One Bed Bug Found at Manhattan Shul
Central Synagogue reopened today, ‘business as usual’
June 01, 2015
(Facebook)
On Saturday, the New York Post reported that Manhattan’s Central Synagogue had closed due to a bed bug infestation. As a result, the synagogue was closed for fumigation from May 27 to May 31, before re-opening today. Apparently, however—and contrary to the Page Six headline “Bed bugs take over famous city synagogue causing shut down”—there was only one bed bug found, a fact that the tabloid buried in the bottom two paragraphs:
A rep for the reform synagogue, which also runs nursery and religious schools, tells us that the word “ ‘outbreak’ is a gross exaggeration. They found one bedbug, but as a precaution they decided to close the building for a thorough fumigation. It’s more precautionary.”
We’re told the intruding insect was on the eighth floor in the Community House building. The Sanctuary, a national landmark, was not affected at all and will have services on the regular schedule.
I reached out to Annette Powers, a spokeswoman for the Reform shul, which is one of New York’s largest (2,400 member families), who told me that a teacher had found the bed bug.
“We were being extra precautious,” Powers said of the fumigation. “[The exterminators] spent hours cleaning, we had experts in, we just did it to be extra safe.”
And today? “Business as usual.”
Apparently, there is sanctuary.
Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.
