 Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us for today's public safety briefing led by deputy mayor for public safety fill banks Following our last speaker. We will take a few questions from the media followed by some questions that have been submitted by the public ahead of today's briefing I would now like to turn it over to deputy mayor fill banks. Good afternoon and welcome We are here today to give an update on the ongoing air quality health condition as a result of the smoke that's coming from the wildflowers in Canada I'm joined here today by the New York City emergency management We refer to it as nice some commissioner Zachary is cool The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner doctor for son And also the mayor's office of climate and environmental justice acting executive director Victoria Cervillo Conditions may appear to have improved Since early this week But does does not mean that we are in the clear particularly for sensitive groups and those groups includes adults children and teenagers People with lung diseases such as asthma heart disease diabetes and people who are active outdoors So it's a few things that we want to start with we want you to stay indoors as much as possible If you can stay indoors, we will like for you to stay indoors if you do need to be outside We ask that you mask up with the high quality and well-fitting in 95 or K 95 mass When you're inside your home keep the air cleaning by closing the doors and windows if possible and Certainly last without lease know your risk and your risk factors We need you to check on your loved ones your friends and your neighbors and with that we're gonna first hear from Mr.. Iskall Zachary. Yes, sir. What's going on? All right? Thank you, sir. Appreciate the time to be able to do this update and always great to be here with you and with Dr. Basson our fellow colleagues First off just want to start by saying, you know, we're with our Canadian neighbors to the north You know, we know how tough this is for them and we wish them all the best in their endeavors to fight these fires and We are thinking of them. I also just want to say excuse me How proud I am of our team not only at New York City emergency management, but across the city? My team in particular, we've been managing, you know, our respite center operations the migrant crisis asylum seekers We've been in a full-on activation now for over a month and the team has really done a remarkable job On this endeavor along with our agency partners Times like this The number one thing that we need to worry about for these types of events is protecting our city's most vulnerable And that's exactly what our city and our fellow agencies have been doing It started last Thursday on June 1st With some notifications that went out through notify NYC, which is the city's advanced warning system It's really important that everybody signs up for notify NYC. This is where we give you information on everything from traffic weather events Any types of information you need to know to keep yourself and your loved ones safe comes through notify NYC We have over a million subscribers It's available in 14 languages including American sign language You can sign up by going to 311 by downloading the app Or by going to NYC.gov Backslash notify so we started messaging about really, you know What people need to do recommendations and about sort of some issues with air quality going back to last Thursday Still this is something that's been very fast-moving very difficult to predict and Forecast air quality and smoke generally the forecast only goes 24 hours out and We didn't see any forecasting of the levels that we saw a couple days ago And yet still the city responded very quickly to protect our most vulnerable Doing expanded outreach through Department of Social Services with our homeless outreach teams This is similar to the stuff that we would do during what we call a code blue Which is what we do during winter weather or extreme cold weather or a code red, which is what we do during heat really making sure we're outreaching to Our most vulnerable and making sure that we're doing everything we can to protect our homeless We also had mayor's office in many affairs reaching out to immigrant communities reaching out to delivery workers making sure They had the information that they need MOPD Department of the Aging Doing their outreach in addition to all the hospital surveillance and EMS surveillance Of response times to make sure that again, we're protecting our city's most vulnerable In addition to that we are now distributing masks across hundreds of firehouses and precincts across the city And so I encourage everybody to to take advantage of that really important when we think about emergency preparedness We tell everybody to have a go bag, you know to be prepared You are your own first line of defense in an emergency One of the things that you really should have in your go bag is masks for yourself and your loved ones and your family members people living with you So now's an opportunity to do that. You can get them at your local precinct or firehouse In terms of where we are with the forecast Again, I always want to caveat this by saying Air quality and smoke are very very difficult to forecast With that said it looks like things are moving in the right direction Air quality is very very improved today Current visibility is unrestricted AQIs, which is the air quality index. You can see that on the screen right now is within 30 to 60 That's in the you know, generally the the green to moderate zone Meaning really in the higher ranges in the forecast today for as a high of a possible 105 That really means that the the only people that really need to be concerned