Hear from Our Customers
Bed bugs in a Long Island City apartment are not the same problem they’d be in a detached house somewhere else. When you’re in a 20-story tower near Court Square or a converted loft off Dutch Kills, the bugs in your unit may have come from three floors up, the unit next door, or the shared laundry room down the hall. Treating your space without understanding how they got there and where else they might be just delays the problem.
That’s the piece most people don’t get until after a failed treatment. Our certified bed bug specialists look at your full building situation, not just the visible signs in your bedroom. In Long Island City’s high-density residential stock, that whole-picture approach is the difference between a resolved infestation and a recurring one.
Once it’s handled correctly, the difference is immediate. You stop waking up with new bites. You stop pulling furniture away from walls before bed. You stop wondering whether the itch is real or just anxiety. For families in Long Island City and this is a neighborhood with a lot of young families that peace of mind extends to knowing the treatment was done safely, without putting your kids or pets at risk.
Kingsway Exterminating Company is a family-owned, BBB A+ accredited pest control company that has been operating across New York City since before most of Long Island City’s current skyline existed. Founded by Richard Kourbage and accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 1989, we carry certified bed bug specialist credentials not just a general exterminator license, but specific training in bed bug biology, behavior, and treatment.
We serve all five boroughs and Long Island, which means Long Island City isn’t a new market or a stretch of our territory it’s a neighborhood our technicians know intimately. From the Queensbridge Houses to the Hunters Point Historic District to the newer high-rises going up near the waterfront, we’ve worked in Queens buildings of every type and age.
What actually sets us apart, according to our customers, is the no-upsell approach. You get an honest assessment of what’s in your apartment and what it actually takes to fix it not a worst-case scenario designed to inflate the bill.
It starts with a call and because we answer 24 hours a day, that call can happen the moment you find something you’re not sure about. From there, a same-day inspection can typically be scheduled, or a guaranteed appointment within two days. For Long Island City residents dealing with NYCHA’s notoriously slow maintenance response, that turnaround matters. You’re not waiting weeks while the infestation compounds.
During the inspection, one of our certified specialists assesses your unit thoroughly checking mattress seams, box springs, baseboards, wall voids, and furniture joints. In converted loft buildings common throughout Long Island City, that also means looking at exposed brick, original wood flooring, and structural gaps that older industrial construction tends to leave behind. The inspection isn’t a quick walk-through. It’s a real evaluation.
Treatment is then planned based on what’s actually found. We use environmentally friendly methods and will walk you through exactly what to do before we arrive, what to expect during treatment, and when it’s safe to return to your space. Most infestations require follow-up visits over a three-to-six week period that’s standard across the industry, and any company telling you otherwise isn’t being straight with you. We’ll tell you upfront how many visits your situation is likely to need and why.
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Bed bug treatment in Long Island City isn’t one-size-fits-all, and the building you’re in shapes the entire approach. A studio in a newly constructed rental near Hunters Point South has different access points, different wall construction, and different neighbor-unit dynamics than a unit in the Queensbridge Houses or a loft conversion in Dutch Kills. Our certified specialists account for all of it.
Treatment typically involves a combination of targeted chemical application using EPA-approved products, steam treatment for heat-sensitive areas, and detailed follow-up visits to confirm the infestation has been fully resolved. For multi-unit buildings which describes most of Long Island City’s residential stock we can also coordinate with building management when adjacent units need to be addressed, and can provide the NYC Department of Health clearance documentation that property managers and landlords often require for compliance under NYC Local Law 55.
It’s also worth knowing your rights here. Under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code, your landlord is legally responsible for keeping your unit pest-free. If you’re a renter in Long Island City and your landlord isn’t responding, you have the option to file a complaint with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. We can work alongside that process or independently of it, if waiting for the landlord isn’t a realistic option. Free estimates are available, so there’s no cost to finding out exactly what you’re dealing with.
Yes and in Long Island City’s building stock, this is one of the most common reasons a treated infestation comes back. Bed bugs move through wall voids, electrical conduit chases, shared plumbing lines, and even via elevator shafts and common laundry areas. In a high-density residential building near Court Square or along the Queens waterfront, a single infested unit can spread to three or four neighboring units within a matter of weeks.
