Air Quality in NYC (New York, Boston: for rent, neighborhoods, college)

[newgrad10]

I am a recent college graduate from Boston in the midst of a job search in NYC and I have a quality of life question. Just how bad is the air quality? I'm from a city so I'm not expecting perfect air but I have heard some horror stories about NYC's air. How is Manhattan vs. the outer boroughs, particularly Queens? I have been researching the following areas in Queens for renting and if anyone has any particular insight on the air quality in these areas, it would be most appreciated: Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Rego Park, Sunnyside, Woodside, Elmhurst. I don't have asthma so that doesn't concern me but is the air bad enough to cause serious health problems? How do Westchester/Nassau/northern NJ/Fairfield County fare in terms of air quality?

I've read that Bloomberg is taking a lot of steps to improve the air in the city. Are things moving in the right direction?

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

Air quality in NYC is bad all over, even in borough neighborhoods like Forest Hills, Kew Gardens and suburbs like Westchester and Long Island. Air quality scores negatively exceed averages. Manhattan has the worst scores, in large part due to old buildings that burn oil for heating. But quality in other neighborhoods is also unacceptable. There is nothing Bloomberg can do as part of the solution will require tearing up old buildings that burn oil. That said, there are other good reasons to live in NYC despite having poor air quality.

[Ghost of Blasphamany]

Sweetheart you just graduated from college, come to NY and enjoy the fresh air quality we have. Nothing smells better than a big city where hopes and dreams become reality. Its better than that fake city LA, where people pee in the river and then drink it too later on and live in slimy smog and pollution so you need not worry about NY. Queens has plenty of fresh air and quality is livable.
So feel free to join us here in NY. But I would recommend rooming with friend and splitting rent, it is one expensive place to be for one person. And yes things are moving in right direction in terms of air quality.

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

Check out this New York Times article on air quality, which includes all neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Bronx:

Survey Finds Street-Level Air Pollution in Manhattan - NYTimes.com

Also research the air quality index scores of NYC, Westchester and Long Island and compare to the national average.

That said, air pollution even at NYC levels has not yet been proven to cause cancer as much as smoking does. But asthma related to air pollution among children is pervasive in the NYC metro area (all boroughs and surrounding counties).

[nightcrawler]

Air quality in NYC, ?? how do you think it could be with all the trucks, buses, cars, taxis, and heaven knows what else.... and our Mayor Dumberg is worried about us breathing in second hand smoke.........
Here I work in an "industrial park" in Sunset Park in Brooklyn and there are truck, trucks, and more trucks......and I wonder how the air quality is here????????


but it is what it is.......and life goes on

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

It's not a simple matter of automobile emissions or the mayor's policies. A bigger cause of air pollution in NYC are old buildings that burn oil for heat. How is a mayor supposed to rip all those buildings apart? In Westchester, it's plain topography as polluted air gets trapped in the Hudson Valley. The Long Island counties are among the most polluted in the state.

But yes, the fact remains that NYC has severe air pollution. It's not a question of how to eliminate it but rather, how to live with it.

[tpk-nyc]

It's far, far better than it was. If you blew your nose in the 80s the tissue would turn black. Seriously.

[newgrad10]

Is the air literally bad enough to make you sick in most areas of NYC? I realize that the 8.5 million people that live there don't just drop dead. I don't mean to sound so alarmist but I'm generally a very health-conscious person so it's a bit of a concern for me. Not a deal breaker but a concern that I'd like to get as much info as possible on.

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

/\/\

It is bad enough to cause respiratory illnesses / asthma, especially among children. And some pediatricians say that kids typically outgrow their respiratory problems when they turn 8. But it hasn't yet been proven to be bad enough to cause cancer.