By Joel Stonington AND Jennifer 8. Lee
Updated, 4:05 p.m. | John Jay College of Criminal Justice is shutting down one of its buildings because of bedbugs. The college hopes to reopen the building, at 445 West 59th Street, by Monday morning after it is treated by an extermination service. Meanwhile, all the classes in the building, North Hall, are being postponed and rescheduled. On Thursday afternoon, a worker used a bullhorn to inform groups of students approaching the building that classes were canceled. Other classes will continue as scheduled.
“The college is taking it seriously and moving as quickly as possible to treat the building,” said Jim Grossman, a spokesman for John Jay. John Jay is calling it a bedbug “condition.” Mr. Grossman said, “Infestation is when you can see them swarming.”
At an information session Thursday afternoon, college officials said that rashes among staff members were first reported in mid-August and grew in numbers as time went on. Most of the staff members affected with skin rashes were from the financial aid and registrar’s office. A deep cleaning was ordered on Sept. 14, and one bedbug was found. Soon after, a second bedbug was caught. The college brought in an inspection team with bug-sniffing dogs on Tuesday that confirmed the bedbug problem on the first floor of North Hall.
The crowd of about 200 faculty and staff members and students let out a gasp when school officials showed a map of affected areas. Evidence of bedbugs was found in roughly half of the rooms on the second floor, and the inspection had not been completed on the third or fourth floors of North Hall, though evidence was found on the third floor. Officials said that other buildings would also be inspected.
The president of the college, Jeremy Travis, said no bites had been reported, only skin rashes. A forensic psychology student said she and a co-worker both were bitten during the last two weeks. The student, Deirdra Assey, 24, of Brooklyn, said both she and the co-worker checked their homes and spoke with landlords about bedbugs, but she said they eventually concluded that the bites were happening during the day.
“As soon as I figured out that campus had been infected it all made sense,” Ms. Assey, a second year master’s degree student, said. “I had no idea they could be infecting offices.”
Indeed, despite the “bed” descriptor, bedbugs can in fact survive in many locations, such as buses, trains and movie theaters. Last year, they were reported at Fox offices.
Bedbugs, once nearly eradicated, have spread all across New York City, in part because of the decline in use of DDT. In March, the city set up a bedbug advisory board.
Meanwhile, students expressed glee at the interruption in classes, giving them a break. Rudy Pamphile, 18, a freshman, walked past the yellow tape blocking the entrance to the building laughing and joking with a friend, saying, “No test today!”
Though Mr. Pamphile said he had stayed up until midnight the night before studying, he was not unhappy to be relieved of the burden, adding he would probably just hang out with friends until his next class.
