New York City People: our own Little Shops of Horror, our homes.

I know this topic grosses some people out, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it...them...!

Cockroaches. I lived in an apartment downtown for my 1st two years here, and I had confrontations with only 2 cockroaches that whole time. They were small, my roommate killed them and that was it. OK, so then I moved to the Upper East Side for about 3 months. That was a nightmare. Not only did they appear frequently, but they were HUGE! And when I say huge, I mean enormous. I was brushing my teeth one night and I turned to the left to see, sitting on the edge of the tub, this hot dog sized thing with big antennae staring at me. I set up the little trap things that supposedly encourages them to take the food and bring it back to the nest, they share it with their family and friends, and they all die, and that's supposed to be it. Well they kept coming.

Now I'm in my new permanent apartment on the Upper West Side, and they're appearing frequently, but they're generally small in this apartment. So I've got down to the whole spraying them with that killer stuff, and let me tell you, it takes a LOT to kill these little things. You spray it directly on them, and while it's spraying, the little suckers are fighting back against the spray, like a house trying to stay in place during a hurricane. Well after about 15 seconds of continual, direct spraying, they basically drown in the stuff.

Alright, so I know how to kill them when I do see them. But my question is, what can you do to prevent them from coming in the first place? There must be a way that people in this city kill these things at the source, so they don't keep coming back. Any advice from long time (or short time) New Yorkers would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys.

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Updated On: 1/26/06 at 12:06 AM

I'm no expert, but I think the big roaches generally are ones that come in from outside. They live in trees and garbage and such and don't really thrive in indoor situations, unless your building was really in squalor. They probably were getting in through a window or perhaps the plumbing. Despite their size, they can squeeze through some really tight spaces.

The little ones, however, usually indicate an infestation in the walls or other nooks and crannies, and you'll probably need an exterminator to get rid of them. But at least they don't fly like the biggies do.

In the meantime, my parents always had pretty good luck with Combat traps.

Updated On: 1/26/06 at 01:18 AM

Unfortunatly, you are not going to be able to control them entirely unless they exterminate the entire building. You spray, they die, then others multiply in other apartments and come into yours. You trap them, same thing. We had that problem in an apartment we lived it. The landlord wouldn't spray. It was enough to get us out of out lease.

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I find that they come and they go. I'll have the problem for a while, then I won't. I think it may have something to do with the rest of the building. Other tenants have the exterminator come in (I don't) and perhaps that affects my apt. I have enough trouble with mice (because I have a bird) to even bother with a few roaches!

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Try getting borax powder and putting it around all of your baseboards, behind the stove/fridge, under the sink, and anywhere else they may be able to enter...

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A friend of mine just moved into an apartment in Astoria and had a pretty bad roach problem. He bought those electric things that send out a noise that scares them away. It took about a week...but it works.

I had that electronic thing and it didn't work.

The bedbug thing is supposedly a huge problem here but I don't know or heard of anyone who has them.

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