They claim the star, also of the controversial, lawsuit-inducing home renovation, brought a bedbug infestation to the neighborhood when she moved in her furniture. Never mind that about a million people in this city (to be not-so-exact) with no proximity to indie divas have exactly the same problem.

As revenge, one neighbor hid Ms. Jones' newest release behind the mugs at Starbucks. That should really smart for the 31-year-old, whose first album alone sold 20 million copies.

Let's also keep in mind, these are the same sane neighbors who said they'd rather have gonorrhea than bedbugs and also believe the insects are responsible for their lackluster love lives.

Of course, this shouldn't be entirely new territory for the singer, who once bemoaned her first miserable apartment in New York just because there were bars on the windows. Just because she paid $4.9 million for a fancy Brooklyn brownstone does not mean she is immune to the scourge of New York.

lkusisto@observer.com