New York City apartments share walls, pipes, and ductwork with dozens of neighboring units, creating ideal conditions for a handful of pests that thrive in dense housing. The most common bugs you’ll encounter are German cockroaches, bed bugs, and a supporting cast of moisture-loving insects like silverfish, drain flies, and house centipedes. Knowing what you’re dealing with is the first step to getting rid of it.
German Cockroaches
The German cockroach is the single most common apartment pest in New York City, and it’s a different animal from the large “water bugs” you might see scurrying across a sidewalk at night. Adults are only half to five-eighths of an inch long, tan to light brown, with two dark parallel lines running from the back of the head to the wings. They have fully developed wings but don’t fly.
You’ll find them in kitchens and bathrooms, near dishwashers, stoves, sinks, and anywhere that combines warmth, moisture, and food. They’re scavengers with a preference for starches, sweets, grease, and meat products, but garbage works fine too. During the day they hide in cracks, crevices, and the gaps behind appliances. Their flat bodies let them slip into openings you wouldn’t think possible. At night they come out to feed.
What makes German cockroaches so persistent is their breeding speed. Females carry their egg capsules the entire time the embryos develop, which means a higher percentage of nymphs survive to hatch. Each capsule holds more eggs than other cockroach species, and the time from hatching to reproductive maturity is the shortest of any common roach. A small population can become a serious infestation within weeks. If you’re seeing them during the day, that typically means the population is already large or they’re being pushed out of hiding by lack of food, water, or a recent pesticide application nearby.
American Cockroaches
The big ones, sometimes two inches long and reddish-brown, are American cockroaches. New Yorkers call them water bugs, and they usually live in basements, boiler rooms, and sewer lines rather than inside individual apartments. Seeing one occasionally doesn’t necessarily signal an infestation in your unit. They often enter through floor drains or gaps around pipes. German cockroaches in your kitchen, on the other hand, almost always mean a breeding population is established nearby.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs remain one of the most dreaded apartment pests in the city, and they have nothing to do with cleanliness. They hitchhike on luggage, furniture, and clothing, and they can move between units through wall voids and electrical outlets. Adult females are about a third of an inch long and a quarter inch wide, flat and oval-shaped, reddish-brown after feeding.
You’re unlikely to catch them in the act. They feed at night while you sleep, and most people don’t feel the bite. The first clue is often a line or cluster of itchy red welts on exposed skin, though medical professionals can’t diagnose a bed bug bite by appearance alone. The more reliable signs are physical: tiny black or dark brown fecal spots on your sheets, mattress seams, or nearby screw holes in furniture. These spots look similar to German cockroach droppings, but bed bug feces run red when you dab them with a wet cloth. You may also find translucent shed skins or tiny white eggs (about 1mm long) cemented into cracks and crevices. Bed bugs can squeeze into gaps as narrow as a credit card’s thickness, so check behind headboards, inside screw holes, along baseboards, and in the seams of mattresses and box springs.
A female bed bug can lay over 100 eggs in her lifetime, depositing a few each day. Eggs hatch in six to ten days, and the nearly translucent nymphs must take at least one blood meal between each of their five molts before reaching adulthood. This means a small introduction can become a full infestation relatively quickly if it goes unnoticed.
Silverfish, Drain Flies, and House Centipedes
These three pests are less alarming but common enough in NYC apartments that they deserve attention. They all share one trait: they need moisture to thrive.
Silverfish are small, teardrop-shaped, silver-gray insects that move in a wriggling, fish-like motion. They eat starchy materials like paper, wallpaper paste, and book bindings. You’ll find them in bathrooms, under sinks, and in closets where humidity builds up. Drain flies are the tiny, fuzzy, moth-like flies that hover near shower drains and bathroom sinks. They breed in the organic film that builds up inside drain pipes.
