Bedbugs Found in Movie Theater

To view the original article, please click here.

New York (CNN) — A 25-screen movie theater in New York’s bustling Times Square is the latest city business to shut down temporarily as it battles a bedbug infestation.

The AMC Empire 25 movie theater closed Tuesday night for extermination and reopened Wednesday. According to an AMC spokesman, the closure was part of a two-week follow-up treatment after bedbugs were detected on theater seats in early August.

“Based on our pest control specialists’ recommendation, we retreat theaters two weeks after their initial treatment. In the case of our Empire 25 theater, the two-week follow-up treatment occurred last night, August 17,” AMC Entertainment spokesperson Justin Scott said. “Unfortunately, a guest reported bedbug bites at Empire 25 this past weekend, so we quickly reinspected the auditorium in question and, upon finding bedbugs in that auditorium, we immediately closed it until it received treatment last night.”

The bloodsucking pests were found at another New York AMC location, the Magic Johnson Harlem 9, on July 30. The theater was treated by pest control specialists before being reopened, Scott said.

Reports of bedbugs in New York City have been mounting, with sightings not only in apartment buildings, but also in commercial retail facilities and offices around the city. Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret stores, as well as the Time Warner Center, home of CNN’s New York offices, are just a few of the locations that have reported treating for bedbugs.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/18/new.york.bedbugs.amc/