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CITY TO SPRAY PESTICIDES OVER MOST OF UWS TO GET RID OF MOSQUITOES

September 8, 2015 | 1:54 AM
in NEWS, OUTDOORS
51

spray3

The city plans to spray a pesticide throughout the neighborhood starting Wednesday night “to reduce mosquito activity and the risk of West Nile virus.” The spraying will take place from West 66th street up into Harlem between 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.

The health department says it is spraying “due to rising West Nile virus activity” and it is focusing on areas that have high mosquito populations.

“For these sprayings, the Health Department will use a very low concentration of Anvil® 10+10, a synthetic pesticide. When properly used, this product poses no significant risks to human health.”

(We’ve written about local mosquito infestations and West Nile spraying before.)

See the notice below, sent in by reader Jackie, for more info on precautions you should take. This flyer also has more information. A group called the No Spray Coalition has protested the sprayings, saying they harm public health. If the weather is bad on Wednesday night, the spraying will start on Thursday.

spraying notice 2015

Below, check out a video of a truck spraying pesticides in the city.

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51 Comments
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Erica
Erica
9 years ago

Choosing to do this on the hottest day of the week and possibly the summer when air quality will already be bad. Way to go.

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Laney
Laney
9 years ago
Reply to  Erica

Does anyone know if they are doing the spraying tonight or postponed due to weather?

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Independent
Independent
9 years ago
Reply to  Erica

1.) I would assume that the date is scheduled well in advance.

2.) It would be nice if, upon learning of the heat and humidity in the forecast, the City would reschedule but I don’t know how practical that would be. Looking at the seven-day forecast, it looks a lot of rain and thunderstorms are likely over the next several days at least. I would also think that each day that is delayed gives the mosquitoes more time to breed and multiply.

3.) All that said, I note that some have commented here that such spraying is altogether ill-advised. If their claims and arguments are valid, then one has to wonder why the City is doing this and not what have been claimed as more effective alternatives that are also less disruptive and potentially harmful to humans and other forms of life.

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Nora
Nora
9 years ago

Thank you for posting this. We’ve had an awful problem with mosquitos, particularly culex molestus (the night biters), and anything that can be done to reduce the population is welcome.

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Nelson
Nelson
9 years ago

I’m all for the spraying, since the W 80s are apparently “ground zero” for the disease carrying biters. Thank you WSR for the warning so we can close our windows. Last year, the way I happened to find out was by the presence of a local TV news crew reporting on it. The Health Dept does a woefully inadequate job of alerting/warning residents in advance.

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Kenneth
Kenneth
9 years ago
Reply to  Nelson

There is a spraying notice posted on every other light pole on the UWS.

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Nelson
Nelson
9 years ago
Reply to  Kenneth

Hmmm…not in my neck of the woods. But I sure have seen a lot of hot pink Filming notices for the series “Limitless.”

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Karin @ 90th st
Karin @ 90th st
9 years ago

We can hardly use our lovely backyard because of very aggressive mosquitos so I sm very happy to see this!! @90th st

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AC
AC
9 years ago

Mosquitos?? Our Mayor , , , what a funny guy. He’ll try anything to solve the UWS Homeless problem!

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Marcus
Marcus
9 years ago
Reply to  AC

Homeless people need help, not harassment and abuse.

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Gigi
Gigi
9 years ago

Why on the hottest day? Can’t day reschedule for next week when it’s cooler?

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Gigi
Gigi
9 years ago
Reply to  Gigi

Pardon, I meant to write “Can they reschedule…”

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Lauren
Lauren
9 years ago

Should terrace furniture be brought in? Does anyone know? What happens if it’s not?

Thank you for posting – never would have known otherwise (and my son does have asthma!).

Where are these signs even posted??

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Kim
Kim
9 years ago
Reply to  Lauren

As a precautionary measure I’ve always taken mine in. If you have the space and your furniture if light to carry in I figure why risk it being covered in pesticide if you don’t have to?

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Erick
Erick
9 years ago

“When properly used, this product poses no significant risks to human health.”

No significant risks when properly used? Oh, okay, spray away then, Bob. Do I get a choice other than cancer or West Nile virus? And what about the other creatures (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) exposed to the soothing breeze of Anvil 10+10? What happens to them?

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Marianne
Marianne
9 years ago
Reply to  Erick

Very well put!

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Terry
Terry
9 years ago
Reply to  Marianne

Thank you!
Sorry I misspelled insecticide… and sorry residents and wildlife were subjected to this toxic exposure.

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Terry
Terry
9 years ago
Reply to  Erick

Pesticide spraying also kills off beneficial insects such as butterflies, bees, fireflies, dragonflies, katydids, and crickets, which add to the beauty and ecology of NYC. It’s a shame this spraying coincides with the start of monarch butterfly migration through our area, and so presents another peril to an already threatened species.