This is why a thorough inspection matters so much in this neighborhood specifically. A treatment that only addresses what’s visible inside your unit may not resolve the source of the problem. When we treat a unit in a multi-story Long Island City building, the assessment includes an evaluation of likely travel paths and a conversation about whether adjacent units should also be inspected. If building management needs to be looped in for a coordinated treatment, we can facilitate that including providing the documentation landlords and property managers need for NYC compliance purposes.
For a standard apartment in Long Island City, professional bed bug treatment typically runs between $1,000 and $2,500. More severe infestations particularly in larger units, multi-bedroom apartments, or cases where bugs have spread into furniture and wall voids throughout the space can reach $4,000 or more. The size of your unit, the severity of the infestation, and the number of follow-up visits required are the main cost drivers.
We offer free estimates, so you’ll know what you’re looking at before you commit to anything. There’s no obligation and no pressure. Given that Long Island City has a wide range of housing situations from waterfront luxury rentals to working-class apartments near Queensbridge the estimate process is the right starting point regardless of your budget. What you shouldn’t do is choose a provider based purely on the lowest number. In this category, a cheap treatment that doesn’t work means paying twice.
The most reliable signs are waking up with small, red, itchy bites in a line or cluster often on exposed skin like arms, shoulders, or neck. But bites alone aren’t definitive, since other insects cause similar reactions. The physical evidence to look for includes small rust-colored stains on your mattress or sheets (from crushed bugs), tiny dark spots along mattress seams or baseboards (fecal matter), shed skins, or in more advanced infestations a faint musty odor.
In Long Island City specifically, bed bug introductions often come from hotel stays, which is relevant given that the neighborhood is home to JetBlue Airways’ corporate headquarters and a significant population of frequent business travelers. Secondhand furniture picked up during one of Long Island City’s constant building move-outs is another common source. If you’re seeing any of the physical signs above, a professional inspection is the only way to know for certain what you’re dealing with and we can typically get someone out to you the same day.
When done correctly, yes. We use environmentally friendly, EPA-approved treatment methods and will give you specific preparation instructions before the visit including what to move, where to put your pets during treatment, and how long to stay out of the treated space afterward. Following those instructions carefully is what makes the treatment both effective and safe for your household.
Long Island City is a neighborhood with a lot of young families, particularly in the Hunters Point and waterfront areas, and this question comes up in almost every consultation. The honest answer is that the products used in professional bed bug treatment are applied in targeted amounts to specific areas not broadcast-sprayed throughout your living space. The risk to children and pets from a properly executed professional treatment is minimal. The risk of leaving an untreated infestation to grow is considerably higher. If you have specific health concerns or sensitivities in your household, mention them when you call we’ll factor that into the treatment plan.
Under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code, yes your landlord is legally required to maintain your rental unit free of pests, including bed bugs. If you report a bed bug infestation and your landlord fails to act, you have the right to file a complaint with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). NYC Local Law 69 also requires landlords to disclose bed bug history to new tenants at lease signing.
That said, the practical reality in Long Island City particularly for residents of the Queensbridge Houses or other NYCHA buildings is that waiting for a landlord or housing authority to respond can take weeks or months. Documented NYCHA maintenance delays in Queensbridge have stretched well over a year in some cases. If you’re in that situation, private treatment is often the faster and more reliable path, even if the legal responsibility technically sits with your landlord. We can treat your unit independently of any landlord dispute, and can provide documentation of the treatment if you need it for an HPD complaint or legal proceeding.
Most bed bug infestations require between two and four treatment visits over a three-to-six week period. That’s not a Kingsway-specific policy it reflects the biology of bed bugs. Eggs are resistant to most chemical treatments and hatch after the first visit, which is why follow-up applications are essential to catching the next generation before they reach reproductive maturity.
In Long Island City’s multi-unit residential buildings, the number of visits can also be influenced by whether adjacent units are contributing to re-infestation. If your building has an ongoing problem that isn’t being addressed at the building level, that’s a factor we’ll identify during the inspection and discuss with you honestly. The goal isn’t to keep scheduling visits indefinitely it’s to resolve the infestation completely and confirm it’s gone. We’ll tell you upfront how many visits your specific situation is likely to require, what each visit involves, and what signs to watch for between appointments.
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