and Dr. Visam will go into this a little bit more our people with specific conditions Through the weekend tonight, we are monitoring one plume on satellite imagery that could move back across the city tonight Nothing like what we saw the last couple of days. Hopefully again difficult to forecast and then looking for improvements throughout the weekend We then have a front moving in Monday Tuesday that should push everything out But again, this is the new normal in this era of climate change The fires are still raging across Canada And so we will continue to monitor this and make sure everybody has the information they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe Again cannot emphasize this enough that starts with notify NYC So please make sure that you you download it you sign up for it or you call through on one to get it Thank you. Thank you commissioner. So let's let's go over. So the normal normal ear We're saying is when it's between Approximately 30 to 60 so that that's the that's where we are today in the city Normal is and doctor some what is normal in the city generally? Is it about? 50 for this time of year. We're normally between zero and 50 which would be in the green or healthy Levels though as you've said and we've said before it's not uncommon when you have a period of high temperature And not too many storms high heat to have a a day where they QIs above 100 for a day But typically it doesn't last long so now if you need a mask Right and we're suggesting that if you have we want you to stand indoors if you if possible But we know that that's not always possible if you do have to go out We want you to to stay with it in 95 or K 95 a well fitting mask If you need one we can go to a police Precinct or firehouse or firehouse to be able to to pick up a mask for yourself. Yes, sir They're correct. So now with this plume coming in and let's dispose of the schedule to come in win So we're looking at this possibly coming in sometime Later this evening overnight again very hard to predict it depends on the winds But we do see a smoke plume to the west further to the west Okay, okay, so just you know we want everyone to know that the ferries operating on normal schedule or City services are continuing with the exception of alternate side parking. I don't know if that's a city service But that will be suspended for today that has been suspended for today Beaches are open today and again, we will continue to monitor the situation But we do expect them to be open throughout the weekend Okay, so doc rehearse from you, but we need to go to a little more clarity So doc is the top doctor in the city and he's not going to be shoe. Thanks deputy mayor Good to be here with you this afternoon. I'm Ashwin boss in the New York City Health Commissioner here to give you the official health Guidance on my behalf and on behalf of the Department of Health Just want to clarify a little bit on Deputy mayor's comments and other previous comments about specific guidance to New Yorkers for today and for the coming days Over the weekend as we look outside as you can see the skies are clearing. This is good news The morning air quality index was in the mid 60s. That's down from 400 Plus just a few days ago. It's still a little higher than normal as I just said It's usually below 50 between 0 and 50 and we're typically at healthy levels We expect to get there as Commissioner Eskel said in the coming days Forecast suggests that this improved weather will continue, but the aqi could fluctuate over the weekend We do not expect it to reach hazardous levels though again Qualifying that with what Commissioner Eskel said. It's hard to predict what wins will do With all of these changes that means our guidance to New Yorkers changes Rather than encouraging everyone to stay indoors as much as possible We recommend limiting time outside and reducing activity levels if you are unusually sensitive to particle pollution What that means for New Yorkers is people with heart or breathing problems or older adults May be still sensitive to the current conditions in the air These people should limit time outdoors and should avoid prolonged and intense outdoor activities For all New Yorkers listen to your body if your eyes are watering or your throat is sore or you're out of breath Go inside if you can if you cannot go inside Please put on a high filtration mask and of course if you're really having trouble breathing If you're suffering chest pain if you're suffering a severe shortness of breath If you're feeling dizzy like you want to pass out, please call 911 for children and families children with asthma are especially sensitive to poor air quality and should still limit time Outdoors as a father of three young kids I expect to be outside this weekend But I'm going to check on how my children are feeling regularly Watching for watery eyes sore throats and shortness of breath and I'll bring them inside If they're showing any signs of this irritation parents and caregivers across our city should do the same for events Events can proceed as planned on public health grounds We'd recommend that New Yorkers as individuals gauge their own levels of risk and comfort with being outside If you have to be outside and you do fall into one of those high-risk categories Please wear a high filtration mask Those continue to be a useful tool if you want or need them and 95 masks are available For pickup at local police precincts and fire houses city-wide wearing a high quality mask Can reduce your exposure to harmful pollutants the clear air of course is a welcome change But we also know how quickly Conditions can deteriorate and wind can shift so please stay informed We have many tools to help our health department website