Pest Control in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill lies between Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant, stretching from Flushing Avenue south to Atlantic Avenue, with Vanderbilt Avenue on the west and Classon Avenue on the east. It is known for grand mansions along Clinton Avenue, originally built for wealthy industrialists, and for side streets of brownstones and handsome prewar apartment buildings. Pratt Institute's leafy campus sits at its northern end and brings a steady flow of art and design students. Myrtle Avenue and Fulton Street are the main commercial strips, and Washington Avenue has a quieter mix of restaurants and cafes. The G train runs along Lafayette Avenue, and the C stops at Clinton-Washington Avenues.
About Clinton Hill
In the late 1800s, Clinton Hill became one of Brooklyn's most fashionable addresses. Charles Pratt, a partner in Standard Oil, built his mansion on Clinton Avenue and founded Pratt Institute in 1887, and he built homes nearby for several of his sons. Other wealthy families followed, lining the avenue with mansions. Many large houses were later converted to apartments or institutional use. The Clinton Hill Historic District was designated in 1981, protecting much of the neighborhood's 19th-century architecture.
Common Pest Problems in Clinton Hill
Clinton Hill's large 19th-century mansions and brownstones have deep basements, old coal cellars, fireplaces and many voids in walls and floors, giving mice lots of places to nest out of sight. Rats are active in backyards, alleys and around the restaurant trash along Myrtle Avenue and Fulton Street. College housing and older apartment buildings near Pratt add student turnover, frequent move-ins and shared kitchens, which can bring cockroaches in with used furniture and boxes.
The neighborhood's mature trees, including those on Pratt's grounds and along Clinton and Washington Avenues, host plenty of gray squirrels that sometimes enter attics through gaps in rooflines and cornices. In the deep, damp basements of these older homes, silverfish are a common find among stored papers, books and cardboard boxes, especially in buildings where old stone foundations let moisture seep through. Leaky old radiators and steam pipes add to that basement moisture, and the silverfish follow it upstairs into closets.