Pest Control in Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is often described as one of the most diverse neighborhoods on earth, with residents tracing their roots to South Asia, the Himalayas, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and dozens of other places. It lies north of Roosevelt Avenue between Woodside and Corona. The area around 74th Street is famous for sari shops, jewelers and South Asian restaurants, while Roosevelt Avenue under the elevated 7 train buzzes with Latin American food and nightlife. The 74th Street-Broadway and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue complex serves the 7, E, F, M and R trains. North of 37th Avenue, quiet blocks of garden apartments surround private courtyards, and 34th Avenue has become a popular open street.
Also known as: Little India, Little Colombia.
About Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights was developed by the Queensboro Corporation under Edward MacDougall beginning around 1910, after the Queensboro Bridge and the elevated subway made the area accessible. The company built some of the country's first garden apartments and cooperative buildings, arranging them around shared interior gardens. Much of the original planned community is now protected as the Jackson Heights Historic District, designated in 1993. The name honors John C. Jackson, who laid out Northern Boulevard in the nineteenth century.
Common Pest Problems in Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights' combination of dense housing and nonstop street food makes cockroaches and rodents its top pest concerns. The restaurant blocks along 74th Street, 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue produce enormous volumes of trash, and rats nest in tree pits, under sidewalk vaults and in the courtyards of nearby buildings. German cockroaches spread readily through the shared plumbing lines of the large prewar co-ops and six-story walk-ups. The elevated 7 structure over Roosevelt Avenue attracts dense pigeon flocks that nest and leave droppings above busy sidewalks.
The historic garden apartments present particular challenges. Their shared interior gardens are beautiful but can harbor rat burrows if trash storage is not controlled. Many buildings still have original steam heat, large closets and plaster walls, conditions that support mice in winter, clothes moths in stored woolens and silverfish in humid bathrooms and basement storage rooms. Pests often travel between connected buildings, so coordinated treatment by co-op boards tends to be the most effective approach.