The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for NYC initially on Tuesday, June 6th. Today, the advisory has been reissued for all five boroughs due to continued smoke present from the Canadian wildfires.
As of this afternoon, NYC is at an AQI level of 342. This falls into the hazardouz category for AQI, resulting in a health warning of emergency.
To give some context, NYC was at an AQI of 21 (good) on Sunday, June 4th. By Monday, June 5th, the city reached an AQI of 144, qualifying as unhealthy for sensitive groups, according to IQAir.
You can monitor NYC’s live air quality and pollution ranking on IQAir or the Environment and Health Data Portal. Currently, NYC sits as the number one worst major city in the world for air quality.
According to IQAir, cities in other regions of New York State are experiencing even worse AQI levels: Middletown – 232, Rochester – 288, Ithaca – 281.
The city has requested New Yorkers stay inside or limit outside activities as much as possible. For the elderly and those with heart or breathing problems, it’s advised to wear an N95 or KN95 mask outside.
The NYDEC just announced another advisory to carry through tomorrow, June 8th. Conditions are expected to return to unhealthy AQI levels by then.
For questions, New Yorkers can call the toll-free air quality hotline at 1-800-535-1345. Read more about the current Air Quality Health Advisory here.
Last updated: 2:30 pm ET, 06/07/23