GOT BEDBUGS?

With each passing day, the number of calls and e-mails we get about bedbugs infesting a residential building or apartment is on the rise.

Even the City of New York has reported receiving some 7000 bedbug related complaints in 2007 and has reportedly issued over 2,000 violations.

Since these infestations are reaching "epidemic" proportions, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is sponsoring a series of seminars which are intended to educate New Yorkers on their rights and what can be done to contain the spread of this public health threat.

The next two meetings are scheduled for this coming Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Here are the particulars:

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008, 8-9 p.m., at Ricardo's Catering Hall, 21-01 24th Avenue in Astoria, Queens.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 6-9 p.m., at the Hope Gardens Senior Center, 195 Linden Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

For additional information, and to reserve a seat, call HPD at (212) 863-8830.

The text of the City's Press Release , appears below: