New York City COVERED in Wildfire Smoke - Jun. 6 / 7, 2023

The sky in New York City rapidly darkened on Wednesday afternoon, as a plume of smoke from Canadian wildfires that blotted out the sun in upstate New York approached the nation’s largest city, plunging Midtown Manhattan into a deep hazy orange, worsening air quality across the five boroughs and canceling some flights. Earlier in the day, commuters donned Covid masks to walk the streets, children were kept indoors at recess and officials warned millions of people to avoid going outside. For much of Wednesday, the air quality index in Syracuse surpassed 400, according to AirNow, which designates a reading above 100 as “unhealthy” to breathe and above 300 as “hazardous.” In Queens and the Bronx, the index had surpassed 200. In Binghamton, about 60 miles south of Syracuse, Mike Hardiman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the city “looks like Mars” and “smells like cigars.” New York City’s air quality would likely continue to worsen, Mr. Hardiman said. “It’s dropping southward pretty quickly,” he said. Speaking to reporters, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the worsening air quality in New York “an emergency crisis,” warning it could last several days: “People have to prepare for this over the long haul.” Hundreds of fires have been burning in eastern Canada for weeks. On Tuesday, as smoke drifted south over parts of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, one New York City commuter described the smell as progressing from “burnt toast” to “campfire.” The air quality in New York remained the worst it had been since the 1960s, according to the city’s health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan. The city’s schools were open but were not holding outdoor activities, Mayor Eric Adams announced. Much of New York State was under an air quality health advisory alert — indicating that the index was expected to surpass 100 — that was in effect until Wednesday night. On Wednesday afternoon, the Air Quality Index was already topping levels from the previous day, which could produce widespread effects among healthy people and serious ones for those with respiratory conditions, according to federal guidelines. Such a reading is typical in a smoggy megacity like Jakarta or New Delhi but rare in New York, where decades of state and federal laws have helped to reduce emissions. Read more: #newyork #wildfire #smoke