Pest Control in Upper West Side, Manhattan
The Upper West Side runs from about 59th Street to 110th Street between Central Park and the Hudson River, a largely residential district famous for its brownstone side streets and stately prewar buildings. Central Park West and Riverside Drive hold landmark apartment houses such as the Dakota and the San Remo, and Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue are lined with shops, restaurants and food institutions like Zabar's. The American Museum of Natural History draws families year-round, and Riverside Park offers waterfront paths along the Hudson. Residents include families, academics, artists and retirees. The 1, 2 and 3 run under Broadway, and the B and C serve Central Park West.
Also known as: UWS.
About Upper West Side
Farmland and scattered villages occupied the area until the Ninth Avenue elevated line opened in 1879, sparking a building boom. Rowhouses rose on the side streets, and after the Dakota opened in 1884, large apartment buildings followed on the avenues. The IRT subway under Broadway in 1904 accelerated development. The area declined in mid-century, then saw urban renewal projects and a brownstone revival starting in the 1960s and 1970s.
Common Pest Problems in Upper West Side
Bordered by two major parks, the Upper West Side lives with significant rat pressure. Riverside Park and Central Park provide soil for burrows, and rats travel into neighborhood blocks to feed on restaurant and residential trash. Brownstones with front areaways, basement units and rear gardens are especially vulnerable, and some blocks have long been known as rat hot spots. Gray squirrels from the parks sometimes move into roof spaces and rear extensions of townhouses.
Prewar apartment buildings and brownstones share walls, heating risers and old plumbing, which lets mice and German cockroaches pass between units, especially near Broadway's restaurant corridor. Residents with large libraries, wool rugs and closets full of winter clothing face clothes moths and silverfish, particularly in apartments with steam heat and older bathrooms. Along Riverside Drive, pigeons roost on ornate prewar facades, and the constant flow of visitors near the Natural History Museum brings extra food waste to Columbus Avenue.