House centipedes are the fast-moving, many-legged creatures that startle people in bathrooms and basements. They prefer damp, dark, low-traffic areas like closets, basements, and spaces under potted plants. Despite their unsettling appearance, they’re actually beneficial predators that eat cockroaches, silverfish, carpet beetle larvae, spiders, and even bed bugs. Seeing house centipedes regularly can signal a larger pest population they’re feeding on. Contrary to a common assumption, they don’t typically come up through drain pipes. They enter through cracks in walls and foundations.
For all three, reducing humidity is the most effective control. Run exhaust fans in bathrooms, use a dehumidifier in damp rooms, fix leaky pipes, and keep drains clean. Sealing cracks and crevices in walls and around baseboards removes their hiding spots.
Health Risks Beyond the Nuisance
Cockroaches aren’t just unpleasant. They’re a significant health concern, especially for children. Research from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that cockroach allergens were more prevalent in homes located in NYC neighborhoods with high childhood asthma rates. Among children studied, sensitivity to cockroach allergens was twice as common in high-asthma neighborhoods compared to low-asthma neighborhoods: 23.7% versus 10.8%. The study found that cockroach allergen exposure was associated with sensitization, and that sensitization was associated with increased asthma risk. In New York City, childhood asthma prevalence varies by neighborhood from 3% to 19%, and cockroach exposure is one factor driving those differences.
This is part of the reason NYC treats pest infestations as a housing code issue, not just a personal inconvenience.
What Your Landlord Is Required to Do
In buildings with three or more apartments, NYC Local Law 55 of 2018 requires your landlord to keep units free of pests. This isn’t optional, and the obligations are specific. Landlords must annually inspect units for cockroaches, mice, rats, and mold, and respond to complaints. They must ensure vacant apartments are thoroughly cleaned and pest-free before a new tenant moves in. They’re also required to provide tenants with a fact sheet about indoor allergens and their rights under the law.
When addressing an infestation, landlords must use Integrated Pest Management, which means they can’t just spray chemicals and call it done. The law requires them to remove pest nests and clean waste using HEPA vacuums, seal holes, gaps, and cracks in walls, ceilings, floors, and around pipes and cabinets, repair leaking plumbing that provides water sources for pests, and install door sweeps on doors leading to hallways, basements, or outside. Any pesticides must be applied by a professional licensed by New York State, and pesticides should be used sparingly as a last resort.
How to File a Complaint
Start by contifying your landlord, managing agent, or super in writing. If you live in a co-op or condo, report to the management company or board first, since your specific agreement may determine who handles what. If the problem isn’t addressed, you can file a complaint through NYC 311 online, by phone, or through the app. You’ll need to provide your contact information.
Once a complaint is filed, HPD will contact your building’s managing agent to advise them a complaint exists and that a violation may be issued if the condition isn’t corrected. HPD will also try to reach you to confirm whether the problem was resolved. If it wasn’t, or if HPD can’t reach you, a code enforcement inspector will be sent to your building. The landlord is not notified of the inspection date.
Practical Steps You Can Take Now
Even with a responsive landlord, what you do in your own unit matters. For cockroaches, start by eliminating food and water sources: store food in sealed containers, clean grease from stovetops and behind appliances, take out garbage nightly, and fix dripping faucets. Seal cracks around cabinets, backsplashes, windows, and where pipes enter walls using silicone caulk. Cover drains with rubber drain covers or metal screens.
Sticky traps placed under stoves, refrigerators, and along walls will show you where the hot spots are. For chemical control, gel baits applied in small dabs along cupboard edges and inside cracks are far more effective and safer than foggers or sprays. Foggers actually make things worse by scattering roaches into new hiding spots and contaminating surfaces throughout your apartment. If gel baits haven’t eliminated the problem within 30 days, switch to a different brand. Cockroaches can develop aversion to specific bait formulations, and rotating brands changes both the attractant and the active ingredient. Boric acid applied inside wall voids and behind switch plates is another lower-risk option.
For bed bugs, early detection is everything. Check mattress seams, bed frames, and nearby furniture regularly, especially after travel or receiving secondhand furniture. Encasing your mattress and box spring in bed bug-proof covers eliminates their primary hiding spot. Bed bug infestations almost always require professional treatment, so report them to your landlord immediately.