Spraying insecticde to kill adult mosquitoes is not even an effective method of control; it is better and safer to apply larvicide to standing water to kill the immature pests.

The NYC Dept. of Health should stop this indiscriminate spraying of toxic chemicals over our neighborhoods!

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Andrew
Andrew
9 years ago
Reply to  Terry

I share Terry’s concern about the potential effect on our beneficial insect neighbors as well as the risk to humans. For the past couple of summers I have seen fewer honeybees in my garden and was alarmed by news of neonicotinoids, a new class of highly toxic insecticide used by commercial growers, including those who supply garden centers, that remains in the tissue of plants and can kill pollinators. I live on W. 75, with a very full garden behind the building, many of the flowering plants purchased new every spring. I can’t say there has been a mosquito problem here this summer except for those ankle biters beginning in August, but, oddly, in the past day or two (today is 9/12) I’ve noticed more mosquitoes, more bees, and more butterflies in my garden. We have a pair of cardinals back here, too, and a hummingbird paid a visit recently. So behind the buildings would seem to be healthy, and maybe surviving mosquitoes are seeking refuge here from the spraying. Agree the city should go after mosquitoes in the sewers if that’s where they breed.

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Independent
Independent
9 years ago
Reply to  Terry

Spraying insecticde to kill adult mosquitoes is not even an effective method of control; it is better and safer to apply larvicide to standing water to kill the immature pests.

Any idea why this is not being done?

Would there be any way to apply larvicide to the sewers?

Has anyone demanded answers from the city?

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Terry
Terry
9 years ago
Reply to  Independent

The city does “Aerial Larviciding – Dropping natural bacterial granules by helicopter to marshes and other large natural areas to kill mosquito larvae before they grow into adult mosquitoes. Does not take place in the residential areas of NYC.” [See: https://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/environmental/wnv-spray.shtml ]

Not sure they use larvicides in sewer systems.

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Independent
Independent
9 years ago
Reply to  Terry

A belated thanks for your reply, Terry.

Assuming that the sewers are, in fact, prime breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes, one has to wonder why larvicidal treatment wouldn’t be applied all throughout the entire run of the sewer system– even those parts located in residential areas.

I must ask, on what do you base your claim that, “Spraying insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes is not even an effective method of control”? Can you cite any published data?

Only with actual data can an appropriate risk-benefit analysis of such spraying be made. I also wonder any considerations have been made that weigh the risks and potential risks of the heavy use of repellants such as DEET against those of contracting West Nile and other diseases spread by mosquitoes and the like (specifically, here in New York City).

Of course, were I to invest the time to research the topic, I suspect that I could discover quite a bit of information. Since, however, my interest in the topic at this point is rather limited and my time is already very much in demand (and I am hardly in a position to actually accomplish much anyway), this is one area that I will leave to others for now.

I also wonder about the idea of promoting the installment of window, door and even porch and balcony screens. Are landlords even required to provide and maintain window screens? I did a quick search but the only results I saw pertained to window guards.

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Diana Bloom
Diana Bloom
9 years ago

Bizarre question: Will this at all affect the presence of bedbugs indoors?

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CB
CB
9 years ago
Reply to  Diana Bloom

No. Alas.

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Claudia
Claudia
9 years ago

Great seeing the video of the truck spraying the air above the CEMENT streets. How about IN the parks?

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Pedestrian
Pedestrian
9 years ago

The CDC says that this type of spraying is the least effective type of control.. Further the product being used is an endocrine disrupter. The impact of an endocrine disrupter is long lived and multifaceted. As a result, the impact on human health is not negligible.

What’s up with the City?

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Dee
Dee
9 years ago

If you’re gonna complain, then please provide a SOLUTION!

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kev
kev
9 years ago
Reply to  Dee

Really? You have to provide a solution to complain? When did you make up that rule? I can oppose a bad idea without proposing a new one. Or, the solution is, don’t spray, full stop.

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Fred arum
Fred arum
9 years ago

Nice timing. Right after Labor Day when school starts so all the kids (and others) can get their full dose of pesticide exposure when going to school and playing in Central Park.

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Kenneth
Kenneth
9 years ago

Five years ago the UWS mosquito problem was non-existent but it has been getting progressively worse each summer. The mosquitoes have been out of control this year since mid July. It is impossible to sit outside in any kind of garden/back-yard environment without spraying on the DEET. There is been virtually no rain all summer so the standing water in which they breed is, it would seem, virtually non existent – so where are they breeding? Has the City investigated that?

