The sun tried its best to shine through a thick haze that smelled suspiciously like a campfire no one invited. New Yorkers dusted off their pandemic-era masks as air quality plummeted thanks to Canadian wildfires, which apparently decided to share their misery with the entire Eastern Seaboard. The National Weather Service issued an air-quality alert, because when smoke from raging fires drifts across a huge swathe of the US, all the way to New York City and beyond into the Atlantic, that tends to happen.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to stay inside, saying, “Every New Yorker should take precautions. Limit your time outdoors, especially strenuous activity.” The city made free KN95 masks available at hundreds of locations, including libraries, police stations, and firehouses - because nothing says “we care” like a mask from a place that fights fires. The Office of Emergency Management added that people should avoid being outside for more than an hour and advised, “Listen to your body. If you have watery eyes, a scratchy throat, or difficulty breathing, reduce physical activity and go indoors.” Solid life advice, really.
John, a 31-year-old lifelong Queens resident with asthma, wore a mask while working security in Times Square. His employer encouraged breaks for fresh air, “but at the end of the day, we still got to be outside,” he said. “You can taste the burnt paper in the air.” Beside him, women sold Broadway tickets. “These guys handing out Playbills and stuff on the sidewalk - they are out here all day with no protections,” he noted. “The march of capitalism keeps moving forward.” Indeed, nothing stops the hustle like toxic air.
The smoky air was compounded by soaring temperatures, reaching above 90°F (32.2°C). A “heat dome” helped trap the stifling air. In Detroit, closer to the burning Canadian forests, the Motor City registered the worst air quality in the world - a title no city wants.
Rachel Smalter Hall, an editor at a book publisher, got a message from her therapist to discuss whether they should keep their in-person appointment. Smalter Hall has asthma and said she can “get bronchitis really easily.” She noticed her eyes stinging outside. Wearing a mask, she and her daughter went to Sephora to try on makeup - because nothing says “apocalypse chic” like testing foundation while your lungs are under siege. She worried about her kids: “The color of the sky changing is becoming a more and more common thing, and it just makes me really concerned for the future of air quality, for the future of their health, for the future of the health of our planet.”
In Brooklyn, Jackie Bell was on maternity leave with a two-month-old and planned to send her three-year-old to camp, but her husband needed the car. That meant 30-minute walks through smog with kids in tow. She opted to keep them home. Her mother drove from New Jersey to help. “I’m just very grateful. I feel very privileged knowing that some people, despite the situation, might have to go outside,” said Bell, who works in healthcare.
Aaron Freedman, a graduate student studying American history, still had an N95 mask from the pandemic and wore it while walking to lunch. The night before, it “smelled so intensely of wildfire” that he decided to mask up. The smoke reminded him of California, which often experiences wildfires. The last time he recalled a similar situation was June 2023, when another Canadian wildfire turned New York’s sky orange. “Growing up, this never happened,” said Freedman, 34. “So yeah, climate change, it sucks.”