New York has a poison ivy crisis

A rash of poison ivy is choking the Big Apple, according to city data and plant experts.
Complaints about the itch-inducing creeper logged to the city’s 311 complaint line have nearly doubled in the past two years.

Through July 15 of this year, there have been 130 poison ivy sightings reported to 311 — compared to 95 for the same period last year and an average of 71 for the period in 2013-2017, data shows.

Complaints came in from every corner of the city — including 21 at a plaza in lower Manhattan and 64 logged to the New York Public Library’s Harry Belafonte branch on W. 115th Street in Harlem.

While The Post did not find any sign of poison ivy at either location, Big Apple horticulturalists say there has been a rise in the nettlesome flora.

“This year has been perfect for the poison ivy,” said Carlos Martinez, head of operations at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Queens.

“We had a mild winter and an early spring. So the cold didn’t kill as much of it, and it the poison ivy plants did not stay dormant as long, so we have big, beautiful, healthy poison ivy this year.”

Officials were forced to deal with two particularly large clusters this month.

The city hacked away a plant that had crept over the sidewalk near Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx earlier this week, Gothamist reported.

And the MTA was forced to cut back a cluster of poison ivy that had crept over a Long Island City sidewalk last week, according to WCBS-TV.

Poison ivy is native to New York, but it is illegal to grow in the city.

The Department of Health enforces the law on private property, while the Parks Department deals with the nuisance when its on public land.

“As a rule, when observed in areas that encroach on public access, we pull the poison ivy or treat the cut stumps with herbicide,” Parks reps said.

Health officials do not have numbers on how many people have been affected by poison ivy this year, because it is not a communicable disease.

The itch-inducing oil it produces can, however, be transferred from one person to another, according to city and state wildlife resources.

Bare-skin contact with the plant or someone who just touched it can cause itching, rashes and blisters.

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