Street art photo of the week: Bedbugs invade NYC streets

By
Leslie Koch
– December 7, 2010Posted in: Arts and Culture, Street Art

Pedestrians beware: Bedbugs have invaded New York City streets. Giant blood-suckers are crawling all over the East Village, terrorizing residents and returning to their home base– an abandoned mattress in Astor Place.

In an Internet exclusive, Downtown Traveler obtained a photo of the bedbugs last night.

A NYC street artist turned this mattress into bedbug art

A bedbug infested mattress in Astor Place becomes street art.

Bedbug street art

Alert residents couldn’t miss this cluster of bedbugs on the corner of 4th Avenue and 8th Street. An abandoned mattress was spray painted with the message, “Ahh Ohh… New York City Bedbugs” and depicted a dozen insects of varying sizes. The bugs surrounded a suspicious man wearing a red shirt and a Fu Manchu mustache.

Fortunately, the bugs were a work of street art.  There is no evidence that dog-sized bedbugs have invaded the city (yet). It’s unclear whether the mattress was spray painted on the street by an artist who just happened to pass by, or if it was decorated before being dumped on the curb.

A bedbug infested mattress in NYC's Astor Place became a work of street art.

A street artist paid tribute to "NYC bedbugs" on this mattress in Astor Place.

Hot topic

Bedbug hysteria has swept New York City.  It started this summer when critters were found in a Times Square movie theater and an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

A recent bedbug sighting at a Brooklyn subway station sent bloggers into overdrive, guessing where the insects would appear next. Actress/singer Norah Jones was one of the first celebrity casualties of the bedbug witch hunt.  She was demonized last month for supposedly bringing bedbugs to her building in Cobble Hill.

No one knows where bedbugs will turn up next. They may appear in an art gallery near you!

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About Leslie Koch

I'm a New Yorker with a passion for travel and art. I founded DowntownTraveler.com after returning from a year-long backpacking trip around the world. Find me on Twitter at @leslietravel.