bug problem to bring her problem with her into a line of apartments that had not as yet has any problem. Does that sound like the behavior of a management company that is trying to eradicated bed bugs from its building?

Here are the facts. The management company of this building (1) uses the least effective (and therefore the least expensive) treatments for bedbugs, ones that are also the most toxic for people, (2) does not treat or even provide notice of treatments to tenants of surrounding apartments when it is treating an infested apartment for bedbugs and (3) takes no preventative steps to stop the spread of bed bugs (through electrical conduits and wood work etc).

If you are thinking of moving into this building, (1) do NOT move into the south side of the building and (2) ASK whether the apartment you are moving into (or any surrounding apartments) have been treated for bed bugs.

Bedbugs are not like roaches. They can become a permanent debilitating problem, requiring you to destroy much or all of your possessions, incur huge costs and terrible personal misery. Don't ignore the risks you are taking moving into this building.

Finally, in my opinion, none of the posts below evidence a vendetta against the management company. They are, instead, strong complaints about its incompetence. In a well managed building, a bed bug problem would have been resolved in weeks or months. The problem in this building has been going on for almost two years! If the management company wants to beat the problem, they have to use more sophisticated treatment methods, treat all apartments surrounding an infested apartment AND pay to apply preventative measures (caulking etc.) to infested apartments. Until these steps are taken every single tenant in this building is exposed to an ongoing risk of infestation.

'm sorry for anyone who has had to deal with themjust remember For those of you who live here and are nervous or if your looking for a place to live my husband and I have found 101 Cooper St. to be a wonderful place to live, this is a website for people who have problems, not for those who are happy with where they live.

t another new bed bug infestation on the south side of the building.)

There's a realtor posting below who urges that the building's tenants at 101 Cooper must somehow solve the bed bug problem themselves. This is ridiculous. Only building management can solve this problem and, in this building, they don't seem to want to do so. Building management knows all of the apartments that have reported an infestation. Building management selects the exterminator and the type of extermination technique used (some are much more effective than others). Building management can notify nearby tenants of an infestation and take steps to prevent spreading CAUSED by treatment. Building management has all the information, resources and tools to stop the problem. And the problem has been getting much worse not better.

I know of a large Manhattan coop that completely eradicated a serious beg bug infestation. They succeeded not because coop owners worked together (Kumbaya) but because, as owners, they were willing to spare no expense to beat the problem and they made sure building management did whatever was necessary to succeed. It was not tenant self help. It was strong decisive top-down managerial blitzkrieg. The problem had to be addressed globally, for the entire complex. And, with such an approach, they succeeded.

Here at 101 Cooper Street, the management company is not behaving like an owner. The response is slow, inefficient, ineffective uncoordinated and unprofessional. This response has unquestionably facilitated not the eradication of bedbugs but their rapid spread.

As a tenant in the building for many years, I have no grudge against this management company. Who cares about them? Who even cares why they are doing so bad a job stopping bedbugs that they are actually helping them spread? What matters is that, until there is a radical change in the approach to this problem taken by management of this building, prospective tenants should stay away!! This is the only way that the management company here will stop contributing to the problem and start working to end it.

To prospective tenants I ask, do you really have so little stress and so much money that you want to run up and embrace a life-altering nightmare that will consume your free-time (and vacation time) and a huge amount of your savings and alienate you from everyone you know? If so, you don't even need to move in to this building. All you have to do is take home one of the mattresses that are available for free every garbage day right out front.

h or more, the bedbugs have returned. I have discovered that my neighbors had bedbugs purely by chance -- we ran into someone in the elevator who blurted out that he'd been fighting an infestation (and had taken to sleeping in his bathtub), we heard furniture being removed and noticed powder sprinkled on our neighbor's welcome mat, etc.

The longest we've been without bedbugs was a period of over two months. And then last month they came back. They started showing up in the bathroom, of all places, and now we believe that the bugs are climbing up the bathroom pipes in addition to the pipes in the living room radiator. We continue to steam the floors and the furniture, vacuum everything, wash (and re-wash) our clothes and bedding with hot water, treat all our wood with neem oil, and use caulk and wood filler on every seam and crack we can find.

We believe that our apartment is worth fighting for. But the amount of time, effort, and money we've spent trying to combat this problem is simply ridiculous. And all of our efforts are worthless if the bugs continue to invade from our neighbors' apartments ... and if we don't even know which of our neighbors are fighting battles of their own.

I were you? First, do not move into the south side of this building. Second, get both the real estate broker and the management company to PUT IN WRITING their claim that the apartment you propose to rent has never been treated for bedbugs and that no surrounding apartments have been treated. Third, negotiate a rider to your lease that allows you to break it (without penalty) if you can establish that a prior tenant had bedbugs AND that you were not informed of the past infestation OR if your apartment gets bedbugs and any surrounding apartment is treated for a bedbug infestation and you are not notified prior to that treatment. Fourth, make sure the management company has taken preventative measures in your apartment before you move in (like caulking woodwork etc.). Fifth, pay for a bedbug dog to inspect the apartment. Sixth, ask the real estate broker to agree that she will refund to you the fee she earns for renting you the apartment, if the apartment gets bedbugs within 6 months of your move into the building and you can establish that the apartment had bedbugs before you moved in and you were not informed.

Finally, DON’T just talk to people who will profit from the fact that they can persuade you to believe this building is bedbug free. TALK TO THE TENANTS. They will tell you the truth. Here it is: this building has an ongoing bedbug problem, the management company is not doing enough to stop it and there is a real risk that new tenants will eventually get the problem themselves.