nyc.gov Backslash health backslash air quality. You can follow us on Twitter Instagram and Facebook Sign up for notify nyc and follow the current air quality index at air now Gov we look forward to continuing to communicate with you in the days ahead should anything Change it's been an intense and a little bit scary week New Yorkers deserve a very pleasant weekend. Thank you Thank you, Don So make no mistake these wildfires wildfires are a climate issue Mayor Adams joined the mayors of Montreal Toronto Philadelphia and Washington DC today and issuing a call to action To governments at all levels to address the global climate crisis in the public health emergency Here in the city that work is handled by the mayor's office of climate and environmental justice And now I'd like to turn it over to the executive director Cirillo Thank You deputy mayor Good afternoon. I'm Vicki Cirillo acting director of the mayor's office of climate and environmental justice as We all know the poor air quality New Yorkers have experienced recently was the result of smoke from Canadian wildfires that spread to our region But those fires are a direct result of climate change Wildfires are getting more common around the world due to increased temperatures and drought This kind of thing has been happening in Brazil Indonesia and California now Canada Which has 9% of the world's forests? This year season in Canada has come early the intensity and number of fires are higher and Wildlife season is peaking earlier Unless we accelerate our efforts to combat climate change these fires and other extreme weather events will become more and more common One note that's extremely important to make this week's smoke Just like every other climate emergency to hit our city has the worst impacts on the most vulnerable as Dr. Vassan mentioned emergency room visits for asthma have increased in the past two days And we know that our city's biggest asthma clusters are close are located in areas that have borne the brunt of our city's pollution Those visits have now decreased, but the pre-existing conditions that lead to these disparate impacts remain The most important thing we can do is to continue our work to reduce our emissions So this problem doesn't keep getting worse To that end we're electrifying 100 schools by 2030 Focusing on areas that experience high childhood asthma hospitalizations We're phasing out dirty polluting number four fuel oil to 2025 in schools and 2027 in all buildings We are phasing out fossil fuels in city-owned buildings broadly and with local law 97 We are leading the nation in electrifying our buildings the city's largest source of emissions Because of the disparate impacts of air pollution We will be creating a low emissions freight zone in high pollution neighborhoods the first of its kind on the east coast We're cracking down on unlawful idling to reduce air pollution from truck traffic And we're helping New Yorkers that must drive to drive electric through creating a robust charging network New York City is leading the nation and the world in preparing our city for a warming changing world We will continue to focus our efforts on those most vulnerable to climate emergencies And we will build a more sustainable more resilient and more just New York for generations to come so now director you mentioned that Canada has what percentage of the of the world's Fossils nine percent nine percent But we have never experienced it in New York any of the the fires in Canada than now, right? So that is this could could this be a new norm for us as it relates to the fires in Canada As climate change is accelerating the conditions like drought that exacerbate wildfires. Yes You know for many New Yorkers we hear about the Firefights in California, and I know that you'd say wow you just you was well But now it's actually home and one of the ways in which we have to combat that is do information Intelligence and impact our information along so any of the points that you picked up here today That was used for valuable Please share it with someone who was not listening today And I certainly as important as anything you've heard today over the weekend As the doc said that he's going to be checking with his on his children Check on a neighbor check on a friend Give a call make sure we're all all right We can combat this if we combat it together and if we do not work together Then that road is going to be a very very steep uphill and I just like to to thank everyone here and don't you like that? Commissioner. Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Yeah, and you like that anything anything else? Okay Seeing as there's no hands raised in the chat. We will move to the public question portion So thank you earlier this week the administration reached out to new yorkers asking them to submit questions for the officials that have joined us here today We will now get to as many of those questions as we can with the amount of time that we have left Our first question comes from irina and queens for commissioner iskall. She asks Will there be strategies set in place to predict future poor air quality events? If so, how far in advance can we expect to see advisories? Um, it's a great question Um forecasting for air quality is notoriously difficult and not to over complicate this But there's also a difference between forecasting for smoke and forecasting for air quality Uh drivers of air quality, you know can be things like pollen other types of pollution Uh smoke is only one factor in this Uh, generally, uh, the forecasting is done by new york state's department of environmental conservation Uh, they put out their forecast every day for the next day and that forecasting for air quality really only goes out about 24 