Pest Control in Spring Creek & Starrett City, Brooklyn
Spring Creek sits at the southern end of East New York where the borough meets Jamaica Bay, bordered by the Belt Parkway and the marshy inlets of Fresh Creek, Hendrix Creek and Spring Creek. Its best-known landmark is Starrett City, now called Spring Creek Towers, a self-contained complex of dozens of high-rise buildings with its own shopping, schools and power plant. Nearby, the Gateway Center shopping mall and the newer Gateway Estates townhouses fill former landfill and marshland. Shirley Chisholm State Park, built atop two capped landfills, now offers trails and bay views. Transit is mostly by bus, connecting residents to the L and 3 trains farther north.
Also known as: Starrett City, Spring Creek Towers, Gateway Estates.
About Spring Creek & Starrett City
For most of its history this corner of Brooklyn was tidal salt marsh along Jamaica Bay. In the 20th century large sections were filled in and used as city landfills along Fountain and Pennsylvania Avenues. Starrett City opened in the 1970s as one of the largest federally subsidized housing developments in the country. The Gateway Center mall followed in the early 2000s along with new homes, and the old landfills were capped and later reopened as Shirley Chisholm State Park in 2019.
Common Pest Problems in Spring Creek & Starrett City
Surrounded by tidal creeks, marsh grass and the edge of Jamaica Bay, Spring Creek has abundant cover and water for Norway rats, which travel along the shoreline and into parking areas, loading docks and trash rooms. The big-box stores and restaurants at Gateway Center generate steady food waste, and rats can move between the retail area and residential buildings. Damp ground on this reclaimed land also brings centipedes and other moisture-loving pests into ground-floor units and townhouse basements.
In large high-rise complexes like Spring Creek Towers, German cockroaches and mice spread through shared walls, pipe chases and garbage chutes, so a problem in one apartment often signals activity nearby. Coordinated building-wide treatment tends to work better than tackling units one at a time. The townhouses at Gateway Estates, backing onto open parkland and marsh edges, occasionally see raccoons exploring decks, garbage enclosures and crawl spaces. Ground-floor tenants and townhouse owners closest to the marsh usually notice it first.