I hope this helps.

veral posts by a real estate broker who handles this building. She makes several claims about the building that are worth addressing. In her very first post (09/08/2010), she notes “but it's also important for surrounding apts to be treated if there is an apt that has bedbugs.“ She’s certainly correct about this. However, this is NOT what the management company of 101 Cooper Street does. Indeed, I believe that much of the spread of bedbugs on the south side of the building happened precisely because the management company DOES NOT treat surrounding apartments. To make matters worse, the management company not only doesn’t arrange to have surrounding apartments treated, it DOESN”T EVEN NOTIFY them of a nearby infestation being treated. In addition, the management company does nothing to facilitate preventative measures that could be taken to stop the spread that results from nearby treatment (like caulking woodwork etc.). One poster below sees nefarious motives in this ineffective response from the management company. In my opinion, it is simply incompetence. But, who knows?

The real estate broker claims that the “apts I am showing for rent in the bldg now do not have a history of having bedbugs.” Perhaps this is not a lie. However, I know that there is at least one vacant apartment on the south side of the building (3J) that is currently for rent and that definitely had bedbugs. The prior tenant moved out as soon as she found out the apartment had bedbugs. (And, from what I have heard the management company tried to force her to pay the rent still due on her lease! HonestAbe82 suggests that it “It’s easy, I promise” to move out of this building. I am not so sure.

HonestAbe82 claims that the bedbug problem (1) has affected only one line of apartments in the building (2) has only affected three apartments in that line and (3) that “there has (sic) been NO issues since October 2010.” Each of these claims is false. First, I have personal knowledge that the problem has affected more than five (of seven) apartment lines on the south side of the building alone and at least two lines on the north side of the building. Second, I have personal knowledge that the problem has affected MANY more than three apartments. There were as many as three apartments with active infestations on the first floor of the south side of the building recently (and many more on the floors above). Finally, like everyone else in the building who saw the sticky traps covered with bedbugs in December (mentioned by another tenant in a recent post (on 12/5/2010)), I have personal knowledge that there HAVE been issues in the building since October 2010. HonestAbe82 is almost certainly a shill for the management company. Disregard that post.

dg who's having a problem taking action to get the situation under control?

If you live in the bldg and want to continue living there, then you probably don't want things to" just happen", right? Sure, you can tell people not to move into the bldg, but how does that address or solve what you're really after? Annie

estions answered about bedbugs in the bldg.

The apts I am showing for rent in the bldg now do not have a history of having bedbugs, but I can tell you more about those is you want to email me or speak with me directly.

If you live in the bldg and you have additional information you want me to know, I can be reached at ahawkins@sovereignrealestate.com or on 917.771.0172. I see there are postings on here from 101 Cooper marked "Anonymous," but if you feel there is a serious issue then I'd like to talk with you and get details.

I inform everyone I show apts to in the bldg that there have been bedbug issues so they can make an informed decision about whether to apply for an apt or not, so if there are things you think I am missing please contact me. Annie

If you cannot get anything in writing, DON'T MOVE IN. Or, at least try to make sure you have witnesses to any denial of a bedbug problem in the apartment you propose to rent from the management company. A new tenant to the building claimed to me he was informed of the bedbug problem by the management company just as he was signing his lease. If true, it was too late for him to make any other arragnements. But it is not too late for you!!! If you wouldn't bring a discarded but new sofa from the curb in front of this building into your current apartment, think very carefully about whether you want to bring your own sofa into this building. It may soon join the ones out on the curb waiting for the trashmnan and you may find yourself fighting a bed bug problem that you take with you wherever you move for years to come (because once they get into your things IT'S REALLLLLLLY HARD TO GET RID OF THEM).

of clothing, caulk, etc. It is costly despite the fact that the landlord pays for treatment, which includes neither bed-bug sniffing dogs nor heat treatment.

I would BEG people looking at this building not to move in. Not only will you be sparing yourself possible misery, but maybe if enough people stay away and the word gets out, the management will have no choice but to treat the building more aggressively.

on the south side of the building recently put out sticky traps in front of their apartment door. In a short time, the traps were covered with bed bugs that were streaming into the apartment from TWO nearby apartments both of which are (still!)infested. These three apartments are all on the first floor of the south side. Every floor on the south side is affected. Some floors on the north side are as well. The response of the management company has been largely unhelpful. Some have seen sinister motives in the response (apartment turnover allows for higher legal rents under New York's rent stabilization law). Even if this speculation is unfair, it is certainly the case that the management company does nothing to warn tenants of nearby apartments when its exterminator is spraying infested apartments. Moreover, their exterminator is not using the most cutting-edge and effective methods to rid apartments of bedbugs. Every day there are new sofas, carpets and mattresses in the building’s garbage area. So, you should think twice before you decide to move into this building. Are you ready to risk having to throw out nearly everything you own? If not, go elsewhere. Finally, do NOT believe realtors about the condition of the apartments you are looking at in this building, especially not on the south side of the building. They will certainly lie to you. You may be moving into an infested apartment. If you must move into this building, (1) do NOT move into the south side and (2) have a bed bug dog inspect the apartment before you move in. Good luck!

All apartments that have reported bedbugs have been inspected and treated on an ongoing basis. There are no apartments that have not been treated."

t it's also important for surrounding apts to be treated if there is an apt that has bedbugs.

If you are considering living in this bldg and have questions about bedbugs, feel free to email me at ahawkins@sovereignrealestate.com. Annie

I also met a tenant in the elevator removing a matress. He believed it was infested with bedbugs and discouraged me from riding the elevator with him as he removed the matress. I have since seen an usually large number of discarded matresses in the garbage area. I have no idea whether the landlord is cooperating with tenants in the extermination process.