Pest Control in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
Brighton Beach sits on the Atlantic shore between Coney Island and Manhattan Beach, with Sheepshead Bay just to the north. Brighton Beach Avenue, running beneath the elevated B and Q tracks, is a dense corridor of groceries, bakeries, delis and restaurants with signs in Russian and Ukrainian, earning the area the nickname Little Odessa. The Riegelmann Boardwalk and the beach are steps away, lined with cafes and high-rise condos. Much of the housing is prewar apartment buildings packed tightly along short side streets called Brighton 1st through Brighton 15th. Residents include immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and the Caucasus, along with a growing number of other newcomers.
Also known as: Little Odessa.
About Brighton Beach
Developer William A. Engeman built the Brighton Beach Hotel in 1868 and turned the area into a seaside resort named after Brighton, England, with a racetrack and a music hall. Rail lines from downtown Brooklyn brought day-trippers. After the resort era faded, the area filled with apartment buildings in the 1920s and 1930s, largely home to Jewish families. Beginning in the 1970s, waves of Soviet Jewish immigrants, followed by other emigres from the former Soviet Union, transformed the neighborhood into today's Little Odessa.
Common Pest Problems in Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach Avenue packs an unusual number of food businesses into a few blocks under the elevated train, and the storage rooms and basements behind those shops sustain both German cockroaches and rats. Because most residents live in closely spaced prewar apartment buildings, roaches and mice move readily between units via plumbing lines and gaps in old plaster walls. The elevated tracks overhead also provide roosting spots for pigeons, whose droppings collect on awnings and sidewalks.
Being right on the ocean, the neighborhood deals with humidity and salt air, which keeps older basements damp and draws centipedes indoors. Rats find shelter under the boardwalk and around beach concessions, especially during the busy summer season when trash volume rises. Buildings that took on water during Hurricane Sandy may still have moisture issues that make lower floors more attractive to pests. Mice also follow the summer crowds, taking shelter in the storage rooms of beachside eateries before moving into nearby apartment basements as the season winds down.