Bedbugs invade 1 State Street, employees say

Employees at the state Department of Financial Services say they have some unwanted company in their Financial District office building: bedbugs.

Two workers told the New York Daily News that they have been bitten, pointing out itchy, painful red welts on their skin. One, Ademola Oluwo, who is a senior insurance examiner, told the Daily News that he came across internal memos showing that the 1 State Street building’s bedbug infestation dated back to before the DFS began moving employees there in a merging of two divisions.

A DFS spokesperson told the Daily News that there is no evidence of such a problem in the building.

“The health and safety of our employees is our number one priority,” Matt Anderson, a DFS spokesperson, told the Daily News.

One State Street was one of several buildings dubbed “restricted use” after Hurricane Sandy, at which point the building was closed to tenants as it underwent repair work mandated by the city. Post-Sandy, the 769,867-square-foot building was found to have no sprinkler system and no active electrical. [NYDN] — Julie Strickland