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AC
AC
9 years ago
Reply to  Kenneth

Ken, as a resident of the hood for over 45 years, I can also add that we have a lot more greenery in the city. Trees and shrubs along streets and islands along Broadway where non-existent when I was growing up.

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Nelson
Nelson
9 years ago
Reply to  Kenneth

Sam is correct. The problem is subterranean. Spraying the air is a band-aid, not a solution. Something needs to be done under the street surface. The poor ConEd guys must get eaten alive.

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Sam
Sam
9 years ago
Reply to  Kenneth

In the sewers as they normally do.

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Kate Missett
Kate Missett
9 years ago

I’d rather take a chance with a pesticide than West Nile virus. Good for the city for doing this!

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NYCMAVEN
NYCMAVEN
9 years ago

WHATEVER DOES “NO SIGNIFICANT RISK” ACTUALLY MEAN?

AND TO WHOM? GROWN PEOPLE? KIDS? BABIES? SMALL DOGS? MEDIUM SIZE DOGS? BIG DOGS?

EH WOT?

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LJ
LJ
9 years ago

I can’t believe they are doing this on the First Day of School! Are they nuts?
And the problem is in the sewers. It’s not the sidewalks.
This is nonsense and ineffective.

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Kenneth
Kenneth
9 years ago
Reply to  LJ

LJ – what prompts or qualifies you to make this statement? What has the first day of school have to do with it. Would last week be better when the kids are outside all day? Stop and think.

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Independent
Independent
9 years ago

The spraying will take place from West 66th street up into Harlem between 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.

Ten-and-a-half hours? That’s an awfully long window of time, isn’t it? Can it really not begin several hours later, when most people will be in already anyway?

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Vince
Vince
9 years ago
Reply to  Independent

It is so pathetic to read your cheers and support when the nefarious ones decide to spray toxic chemicals into our environment. How “dumbed down” are you, UWS? Here’s what you need to know.
Top 10 Lies About West
Nile Virus and Anvil
Insecticide Spray

https://www.rense.com/general3/lieswnv.htm

You want a solution. Safer ones exist, do some research. I live in the 70’s and don’t have a mosquito issue.

I can’t fight them alone because the majority of you morons on the UWS support this spraying. Fortunately, I know how to protect myself from events like this, but for those of you that support it, you reap what you sow… wake up!

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Marianne
Marianne
9 years ago
Reply to  Vince

It’s really scary that most Upper West Siders were not aware that there was supposed to be spraying tonight. I agree with Vince after having done some research, the toxins being sprayed are detrimental and with long-term consequences to our health and seem to make no sense… what is being done to us!!???? So scary!!!!!!

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Independent
Independent
9 years ago
Reply to  Vince

Did you mean to post this in reply to me?

Where did you find “cheers and support” for this spraying in any of my posts?

On the contrary, if you were to actually read them, you might find that I actually voiced skepticism and asked questions.

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Vince
Vince
9 years ago
Reply to  Independent

Sorry Independent, my posting was not in reply to your comment.

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Maria
Maria
9 years ago

Did the UWS get sprayed tonight (9/9)? We face an inner courtyard and can’t see the street. Any updates?

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Terry
Terry
9 years ago
Reply to  Maria

According to the DOH website, the pesticide spraying was completed (despite the overnight rain): https://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/environmental/wnv-spray.shtml

Not sure street spraying even gets to those inner courtyards behind buildings, and doubt that it is effective at all.

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B Shelton
B Shelton
9 years ago
Reply to  Maria

Just saw a truck spraying as it headed east on west 81 between Columbus & CPW. It was spraying as rain was coming down rather heavily…

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Maria
Maria
9 years ago
Reply to  B Shelton

Thanks so much for that information, B. Shelton. Glad to know the spraying has been done.

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Aviva
Aviva
9 years ago

Having spent several days in the hospital with a husband suffering from a viral encephalitis brought on by an insect bite I am very aware of the potential threat Mosquitos pose to health and happy for the spraying. This summers reality check was both scary and humbling…

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Lizabeth
Lizabeth
9 years ago

When is it safe to open my windows?
Did they spray last night even though it was raining?

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Maria
Maria
9 years ago
Reply to  Lizabeth

B. Shelton (above) says they were spraying very early this a.m. I believe the City said to keep windows closed until 6 a.m. I have mine open now.

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leslie
leslie
9 years ago
Reply to  Lizabeth

Yes – it would be nice if someone provided an update. My son has asthma and we kept him in his room with just a fan last night. So… health board, what’s the deal? Are we done spraying toxins all over the neighborhood?

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Walter
Walter
9 years ago

Just wondering if the spraying happened last night? Since it was raining last night (and still raining today) has it been postponed? If so will they now wait until Friday?

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Reply

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