Pest Control in Manhattan Valley, Manhattan
Manhattan Valley is the northern section of the Upper West Side, roughly between 96th and 110th Streets from Central Park West to Broadway. Named for the dip in the terrain around 100th Street, the neighborhood has a more diverse and affordable character than the rest of the West Side, with a mix of walk-ups, prewar buildings, brownstones and public housing such as the Frederick Douglass Houses. Longtime Dominican and Puerto Rican families live alongside Columbia students and young professionals. Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues offer small grocers and restaurants. Central Park's wooded North Woods and Harlem Meer are close by, and the B and C at 103rd Street and the 1 on Broadway serve the area.
Also known as: Bloomingdale, Upper West Side.
About Manhattan Valley
The area was once part of the Bloomingdale District, a rural area of estates and a road leading north. The Ninth Avenue elevated line and the subway spurred construction of tenements and apartments by the early 1900s. Mid-twentieth-century urban renewal cleared blocks for public housing, and the neighborhood suffered disinvestment until a revival in the 1990s and 2000s brought renovated brownstones and new buildings.
Common Pest Problems in Manhattan Valley
Walk-up buildings and older apartment houses in Manhattan Valley share walls, pipes and air shafts, making German cockroaches and mice common. Many ground-floor spaces hold groceries, bodegas and restaurants, providing food that sustains roaches and mice. Large public housing campuses with lawns and trash areas can support rat colonies, and rats move into nearby buildings at night. Frequent tenant turnover in walk-ups can also bring pests along with used furniture.
The wooded North Woods section of Central Park is close by, bringing squirrels and rats into adjacent blocks; squirrels sometimes enter roof spaces of brownstones. In older buildings with leaky plumbing or steam heat, silverfish thrive in bathrooms and basements. Brownstones with rear yards and basement entrances are particularly vulnerable to rats traveling from nearby park edges, and pigeons nest on fire escapes and cornices of the older walk-up buildings.