By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — A Harlem employment office was hit by bedbugs this week, sparking concerns that job seekers were unwittingly being infested.
Staff said they had to carry their belongings in plastic bags and pack a change of clothes to avoid taking the bugs home. Files and flyers behind the reception counter were still covered in plastic at the end of the week.
This is the second outbreak at the Workforce 1 office on the sixth floor at 215 W. 125th St., according to Labor Department spokesperson Michelle Duffy.
"Yes we do have them, and we're taking necessary action to try and address the problem," Duffy said Friday. "It's happened a couple of times. We found one bug last year and treated the office. In recent weeks we found another and treated the whole office."
Duffy said staffers were being cautious, and telling job seekers — if they asked.
"If they see the bags, we certainly tell them," she said.
The office joins infested locations ranging from the Time Warner Centre and Empire State Building to Hollister in SoHo.
The Harlem employment office, which helps unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers find jobs, has over 2000 visitors a month.
Workforce 1 Supervisor Judy Sullivan told the Gothamist blog that staff were being bitten and said she had seen the bugs crawling around the office.
"It's annoying. They don't really do much, but it's annoying," she said to the blog. "It would be great if we could get our people some jobs as exterminators. They just need some training," she said.
The last high profile uptown infestation was in August 2009, when the 125th Street offices of the Bill Clinton Foundation were hit by the blood-suckers, forcing staff to take time off.
