New York hit with air quality alert as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads
The warning, issued by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health, covers the five boroughs, Long Island, the Lower and Upper Hudson Valley and the Adirondacks.
3 Hazy skies blanketed New York on Saturday as wildfire smoke from Canada triggered an air quality alert across the state.
Ron Adar / M10s / SplashNews.com
Advertisement
Officials advised New Yorkers to stay indoors and skip strenuous outdoor activity.
Pollution from fine particulate matter — PM2.5 — is expected to push the Air Quality Index over 100, hitting levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions.
3 Officials warned vulnerable New Yorkers to stay indoors as fine particle pollution reached unhealthy levels.
Getty Images
Advertisement
The tiny particles can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, along with coughing, sneezing and shortness of breath. They can also worsen asthma and heart disease.
The alert is expected to remain in effect until Sunday.
It's the latest smoke surge to cloud city skies this year. An alert was also issued in early June, when ozone pollution and wildfire haze from Canada triggered warnings across the tri-state.
Advertisement
3 Smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires drifted south, clouding skies from the Adirondacks to the Big Apple.
Robert Sabo for NY Post
As of July 23, Canada has seen 3,345 fires in 2025 — scorching over 14 million acres, more than double the 10-year average. More than 50 remain out of control.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
28 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Millions Told to Monitor Themselves for Coughing, Dizziness
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Millions of people in Michigan were asked to monitor themselves for physical symptoms such as coughing and dizziness on Wednesday as an air quality alert was issued across the entire state. Newsweek reached out to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) via email for comment. Why It Matters A significant air quality advisory covered all of Michigan, warning millions to monitor themselves for respiratory symptoms such as coughing and dizziness. Health officials highlighted the increased risk from rising levels of fine particulate pollution—largely due to wildfire smoke—especially for sensitive groups including children, older adults and individuals with heart or lung conditions. Elevated particulate matter in the atmosphere can worsen chronic illnesses and lead to acute health issues, underscoring the urgent need for precaution. Similar alerts have been issued across the Upper Midwest and Northeast throughout the summer as smoke from Canadian wildfires descends into the U.S. What to Know EGLE issued a statewide Air Quality Advisory beginning Wednesday and extending through Thursday. It covers every Michigan county, affecting cities from Ludington and Grand Rapids to Lansing, Kalamazoo and Jackson. A stock photo shows a woman coughing while outside. A stock photo shows a woman coughing while outside. Liubomyr Vorona/Getty Officials reported that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels reached the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" threshold statewide, with select areas in northern Michigan experiencing even higher "Unhealthy" conditions. The source of the Air Quality Index (AQI) spike was smoke drifting south from Canadian wildfires, first affecting the Upper Peninsula before spreading through the northern Lower Peninsula and across Michigan by midweek. Forecast models indicated the haze would persist until at least Thursday, with the highest concentrations expected in northern counties. EGLE recommended minimizing strenuous or prolonged outdoor activities, especially for individuals with preexisting health conditions such as heart disease, asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Residents were advised to monitor for symptoms of smoke exposure, which include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, dizziness or sensations of burning in the nose, throat and eyes. Additional steps for reducing risk included: Keeping windows closed overnight to block smoke from entering homes. Running central air conditioning equipped with MERV-13 or higher filters, if available. Reducing or avoiding activities that contribute to air pollution, such as outdoor burning or utilizing residential wood-burning devices. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), certain populations—including children, older adults, pregnant individuals and those with chronic heart or lung diseases—face greater risks from wildfire smoke exposure. Social and economic factors, as well as frequent outdoor activities or work, can also increase vulnerability. The health effects of wildfire smoke range from mild irritation to serious aggravations of asthma attacks and even heart failure. Michigan residents can monitor real-time air quality data via the MiAir website and the national EPA AirNow platform. For further health guidance, they were directed to MDHHS resources and hotlines. What People Are Saying The National Weather Service posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday afternoon: "Northerly winds will continue to transport smoke from wildfires south into Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan today resulting in poor air quality. Sensitive groups, such