Per Gothamist:
The smoky haze descended on the Northeast from blazing wildfires in eastern Canada, covering swaths of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A stalled nor’easter in Maine is blocking the jet stream from following its normal movement, funneling the air mass south.The result? A thick smog that makes it hard to breathe and smells like one big campfire.
The city has issued a warning about outdoor activities...
We're in the worst of the conditions, but the Air Quality Health Advisory has been extended until 11:59 pm Thursday — which our teams have been anticipating.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 7, 2023
Mask up and limit your outdoor activities.
See real-time air quality: https://t.co/Ok9k6nidUG pic.twitter.com/EfceKRUu6Y
10 comments:
I always think Mayor Adams can't be any more incompetent than we've already seen, but he keeps proving me wrong.
Today was pretty bad. And on the ONE day when it's a good idea to wear a mask outside, I got mask-shamed by someone. Seriously? My lungs have been burning since morning.
Heard on Broadway earlier:
“Look, I am not a mask guy. I’m NOT. You know me. But this is too crazy. So I don’t know, you know….I said to myself, ‘hey, you gotta wear a mask today.’”
This!
@7:34pm: You got mask-shamed? That's b/c the person without the mask didn't have enough oxygen to their brain to think clearly! You can take comfort in knowing they were also damaging their lungs every single second they were outdoors without a mask.
PS: I seriously recommend you become impervious to being mask-shamed. Just ignore the idiots - and they ARE idiots.
"I always think Mayor Adams can't be any more incompetent than we've already seen, but he keeps proving me wrong."
Yeah! Where's the protective glass dome we were promised and should have gone up on day one?
@9:20am LOL! Like, what the hell could he have done differently?
@9:20 & 1:04 :
Adams himself said he was anticipating this situation, meaning he could have prepared, using public infrastructure to provide info and help much earlier. He could have:
–issued clearer warnings ahead of time (since we're not accustomed to wildfire smoke vs typical 'bad air days' in NYC); had N95/KF94 masks ready for distribution at schools, subway stations, public hospitals, libraries etc (and to do that, he could have not sold off PPE for pennies on the dollar last year), instead of waiting for the governor to send it 48 hrs in; canceled outdoor activities sooner and switched to remote school (with in-person hubs in every borough for kids without adults able to stay at home). The city could have invested in improving indoor air quality so fewer people would be scrambling now.
Just a few things off the top of my head.
Re Mask Politics, even in the face of a visible health hazard:
Went to the supermarket Wednesday afternoon, during the worst of the smoke. Had some spare N95 masks in a ziplock bag in my backpack. Saw a young man in a Fedex shirt, exerting himself, pushing a cart loaded with 20 or 30 boxes up the street. I pulled out a mask and offered it to him. "It's new and unused", I assured him. He looked at it and snapped, "What the F*ck would I want that for?!"
@7:28 AM
I don't know what kind of nanny state you imagine we live in but I can see a scenario where leftover covid masks were kept in storage by the mayor in case we need them for air quality issues caused by Canadian wildfires would elicit howls of waste and more claims of incompetence. All the preparation and contingencies you're suggesting for a few days of unexpected diminished air quality sound like overkill.
The tragedy occurring here is in Canada; it's a temporary inconvenience in NYC. Climate change notwithstanding. Some people hate they mayor, some people hate every mayor, but there's not really much to hang your hat on with this situation.
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