The New York City Council is launching an investigation into the city’s response to the “new normal” of unhealthy air quality this summer, a result of Canadian wildfires and local urban air pollution. In a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m., three committees will meet to hear testimony and discuss ways of improving citywide communications for air pollution. But ahead of the proceedings, air quality experts shared thoughts with Gothamist on steps the city could take before the next clouds arrive.
The hearing will include the Committees on Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts; Oversight and Investigations; and Health. The public is welcome to testify in-person or remotely.
Poor air quality isn’t new for NYC. Even though its skies are much cleaner than in the past, the metro area ranks consistently among the top 25 most polluted cities in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association. Last year, Queens alone had 16 days that were unhealthy for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Despite those trends, air quality wasn’t something that New Yorkers typically monitor every morning with other forms of weather or receive alerts for as a matter of necessity.
That is until “orange air day,” when the skies turned a fuzzy flame-colored hue on June 7. City Councilmember Gale Brewer said that horrific haze prompted an oversight hearing to gather testimony and information to identify and assess what steps the Adams administration took to inform the public of the imminent threat of unhealthy air.
“The question is, was there enough notice,” said Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side and chairs the Council’s committee on oversight and investigations. “It’s very scary, but people need to have more information than ever.”
Brewer said that the city did the best it could, but its response was delayed at times. When the first plume of smoke started to suffuse skies with the smell of campfire on June 6, it was obvious from…
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