as people with lung disease (including asthma), heart disease, and children and older adults, may experience health effects." MDHHS, on a webpage about wildfire smoke: "Climate change makes wildfire season worse. Hotter and drier conditions in North American forests mean that there is more dry wood and underbrush that can easily be ignited by a stray campfire spark or a lightning strike. Wildfire smoke is made up of gases and small (or fine) particles that can harm your health if you breathe it. Everyone should avoid breathing wildfire smoke, and some people are more sensitive to it because of their age or pre-existing health conditions." What Happens Next The statewide air quality advisory was expected to remain in effect through at least Thursday night, though conditions could change depending on weather shifts and the movement of wildfire smoke. State officials strongly encouraged residents to stay updated on air quality forecasts and to continue following protective health measures as pollution levels fluctuated. If health symptoms worsen—especially in individuals with known respiratory or cardiac conditions—prompt medical evaluation was recommended.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
NYC risks a $7.2 billion loss — if it ignores Trump's sensible homeless orders
New Yorkers are fed up with having to climb over drug-addled zombies and avoid mentally deranged vagrants on the streets and in the subways. But the city's far-left politicians insist the homeless should be catered to on their own terms: We must care for them wherever they choose to sleep and even give them clean needles to support their addictions — the public's fears and disgust be damned. Last week President Donald Trump took the people's side. Advertisement His new executive order aims to pull federal funding from the 'failed programs' that facilitate the use of illegal drugs and permit the mentally ill to roam the streets and subways. 'The overwhelming majority' of the homeless, Trump stated, 'are addicted to drugs or have mental health disorders or both. We want to take care of them. But they have to be off our streets.' Advertisement Trump wants civility. The president can't force New York to follow his order, but his funding threat sets up a clash with city and state officials. In 2024, federal cash — $7.2 billion in all, according to NYU's Furman Center — accounted for most of the money spent by the city's two housing agencies, and a significant share of the Department of Homeless Services' budget. Under Trump's edict, federal funds will go only to housing programs that require addicts and the mentally ill to receive treatment — and can't be used to facilitate drug use. Advertisement He's boldly declaring that law-abiding people deserve safe neighborhoods and transit. Trump is discarding orthodoxies that the homelessness industrial complex and its political allies have insisted on for decades. Like 'housing first' — the ubiquitous blue-state policy that offers the homeless permanent housing without making them enroll in addiction or mental-health treatment. Advertisement Billions have been spent on 'housing first,' and yet the number of homeless people is higher than ever. And like 'harm reduction,' another orthodoxy — providing clean needles, and even supervised injection sites, to make drug addiction slightly less deadly. Gotham was the first city to open drug-use centers where addicts can shoot up under the supervision of medical personnel, who intervene in case of an overdose. The perfect addition to any neighborhood. Voters need to weigh in, making it clear they want a livable city, not sidewalks strewn with syringes and subway stations swarming with the mentally ill. Start with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and the stark electoral choice between Republican Maud Maron and incumbent Democrat Alvin Bragg. On a recent July day, Bragg could be seen painting watercolors in Washington Square Park, totally content with the reality his policies have allowed: The park has become a dangerous drug den, with addicts shooting up just a few feet away from his easel while social workers passed out free syringes for 'harm reduction.' Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Maron, Bragg's November challenger, calls out harm reduction for what it is —'Orwellian doublespeak.' Advertisement 'It is harm amplification,' she told me, 'trapping addicts in their addiction and ruining public spaces for everyone else.' Even before Trump's new executive order, Mayor Eric Adams had indicated his support for involuntarily hospitalizing violently mentally ill vagrants. But in the upcoming mayoral election, leading challenger Zohran Mamdani is clearly on the side of the vagrants, not the public. Advertisement He insists the city should provide 'outreach' and services to the unhoused wherever they choose to flop, including in the subways. Mamdani wants to turn empty retail stores in subway stations into drop-in hubs for vagrants, a reckless proposal. Creating magnets that draw more homeless people into the subways would be a gut punch for New Yorkers who must ride the rails to get to work or school. Mamdani has been pushing this proposal throughout his three terms in the state Assembly — elected each time with no Republican opponent in the general election to question him. Advertisement One-party rule greased the skids for Mamdani to rise to the mayoral race. Adams succeeded in getting Gov. Kathy Hochul to