 Good morning, you know Commissioner is goes by my one of my favorite commissioners, but whenever whenever I am here in this room. It's a problem You know yesterday New Yorkers saw and smelled Something that has never impacted us on this scale before even as I was out walking the streets Clearly, you knew something was happening that was beyond normal The screenshots really show you the mist in the clouds That was over our city We had dangerously high levels of wildfire smoke from thousands of miles away Thousands of miles away from the gloom over Yankee Stadium to the smoky haze Scurrying our skyline We can see it we can smell it and we felt it and We was alarming and concerning Last night at 10 p.m. The air quality index hit to 18 a very unhealthy level On the levels of health concern it really sent shockwaves throughout the entire city in this region and This morning at 7 a.m. The air quality index was a hundred and seventy four in the Bronx and Well and will remain around that level for at least another day But this is an unprecedented event in our city and New Yorkers must take precaution The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued in air quality health advisory for all five boroughs Our team is coordinating and deputy first deputy mayor Sheena Wright will go into that coordination But at the moment we recommend vulnerable New Yorkers stay inside And all New Yorkers should limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible This is not the day to train for a marathon or to do an outside event with your children Stay inside close windows and doors and use air purifiers purifiers if you have them if you are an older or have Heart or breathing problems on older adult You should remain inside And if you must go outdoors wear high quality masks such as a K95 our students are in school today But the chancellor has cancelled all outside of events as an abundance of caution These recommendations may change. This is a moving Situation and we will keep New Yorkers informed on any changes based on updated air quality Conditions in the meantime We recommend all New Yorkers take the precautions That they see fit to protect their health air quality conditions are anticipated to temporarily improve later tonight Through tomorrow morning, but they are expected to deteriorate further tomorrow afternoon and evening We want everyone to check the air quality forecast from local media outlets the National Weather Service or Other weather air quality apps that you can access on the goal Well, maybe this may be the first time we've experienced something like this on this magnitude Let's be clear. It is not the last Climate change is accelerated these conditions. We must continue to draw down Emissions improve air quality and build resiliency New York City is clearly a national leader on public health and climate action And these dangerous air quality conditions are clearly an urgent reminder that we must act now to protect our city environment and The future of our children's finally I'd like to point out That we have the city's best doctors and hospital administrators working on our team We have the best emergency management the best Climinologists and many other skilled and dedicated people working for the city and help it make these decisions I urge all New Yorkers to listen to them and Draw on their expertise as we cycle through this issue now I want to turn it over to the emergency management Commissioner Commissioner Isko Good morning everybody Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Thanks for being here today to talk about this smoke issue here in New York City So as many of you know smoke traveling from the current wildfires along the Canadian border has significantly impacted air quality here in New York City and throughout the Northeast This is something that began to rapidly deteriorate yesterday afternoon Smoke is something that is notoriously difficult to forecast Unlike weather, there's a lot more variables that go into the creation of smoke For one the amount of fire being created on the ground the ability of firefighters To actually put out those fires What is actually burning and then in addition to that you have all the complexities of The forecasting of the weather systems that could then drive that smoke into this area And so the air quality Significantly diminished rapid deteriorated late yesterday as a result New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Issued an air quality health advisory which will be expended extended at least until midnight tonight We expect this to be a multiple-day event So we expect that that advisory to remain in place for the next few days Again, it is notoriously difficult to forecast smoke and these types of events As the mayor said wildfires are growing Increasingly more common around the world due to increased temperatures and drought We've seen this happen in Brazil in Indonesia in California now in Canada Canada has nine percent of the world's forests and this year's fire season has actually occurred early in Canada The intensity as well as the number of fires is far higher than usual Usually it peaks in July. So this is something that we can continue to see possibly over the next few months New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and our agency emergency management Advises everybody to limit outdoor activity as much as possible We're also urging New Yorkers to keep your windows closed if you're using an air conditioner Be sure to close the fresh air intake to prevent outdoor air from entering your home And as the mayor said latest smoke models show Further deterioration in the early afternoon through tomorrow morning With smoke conditions possibly looking better Sometime tomorrow during the day with improvements possibly tomorrow night into Friday morning But again difficult to forecast this is going to be a multiple-day event. It is very very important that all New Yorkers Sign up for notify NYC you can sign up by calling 311 by going to nyc.gov backslash notify NYC Making sure that you're getting the information you need following our social media channels To stay attuned of the information that is being put out there about air quality Finally we've been putting out a lot of notify NYC messages over the last 24 hours We've also been hosting interagency meetings and meeting consistently with City Hall As I said finally before turning it over to dr. Basson The best protection especially if you are somebody who is vulnerable is to stay indoors for now And to make sure you have the information you need to keep yourself and your loved ones safe now We're doing dr. Basson. Thank you commissioner is cool. It's good to be here Under a challenging circumstances. I'm health commissioner Ashwin Voss in the city's doctor This air quality event which for a time yesterday gave us the worst air quality in New York City since the 1960s Presents real health risks the fine particulate matter in the air can get into people's lungs cause inflammation and worsen conditions like asthma chronic lung disease or underlying heart conditions older adults may be particularly vulnerable due to declines in lung function and weaker immune systems children may also be more susceptible due to to poor air quality because their lungs are still developing our Guidance right now our health guidance to all New Yorkers is to limit outdoor activity as much as possible This is especially true for older adults people with underlying chronic medical conditions or issues with their immune systems and Young children who me who all may be at elevated risk avoid going outside unless you absolutely have to For people who must be outdoors a high quality mask like an N95 a KN 95 or a KF 94 is recommended For doctors and providers seeing patients in their clinics and hospital Please