NYC Bedbug Complaints Creep Up To Years-Long High, Data Shows

NEW YORK CITY — Sleep tight, New York City — and don't let the growing swarms of bedbugs bite.

Bedbug complaints in the city quietly creeped up to the highest monthly level since October 2019, according to city data.

The post-COVID record 540 complaints in August — the last month with updated data — came just before bedbug bug outs exploded on social media over infestation fears in Paris.

The Paris panic has reached New York City, or at least its TikTok users.

"Yes, I pay good money to live here," a New Yorker posted in a TikTok video outlining bedbug prevention tips.

"It's not always your fault, and we all now collectively share that nightmare," she said.

The return of bedbug fears in New York City is in many ways a throwback to pre-coronavirus pandemic days.

Complaints about bedbugs handled by the city's Housing Preservation & Development department cratered in April 2020 as COVID-19 ground life to a halt, data shows.

They rebounded by September that year and fit back into a pattern of steady decline going since at least 2014, according to data.

By the time 2022 rolled around, New York City was no longer in the top 10 of Orkin's top cities for bedbugs.

"Even the bed bugs left New York City in 2021," stated a Patch story from the time.

But bedbugs didn't stay away long.

Complaints crawled up in 2022 before exploding this year, data shows. The Big Apple now ranks second on Orkin's "Top 50 Bed Bug Cities" list for 2023.

New York City's brief bedbug lull now looks more like a blip than anything else amid what one 2022 study deemed the pest's "global resurgence."

The recent Paris bedbug panic was fueled by viral videos of tiny bugs on trains. French officials said cases from public transit were unfounded, but a government study found roughly one household in 10 was infested with bedbugs between 2017 and 2022 in France, the Associated Press reported.

Some New Yorkers in recent weeks have posted TikTok videos urging people who visit Paris to check for bedbugs.

@nystripsteak Please, im begging you. #bedbugs #nyc #nyctok #newyorktiktok #newyorktok #newyorkers ♬ Suara Seram Sangat Mencekam - Kholil Buitenzorg

But at least TikTok user blasted those fears, comparing it to anti-Asian attacks from the early days of COVID-19.

"Just because someone was in Paris doesn't mean they have bedbugs," the user said in a video that garnered 69,000 "likes."

"It's the same energy as y'all ignorant a-- Americans during COVID who saw an Asian person and was like, 'Thanks for causing COVID.'"

@springerdlite Rich?? You can repel bed bugs!! Also Asian hate=beg bug infestation in Paris - Victoria Paris #victoriaparis #influencersinthewild #victoriaparisblockedme #outoftouchinfluencers #bedbugs #bedbuginfestation ♬ original sound - Danielle

Another TikTok user perhaps jokingly pointed out subways are unlikely to spread bedbugs.

"There will be no bed bug infection in nyc because the subway seats r plasticcc," she posted

@andykimz its all thought out 🩷🤜🏻🤛🏼 #girlmath #nyc #bedbug #paris ♬ original sound - speed songs

New Yorkers interested in tips for preventing and removing bedbugs can click here.