NY bedbug epidemic spreads to the United Nations

New York City’s bedbug epidemic has spread to yet another landmark in the city that never sleeps — the United Nations, officials at the world organization said on Wednesday.

The pests appeared at places like the Empire State Building and Bloomingdale’s before reaching the city’s center of international diplomacy on the East Side of Manhattan.

The U.N. press office said a bedbug-sniffing dog had confirmed the presence of bedbugs in furniture in the basement of the Dag Hammarskjold Library, where the offices of the team overseeing the U.N. headquarters’ $1.9 billion renovation project are housed.

“This furniture has been moved to a part of the building not occupied by staff to facilitate fumigation,” it said.

The library is a three-story annex to the main building.

“Bedbug infestations have been found in many public and commercial buildings throughout New York City indicating a worsening problem,” the U.N. statement said.

In August, the pest extermination company Terminex said that New York is the most bedbug-infested urban center in the United States. Other cities in the top five were Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago.

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