Pest Control in Union Square, Manhattan
Union Square is a busy crossroads centered on the park where Broadway and Fourth Avenue meet at 14th Street, marking the transition between downtown and Midtown. The Union Square Greenmarket fills the plaza four days a week with farmers selling produce, flowers and baked goods, and the park is a frequent gathering place for rallies, skateboarders and chess players. Big-box retailers and restaurants line the surrounding blocks, while nearby residential streets hold prewar apartments, lofts and student housing. The 14th Street-Union Square station is one of the city's major hubs, serving the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains, which makes the area constantly crowded day and night.
Also known as: 14th Street.
About Union Square
The square was laid out in the early 1800s at the union of Broadway and the Bowery Road, which gave it its name. It became a fashionable residential address, then a hub for theaters, piano showrooms and publishers. From the late 1800s it was a traditional site for labor rallies, and the first Labor Day parade passed here in 1882. After decades of decline, the Greenmarket opened in 1976 and a park renovation helped revive the area.
Common Pest Problems in Union Square
Union Square's combination of heavy foot traffic, food vendors, the Greenmarket and a major subway hub gives rats abundant food. Rats are regularly seen in the park's planting beds and around the subway entrances, and they move from there into the basements of nearby restaurants and apartment buildings. Pigeons crowd the plaza, eating spilled food from market stalls and sidewalk vendors, and roost on surrounding building ledges. Market days leave extra scraps behind.
Older apartment buildings on Irving Place and East 15th and 16th Streets share walls and plumbing that allow German cockroaches and mice to move between units, particularly where ground floors are occupied by restaurants and cafes. Student dorms with frequent move-ins can also spread pests. Prewar apartments with steam heat and aging bathrooms tend to host silverfish in damp corners and bookshelves. Book-heavy apartments near the Strand and university buildings are particularly prone to silverfish damage.