hours in advance It's my hope that we sort of get better at forecasting for air quality, but that's where the science is today Uh, there are some other Sort of ones that maybe go out 48 hours that you can watch, but I think as we saw this week Uh, monday's forecast for tuesday tuesday's forecast for wednesday were wildly off They were off by hundreds of points. Um, and I think that speaks to how difficult it is to do this um, and a lot of this is sort of Tracking at the day before Putting out the messaging Uh, and the day before if you see that it's it's the potential for poor air quality You know in the way that if you saw a potential for rain you take an umbrella Uh, take a mask out with you I believe dr. Basson already touched on this during his remarks, but we'll ask him to Reiterate it for synthia in queens who asks how do we keep our children elderly adults safe? How do we reduce our exposure and symptoms to pollutants? Yeah, it's a great question and I did address it. Um, if you have to be outside Wear a mask pay attention To the symptoms that your body might be feeling headache watery eyes itchy eyes itchy throat And really go indoors if you are feeling those symptoms If you are a vulnerable person if you have a medical comorbidity like Lung disease heart disease if you're at risk of stroke if your immune system is weak Um limit your time outside and certainly limit the amount of strenuous activity and for our kids Pay attention to how they're feeling watch ask them how they're feeling watch how they're feeling And if they show any signs of not feeling well, bring them indoors And limit their exposure the air quality is going to fluctuate, but it's not going to be anywhere as hazardous as it's been over Tuesday and wednesday Next question comes from sherlyn and queens for executive director cerulo Who asks have you tested the air quality in order to know exactly what type of chemicals and particles have been in the air? Sure, well our department of environmental protection and department of health Do very high quality air monitoring? We are aware of pm 2.5 Which is the harmful toxic pollutant? I think we've all experienced a Much higher magnitude for the last couple of days something that we monitor regularly And it's actually what we're why we're doing the work that we're doing to reduce emissions Not only does pm 2.5 Um get emitted through wildfires. It's transportation. It's our buildings And so our climate and environmental justice efforts to reduce emissions Um are part of that work, but I will pass it to dr. Fresson for more. Yeah, thank you for that pm 2.5 is essentially a measure of the size of these part Particulates in the air and that we know that at a particular size 2.5 or higher That can cause damage damage to your lungs damage to your mucus membranes damage to your heart and your internal organs and so that's why we track that as a Measurable indicator and of course smoke is a major source of pm 2.5 Quantity so our car exhausts building exhausts Which is why this city has led for years and in this administration as well on reducing building emissions car emissions and improving the quality of our air overall such that Ordinarily in june. We are at healthy levels of pm 2.5 in our air Our next question comes from walliam and hadden for dr. Bassan who asks it is a major event Is there any guidance or advice for attending the belmont stakes this weekend? Thanks. Um, yeah events are proceeding as planned. Um, two messages if you are worried About attending an event, but you still would like to attend Please wear a mask if you certainly if you're attending an event outdoors and you Um fall into one of those vulnerable categories. You're a very young child your For parents, you're an elderly person or if you have an underlying medical condition Please wear a high filtration mask and for event organizers Think about who you're serving if you're organizing an event. That's primarily serving the elderly or primarily serving the disabled Think about whether you want to try to move that event indoors Or postpone it all together And our last question comes from Beatrice in the Bronx who asks For i'll ask this to the table for dr. Bassan As a person with chronic asthma While we can't predict the future as an expert. Do you believe that forecasts show? We will be able to return to work normally on monday Um, as commissioner iskill has said uh forecasting is a very difficult thing to do But if trajectories hold by the beginning of the week and with weather patterns, hopefully we're through all of this And people can return to their normal everyday lives. Look, i'm i'm an asthmatic too. I've had childhood asthma Um, I deal with it every day And this hasn't been super easy for me either Um, and so i'm concerned i'm wearing a mask if you're an asthmatic and you're worried about the air Wear a high filtration mask when you're outside And i would just add to that it and it's Beatrice in the Bronx. I do the questions from correct So to Beatrice and everybody else Please download it download or sign up for notify nyc Uh, you can go to 311. You can go to nyc.gov backslash or notify You can download the app But if we get to very significant hazardous conditions if the forecast changes That's going to be the primary way one of the primary ways that you can find that information You can also go to the health site. Uh, you can go to the air site As dr. Vasan said But uh, I would encourage you to sign up for that and that way you'd have the most up-to-date information to make That decision on monday. Thank you commissioner On behalf of the adams administration, I would like to thank everyone for tuning in to today's briefing We look forward to seeing you all at our next one. Have a great day