In
UN, Bed Bugs
Scoop
Confirmed, UN
Tried to Cover
Up, Staff
Complain to
ICP
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 23 -- The
UN has in the
past had bed
bugs in office
space it has
rented west of
First Avenue,
as Inner City
Press
exclusively
reported on
October 25,
2010 as to the
rented Albano
Building on
46th Street.
But now
Inner City
Press has been
exclusively
informed that
a high floor
of the UN's
own building,
the 34th, has
been evacuated
due to a
finding of bed
bugs there.
Inner City
Press
published the
story on the
morning of
June 23 and
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
it at the
day's noon
briefing.
Dujarric said
he was unaware.
But Inner City
Press not only
obtained a
copy of the
UN's email on
the subject -
which
Dujarric's
office also
provided
mid-afternoon
-- but
was contacted
by staff angry
that the UN
tried to cover
up the bed
bugs. "They
were working
on it over the
weekend but
didn't want to
tell anyone,"
was one
complaint,
"like a [much]
smaller
version of
their cover up
of the sexual
abuse of
children in
Central
Africa." Or,
Inner City
Press might
add, a smaller
version of
cholera in
Haiti. What is
wrong with
today's UN?
Here
is the UN's
own email,
exclusively
obtained and
published by
Inner City
Press:
"The
Department of
Management
wishes to
inform staff
that bedbugs
have been
detected in an
isolated area
(two cubicles
on the
northern end
of the 34th
floor) of the
Secretariat
building. The
Office of
Central
Support
Services
responded
promptly, and
the area is
being treated
by
professional
exterminators.
In order to
ensure that
the
infestation
has been
contained
completely, a
further canine
inspection
will be
carried out
tonight,
including on
surrounding
floors.
Affected staff
will be
briefed in an
information
session with
the
exterminator.
"We have every
reason to
believe that
the problem
has been
contained, but
will remain
vigilant. As
per normal
protocol
following the
advice of the
pest control
expert,
reinspection
with be
conducted by
the
exterminator
in 2 weeks.
Staff wishing
to educate
themselves
further will
find useful
information at
the following
link:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/bedbugs/html/home/home.shtml"
Back
on October 27,
2010, with bed
bugs having
been found and
then confirmed
in the UN's
Capital Master
Plan office in
its
headquarters
building on
42nd Street,
as first
reported
by Inner City
Press on
October 25,
two days later
the UN issued
a statement
trying to
minimize the
problem.
Spin,
it
seems, takes
precedence at
the UN over
solutions.
After
Inner City
Press' exclusive
October
25 report,
at the October
26 UN noon
briefing it
asked UN
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
what the UN
was doing.
Later that
afternoon
Nesirky's
office read a
short
statement over
the UN's
“squawk box”
system.
Inner
City Press
request to be
e-mailed a
copy of
Nesirky's
responses to
its questions
itself went
unresponded
to.
On
October 27,
Inner City
Press asked
Nesirky what
had happened
after the UN
found bed bugs
in its 46th
Street Albano
Building in
September
2009, another
outbreak
exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press.
Nesirky
first said
that had been
“clover
mites,” then
acknowledged
that
characterization
applied to a
test done in
May 2010, not
the September
2009 incident
Inner City
Press was
asking about.
See list of
previous Inner
City Press
articles,
below.
UN's Ban,
Adlerstein,
Kane in North
Lawn: bugs'
next stop?
After
the October 27
noon briefing,
the UN issued
the following
written
statement:
In
September
2009,
a bed bug
sniffing dog
confirmed
infestation on
most floors of
the Albano
building. The
whole building
was fumigated
on 19
September 2009
and repeated 2
weeks later.
As is standard
practice, 6
months later
on 6 May 2010
the dog
returned and
indicated the
presence of
bed bugs.
However, the
dog is not
able to
distinguish
between alive
and dead bed
bugs. As a
precautionary
measure the
whole building
was fumigated
the weekend of
8, 9 May 2010.
On 10 May 2010
a staff member
reported the
presence of a
bed bug in the
office. The
contractor
examined the
bug and
identified it
to be a
“clover mite”,
which is not
harmful to
building,
furniture, or
humans. Since
the fumigation
in September
and October
last year, one
staff member
advised of a
suspected bed
bug bite, but
the expert
advised this
was from some
other insect.
In conclusion
there has been
no confirmed
bed bug
activity in
the Albano
building since
the
fumigations
last year.
Since
that
time,
as reported
recently in
the media, bed
bug
infestations
have been
found in many
public and
commercial
buildings
throughout New
York City
indicating a
worsening
problem. On 15
October 2010,
bed bugs have
also been
found in
furniture
which came
from the 19th
and 20th
floors of the
Secretariat
Building and
on 22 October
2010 in
furniture in
the 1B area of
the Library
Building. This
furniture has
been moved to
a part of the
building not
occupied by
staff to
facilitate
fumigation.
Two important
factors are
noted, firstly
that the dogs
are not able
to distinguish
between bed
bugs that are
alive and
active or dead
and secondly
that no staff
or building
occupants have
reported being
bitten. We
continue to
follow the
expert advice
of our
exterminator
specialist
making further
tests with the
bed bug
sniffing dog
to more fully
assess and
manage the
problem.
New
York,
27
Oct. 10
, 
