Google Reopens NYC Campus After Brief Bedbug Infestation

Google reopened its New York City campus after grappling with a bedbug infestation over the weekend.

Google workers Sunday evening received a notice advising them to work remotely as Google’s sprawling $2.1 billion campus in Chelsea, on the west side of Manhattan, contended with a bed bug infestation, according to an e-mail verified by Inc. WIRED was the first to report on the outbreak.

To exercise increased caution, the tech giant inspected its other campus within New York. The Hudson Square campus, which spans 1.7 million square feet and is located roughly a mile south of the Chelsea campus, did not appear to be impacted.

Affected buildings were treated overnight, at the end of the weekend, until 8 a.m. Monday, according to the e-mail. Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont confirmed with Inc. that Google’s offices were open on Monday.

Workers were asked to submit reports should they encounter any signs of “bed bug exposure,” presumably any telltale signs of bites (bedbug bites appear on the skin in distinctive zigzag patterns.) The parasites are notoriously difficult to get rid of because they reproduce quickly, can survive for long periods of time without feeding, and can be difficult to detect. Trained dogs are sometimes taken into buildings to sniff out their presence.

The infestation arrives just weeks after Google reined in its so-called “Work from Anywhere” policy, which it first propped up during the pandemic. The policy once allowed Googlers to work at its other locations, separate from an employee’s main designated office, for up to four weeks in a given year. But as CNBC reported in early October, Google will now mark one WFA day as a full week—marking a significant cutback in flexible work arrangements that falls in line with other tech companies bringing workers back to the office.

Google’s New York office previously faced a bedbug outbreak in 2010 alongside other buildings in the Big Apple. And it’s certainly not the only large name to fend off bedbugs in recent city history. The United Nations New York City headquarters has been a repeat target of bedbugs, having undergone fumigations back in 2010 and 2015.