Bedbugs are a common grievance among New Yorkers, but, aside from a rare, severe, itch-induced public jig, few express it in a way that makes people stop and stare. Note: We said, “Few.”

Now showing on St. Mark’s Place, after an unannounced opening yesterday, is a bedbug-directed display of outrage in a new form of street art. In a salute-worthy, satirical fashion, a painter we believe to be named Samuel Marko (based on the signature at the “head” of the mattress) has skillfully decorated a presumably insect-ridden mattress and propped it up on the high-trafficked sidewalk near 2nd Ave. To drive the point home, the artist added the words, “AHH, OHH, NEW YORK CITY BED BUGS.” We guess the idea is, if you can’t beat ‘em, suffocate ‘em with paint and then throw ‘em out.