New York City air quality reaches hazardous levels due to Canadian wildfires; city asks residents to stay indoors

Canadian wildfires have created dangerous air quality conditions in New York City, prompting city officials to call late Wednesday for the cancelation of all organized outdoor activities and advising New Yorkers to stay indoors as much as possible.

With conditions deteriorating quickly Wednesday afternoon as an orange-grey haze shrouded the city, New York jumped to the number one spot on a list of cities with the worst air pollution in the world, with levels not seen since the 1960s.

“This is extremely dangerous air outside,” Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said, adding that “this is an environment where we are recommending” all New Yorkers who can to stay inside.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an air quality health advisory for New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens and Richmond counties as well as surrounding suburbs that extends through midnight Thursday. The state’s Department of Health recommends “individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.”

Fires in Quebec and Nova Scotia are to blame for the dangerous air. The National Weather Service said widespread haze and patchy smoke was expected to linger over New York City with a temporary reprieve from the worst early Wednesday followed by deteriorating conditions later in the day. Air quality could be affected through the week, perhaps even into the weekend.

As conditions worsened Tuesday evening, Mayor Adams announced that all outside activities at NYC public schools would be canceled. At a press conference late Wednesday, Adams escalated the city’s recommendations though he issued no mandates on private employers. City agencies have been given guidelines on flexible scheduling options where possible.

“Stay indoors, stay safe,” Adams said. “Unless people must come out, the best thing to do at this time is to stay indoors.”

Conditions in the city late Wednesday worsened to the point where New York was ranked the city with the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir. Adams said the city at one point hit a staggering 484 out of 500 on the air quality index scale.

The hazardous conditions prompted many to call off concerts, protests and outdoor activities at schools. Wednesday’s Yankees-White Sox game was postponed. A ground stop was ordered at LaGuardia Airport because of the heavy smoke. One health clinic reported a high proportion of patients complaining of respiratory issues.

Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said that although the air quality advisory remains in effect through midnight Thursday, he expects it may be extended beyond that, potentially into the weekend. The smoke was expected to be at its worst Wednesday afternoon and evening, with some improvement possible Thursday or Friday. But conditions might not be back to normal until the weekend.

“We expect this to be a multiple-day event, so we expect that that advisory will remain in place for the next few days,” Iscol said.

The hazy yellow-orange skies are the result of smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifting with the jet stream, explained meteorologist John Homenuk of New York Metro Weather. The quality of the air people are breathing deteriorates as the smoke travels close to the ground.

“When that smoke does mix down back closer to the surface, like we’re seeing today, the pollutants and particulate matter in the smoke coming down close to the surface will degrade the air quality,” Homenuk said. “It’s unhealthy to breathe it in. And it can also reduce visibility significantly.”

With the wildfires relatively close in Quebec, Canada and the jet stream pointing toward NYC, Homenuk said this could last for days to come, as more strong smoke plumes flowed in Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re going to see the smoke mix back down to the surface, just like we did yesterday afternoon and evening,” he said. “It’ll be pretty similar — if not maybe slightly worse, actually — than yesterday,” Homenuk said.

Barbara Mann, a pulmonologist at Mount Sinai-National Jewish Respiratory Institute, said the haze that’s crept over the city may cause some chest tightness, eye watering or shortness of breath while the air conditions persist. Long-term smog leaves New Yorkers at an increased risk of heart attacks and respiratory conditions like asthma.

Mann suggested wearing a tight fitting mask for protection against the dangerous air particles.

Ramón Tallaj, a doctor who leads SOMOS Community Care, a nonprofit health network, said that in one of the SOMOS clinics, about 90% of patients Tuesday came in because of respiratory problems.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the commissioner of the Department of Health, said the city’s hospitals are not experiencing any surges in patients as a result of the air quality event. “Thus far we are not seeing an uptick in emergency room visits due to compromise or complications from this air quality event. That could change, and we are monitoring that closely,” he said.

The heavy smoke and apocalyptic colors caught the attention of New Yorkers across the city.

“Smoky, hazy, pretty much unbearable to breathe. A mask is definitely required,” Jay Cee, 34, said of the haze.

Cee lives in Fordham and works in IT. On Wednesday, he texted friends around the country pictures of the orange sky, which caught him by surprise this morning. He doesn’t think the city is doing enough to communicate about the situation.

“If you knew it was coming a couple of days ago, how about a little warning?”

Brandon Cabrera, a teacher aide at P.S. 212, is relieved that he’s working indoors for most of the day and worried the air quality will force him to scrap his weekend plans.

“It might ruin my whole weekend... It’s like this, I’m just staying in,” Cabrera, 25, said.

Gov. Hochul gave an update on the situation on Wednesday afternoon, calling the situation “a crisis.” Parts of the state saw an 800% increase in dangerous air quality in the span of just a few hours on Wednesday, she added.

“The bottom line is this: If you can stay indoors, stay indoors,” Hochul said. “This is detrimental to people’s health.”

More than 8 million acres of Canadian land has burned so far this year. Quebec has seen at least a half-million acres consumed by wildfires already.

“New York State experts are monitoring our air quality every day to ensure New Yorkers have the latest information about current air quality in their communities and what they can do to protect themselves,” Hochul said in a statement.

With Nicholas Williams and Ellen Moynihan