Bed Bugs Found at Times Square Movie Theater

MYFOXNY.COM - The AMC Empire 25 movie theater complex in the Times Square area shut its doors Tuesday night to deal with a bed bug problem.

AMC said it has been testing and treating its theaters after getting complaints from some patrons about bed beg bites.

The company said it inspected the Empire 25 Tuesday and found bed bugs in an auditorium that had previously tested negative.

AMC shut down the complex, located on West 42nd Street, and began treatment, said Justin Scott, a spokesman for AMC.

"At AMC Theatres, the health and safety of our guests and associates is of the utmost importance and we take every guest report seriously," Scott said. "That's why we have taken aggressive and proactive steps to help ensure our theatres remain free of bed bugs."

The theater reopened Wednesday evening.

Scott said that the theater will be treated again in two weeks, as is recommended by pest control specialists.

Bed bugs have seen a phenomenal resurgence in New York in recent years. Once uncommon in industrialized nations, the bugs have become such a problem that the City Council created an Advisory Board to figure out how to deal with the critters.

Since 2009, bed bugs infestations have hit the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office , CNN at the Time Warner Center ,  Victoria's Secret , Abercrombie and Fitch , John Jay College , Manhattan College , a Brooklyn movie theater , and even offices of the city's Health Department .

Bed begs, which feed on human blood, are not known to transmit disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.