include in this year's state budget a change in the state's involuntary commitment law, expanding it to apply to those incapable of meeting their own basic needs, not just those who are deemed dangerous. That's a step in the right direction — but Mamdani would take the city backward, ceding the streets to the crazies. The American Civil Liberties Union bashed Trump's proposal to hospitalize the severely mentally ill, saying it 'displays remarkable disdain' for 'vulnerable people.' The National Alliance to End Homelessness condemned it as 'undignified.' Advertisement But having to hug the subway wall for fear of getting pushed onto the tracks by a crazy person is undignified, too. Compassion for the homeless must be balanced with the safety and orderliness the rest of us deserve. Bragg and Mamdani overlook that imperative. Voters be warned. Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and co-founder of the Committee to Save Our City.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Trump targets New York drug ‘injection sites' where addicts consume with the city's blessing
Two city-approved 'safe' drug injection sites could be forced to close under a new executive order issued by President Trump, which rips the facilities, where addicts can use illegal drugs like meth, heroin and cocaine under supervision. Trump's July 24 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets' order says the feds should only fund 'evidence-based programs' and not fund 'so-called harm reduction or safe consumption efforts,' which he says 'only facilitate illegal drug use and its attendant harm.' Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) hailed Trump's edict. Advertisement 3 A new executive order issued by President Trump could force two controversial city-approved 'safe' injection sites — where drug addicts can use illegal drugs like meth, heroin and cocaine under supervision — to close. 'I urge the Department of Justice to take immediate action and shut down these centers and put to an end once and for all their operations,' Malliotakis said. Back in January 2021, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia previously ruled 'it is a federal crime to open a supervised injection site or 'consumption room' for illegal drug use,' overruling the District Court for the Eastern District decision. Advertisement Earlier this year, Malliotakis reintroduced her legislation — the Defund Heroin Injection Centers Act of 2025 — which would put into law Trump's executive order and permanently block federal funding for injection sites or 'illicit operations.' In February, she urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to close the two city injection sites operated by OnPointNYC. The two injection sites in the city are in East Harlem and Washington Heights. The injection sites were launched in November 2021 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city Health Department under former President Joe Biden — and continued under Mayor Eric Adams.. In 2023, then-Manhattan US attorney Damian Williams, warned Mayor Eric Adams' administration that the two sites were illegal — but no action was taken to shutter the facilities Advertisement 3 Trump's 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets' order, which was issued on July 24, states that the federal government should only fund 'evidence-based programs.' Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The city Health Department defended the injection sites Tuesday as a life saver. 'Syringe service programs play an invaluable role in New York City's successful efforts to prevent and reduce overdose deaths and have been proven effective — evident by the fact that the city saw the lowest number of overdose deaths in four years at the end of last year,' a Health Department spokesperson said. 'Since the 1980s, syringe service programs have reduced the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C and prevented countless deaths, while providing on-ramps to broader care. We all want a healthier and safer city but closing the doors to these programs will only further isolate the New Yorkers who rely on these services.' Advertisement 3 Rep. Nicole Malliotakis thanked President Trump for his actions, as well as calling out the Department of Justice 'to take immediate action and shut down these centers and put to an end once and for all their operations.' Michael McWeeney Mayor Adams also previously expressed support for opening more locations. OnPointNYC also has defended the program as a life saver by intervening in overdoses of users. But Malliotakis said government-sanctioned injection sites are destructive — to individuals and the surrounding community. 'Since 2021, New York City has allowed two illegal drug injection sites to remain open, and it's time to shut down these illegal facilities to protect public safety and the quality of life for all New Yorkers,' Malliotakis said. 'I thank President Trump for his executive order addressing homelessness and to end federal funding for all heroin injection sites — the very action my legislation would make permanent.' Trump's executive order also expands civil commitment procedures for individuals on the streets or in the subway with serious mental illness who pose risks to themselves or others. It also prioritizes federal grants for jurisdictions that enforce prohibitions on open drug use and ends support for 'housing first' policies that fail to promote treatment and recovery.
