Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday morning urged New Yorkers to limit their time outdoors and avoid strenuous activity because of dangerously diminished air quality caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.
“At unhealthy levels, everyone — not just people with asthma and heart conditions, not just older adults, everyone — may feel health effects,” the mayor said at an unrelated news conference. “So today, every New Yorker should take precautions.”
He said Thursday was “expected to be the worst day of this event,” particularly as the smoke coincides with high temperatures.
Free face masks will be available at public libraries, firehouses and police precincts throughout the city, Mr. Mamdani said. Residents can find distribution locations on a city website, by calling 311 or by texting “Notify NYC” to 692-692.
Asked whether the city needed to dial up its response as the air quality emergency persists, the mayor lamented the role of climate change in extreme weather situations and warned New Yorkers that “today is not a day to say, ‘In spite of the air quality, I’m going to do everything I was going to do yesterday.’”
“This is very serious,” he added.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday night also advised New Yorkers to take precautions as she announced a statewide air quality health advisory.
In addition to the five boroughs, the “unhealthy” air quality designation was expected to extend to Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, Central New York, eastern Lake Ontario and western New York, Ms. Hochul said. In the Upper Hudson Valley and Adirondack regions, she issued a warning for those in “sensitive groups.”
She also said the state would provide more than 100,000 N95-style masks, some of which would be distributed at transit hubs including Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.
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