Pest Control in Murray Hill, Queens
Murray Hill is a residential neighborhood east of downtown Flushing, not to be confused with its Manhattan namesake. It centers on the Murray Hill station of the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch, near 150th Street and 41st Avenue, which offers a quick ride to Penn Station and Grand Central Madison. The area has a strong Korean presence, with restaurants, bakeries and shops clustered around the station and along Northern Boulevard. Side streets are lined with one- and two-family homes, many with small yards and driveways, plus a scattering of low-rise apartment buildings. Bowne Park and the Broadway-Flushing historic area lie a short distance to the north.
Also known as: Murray Hill Queens, Murray Hill Flushing.
About Murray Hill
Like much of eastern Flushing, this area was covered in the nineteenth century by commercial plant nurseries and small farms that supplied trees and shrubs to estates across the region. When the railroad arrived and nursery land was sold off in the early 1900s, builders put up single-family and two-family houses for commuters. Korean immigrants began settling in large numbers in the 1980s, creating the busy commercial strip around the station and along Northern Boulevard.
Common Pest Problems in Murray Hill
Murray Hill's mix of older frame houses and small apartment buildings makes mice the most common year-round complaint. Aging siding, basement windows and gaps where utility lines enter houses give mice plenty of access, especially from October through March. German cockroaches are concentrated in multi-family buildings and the restaurant cluster around the LIRR station, where kitchens share walls with apartments. Rats forage behind those restaurants and along the railroad cut, which provides a sheltered corridor through the neighborhood.
Mature street trees and the leftover landscaping of former nursery lots provide good habitat for squirrels, which regularly move into attics and roof overhangs. Some older wood-frame houses have porches, garages and basement framing that are vulnerable to subterranean termites, particularly where gutters overflow or soil is piled against the foundation. Homeowners who garden should also watch for rodents burrowing under sheds and around compost. Leaf litter and ivy along fences provide extra cover for rodents close to the house.