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Business owners along the route of the Second Avenue Subway can be forgiven for comparing themselves to the biblical Egyptians — but the plagues they’re suffering were brought down on their heads not by God, but the MTA.
As if rats, noise, blocked entrances and the disappearance of their customers’ parking spaces were not enough, they now have to fight swarms of flies.
Many business owners located near the deep cavern that holds the massive tunnel-boring machine say they’ve had to hire exterminators and buy insect-killing equipment to battle the latest pestilence.
“My extermination bill is up three times than last year,” said Frank Durso, the owner of a nearby Key Food supermarket. “And business is down, so it hurts even more.”
The owners say the two main culprits are construction workers who don’t clean up after eating their lunches, and crammed street-side areas where they have to place their own garbage.
They also said the muck and rock that’s being dredged up is attracting the insects — a claim the MTA vehemently denies.
“While we are cognizant of issues that businesses along Second Avenue are facing as a result of construction, flies is not one of them,” said agency spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
“There is no connection between flies and construction work.”
Winnie Siu, owner of a liquor store, said a swarm of 20 flies breezed into her shop when a customer left the door open for only a few moments.
“I don’t have any fly swatters so I just blasted the AC and closed the doors,” she said.
“It’s really tough to have to account for the flies when you’re trying to run a business.”
Siu, along with restaurant owners, said they fear health inspectors will cite them if they visit while swarms are buzzing about.
In the past several months, five people a day have been calling Joseph Ahron, 44, the owner of K9 Hardware, inquiring about the best way to kill flies and mice.
“I don’t like to complain, but the construction workers could do a better job cleaning up after themselves,” he said.
Ahron added that water from the rains in the past several weeks is still sloshing around large holes created by the construction.
“Cover large puddles,” he advised. “Flies love them.”