By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-26 14:33:21 | Updated at 2026-09-26 18:28:08
4 hours ago
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A hero exterminator stepped up this week to kill a massive Queens hornets nest after lazy city officials told terrified neighbors to buzz off.
Sean Cadenhead said he read in shock last Sunday’s Post report on how the NYC Parks Department rejected pleas from residents and Councilman Phil Wong to remove the hive — the size of two basketballs— from a city tree in Middle Village.
Instead, the agency recommended residents pay out of their own pockets and humanely relocate the nest.
On Wednesday, Cadenhead, of Queens-based Phase One Exterminating, took matters into his own hands.
He showed up unannounced around 9 a.m. at the corner of Cowles Court and Dry Harbor Road, introduced himself to a 79-year-old woman whose home was mere steps from the nest, and started spraying.
“Everything is not always about money — it’s just about being a good New Yorker. You got Superman, Batman and Phase One Exterminating,” Cadenhead, 41, told The Post.
Cadenhead estimated roughly 400 bald-faced hornets lived in the nest, which hung 10 feet above a public sidewalk.
He posted a video on Instagram of the nearly hour-long job.
Dressed in white, full-body, beekeeping protective gear, he first killed the pests by saturating the nest with pesticide.
Then he removed the nest and tossed it in a black garbage bag.
Betty Cocaro thanked Cadenhead for doing what the Parks Department refused, saying it finally gave her peace of mind.
“I think it’s unbelievable, unbelievable, that people are so kind,” the 79-year-old senior said.
Although bald-faced hornets don’t usually attack unless provoked, some people have life-threatening allergies to their stings.
Parks Department worker bee Camile Easterling told the councilman’s staff in a Sept. 14 email that the city won’t touch the stinging horde of bald-faced hornets because they “play an important role in our ecosystem.”
If relocation is deemed “necessary,” Easterling said the agency instead “recommend[s] hiring a qualified insect relocator” — and that “any work performed on or involving a city tree requires” a tree work permit from the agency, adding another layer of red tape.
Cadenhead said the city’s apathy was disturbing.
“People walk their dogs; there’s kids; there’s so many people who come through that walkway,” said Cadenhead. “It takes just a wrong gust of wind, the wrong kid to throw a rock at it, and it could have been a disaster.”
The Parks Department did not return messages.
