Mysterious Odour over New York
Mysterious odour permeates parts of New York City
15:10 Monday January 8th 2007
Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odour today that stretched across a large part of Manhattan, including the Rockefeller Centre.
The Fire Department began getting calls about the smell at around 9am, said spokesman Tim Hinchey.
No source had been identified.
There also were unconfirmed reports of a similar smell across the river in New Jersey.
Utility officials with Consolidated Edison had no immediate comment.
In August, a gaseous smell hit parts of Queens and Staten Island, sending seven people to hospital.
Is this more paranoia or what?? My money is on smog....
Noo Yawk blames Noo Joyseee
Unison.ie; A mysterious gas-like odour that covered much of Manhattan, had residents flooding emergency phone lines with worried queries and caused rail disruptions yesterday most likely emanated from New Jersey, a city environmental official said today.
Authorities have yet to identify the odour, though Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday there was no indication that the air was unsafe to breathe.
Federal officials also quickly discounted the possibility of terrorism.
The likely culprit is a neighbour that years ago earned an unenviable reputation for nose-wrinkling scents.
The stench seems to have come from New Jersey, according to Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection.
``With the way we tracked the dispersion of the smell and the prevailing winds indicates that it came from New Jersey, somewhere near Secaucus,'' Sturcken said today.
Sturcken said that the smell could have been caused by mercaptan, the chemical added to normally odourless natural gas to make it easily detectable, but he said nothing has been confirmed.