follow the steps taken by our colleagues at New York City health and hospitals and consider rescheduling Appointments or converting appointments to telehealth for your elderly or vulnerable patients These are exactly the New Yorkers. We least want to be exposed to this air quality event I know that if today was one of my clinic days I would be doing the same and for other organizations that serve medically vulnerable people in the community Please consider doing the same yourselves As you've seen city agencies are adapting this guidance to their own contexts like schools To protect New Yorkers that they serve and represent Local and community leaders should do the same to spread this information within their networks following official health and agency guidance and Tailoring this messaging to their communities The situation is not static as has been reiterated by the mayor and Commissioner Iskall it may get better in the next several days But this is a multi-day event and as a result our guidance may evolve as a result As the mayor has said we're monitoring this situation closely and have been since the state first issued its air quality warning yesterday New Yorkers should follow the air quality forecast from local media outlets And the national weather service and we will keep you up to date as well by amplifying this information Partnering with the state's department of environmental conservation We provide real-time updates and our partners at NISM have issued regular alerts The health department provides continuous monitoring of air quality And we will also share these updates as we have been doing since yesterday around midday But it is a reminder As the mayor has said Climate change is real it is here The extreme weather and disasters like these wildfires thousands of miles away land right here in our great city and impact our health We are all connected in this global challenge and no one is spared As we have done for years. We are here to keep New Yorkers healthy and safe as possible. Thank you First deputy mayor Sheena Wright as the mayor has said there has been a level of interagency coordination Certainly over the past 24 hours The first deputy mayor chief of staff chief advisor the deputy mayors as well as all the commissioners Our team continues to coordinate with the health department environmental protection emergency management nypd fdny DOE department of consumer and worker protection And numerous additional agencies across the city to make sure that we're gathering the right information For new yorkers as quickly as possible At the moment you've heard the advice from our leaders here And we really encourage new yorkers to take heed of that advice We will continue to push out relevant information as a result of the interagency meetings and coordination. Thank you I'll start with the second question We've been in touch with our colleagues at the greater new york hospital association And as well in discussion with dr. Katz and his team at health and hospitals and thus far We are not seeing an uptick in emergency room visits due to Compromise or complications from this air quality event that could change and we're monitoring that Closely you raise an important point about underlying air quality There are obviously neighborhoods in our city with worse air quality than others Which is a function of and higher rates as a result of asthma and chronic lung disease Which is a function of the environmental exposures as well as housing and other Impacts the major thing we're asking for is for trusted community messengers In those neighborhoods to amplify this message follow the official guidance. Do not become Subject to rumors tweets anything on social media follow this official guidance for this rapidly moving situation And we will be in close touch with all of you if that situation changes Mr. Mayor the recommendation has been to limit physical activity Trash trash collection continue this morning. Is any consideration being made to discontinuing trash collection? Good morning. Yes our regular trash collection Commenced this morning early this morning and our workers are showing up So service is being provided to all new yorkers and we have no intention of discontinuing our regular trash collection service Oh, sorry Mira's oh she deputy mayor for operations The My reaction I was indoors just doing some work and when we sent out our first communication I took notice of it But it wasn't until I went outdoors and basically said, you know, what the hell is this? You know, it was it was clear. There was something different that was happening in the city and deputy mayor right and The chief of staff started convening all the agencies and During the coordination on how we were going to move forward, but anyone that was outdoors yesterday You clearly saw that there was something that was happening In in the city that was different And it was sort of alarming to see and I reached out to some of my family members that still were respiratory issues And told them that, you know, I think it's it's best for you to stay indoors if you plan on going going out chancellor Yeah, so all activities today after school have been canceled We have directed all schools To keep students inside so there's no outdoor lunch today for schools that that generally experienced that But we will be in further touch with our schools for for tomorrow in the succeeding days As we follow the the direction the Department of Health and the mayor's office We will keep our parents and our families informed Sir, I know that you said a moment ago That you did not see an impact to the hospital systems in y can explain to us. Was that to be expected? Is that perhaps a better than you expected and are you doing anything to step up? I think Part of why we're here today is to talk about What we don't want to happen and we're issuing this guidance so that as few people as possible with underlying medical vulnerabilities End up exposing themselves to this thing that we're all exposed to We are all exposed to this, but we all don't have the same level of risk of a medical complication And that's due to our underlying health status and the comorbidities and underlying conditions and age Vulnerabilities that I described and so I you know We part of why we're here talking about this is because we don't want to end up in a position where we do see an uptick in our Emergency departments. We are prepared our hospitals are prepared They're issuing the greater new york hospital association is issuing a sit-stat report and an announcement to all of the hospitals in the area And I know dr. Katz if he might want to talk about what's They're doing at health and hospitals as well Good morning, dr. Mitch Katz CEO of new york city health and hospitals I checked right before today as to whether or not there We're seeing any additional volume in the emergency departments where you would first see it So far not, but I want to point out that the rapid deterioration yesterday Fortunately for new york city occurred after the busy work hours So most people by that time were already at home and I think part of the importance of today is This is now the busy time in the city and especially through the afternoon, right? We don't want people outside But the things you would you would expect to see are more asthma attacks more heart attacks more people coming in with angina chest pain due to Not sufficient oxygen. This has all been well documented of what happens with bad air quality There's no there's no scientific question as to the negative impacts of bad air quality In the fires in california. They were able over time to see the harm and and That's why it's so important to us that people especially people who are vulnerable stay inside You said that the quality level last night was 218 and it's 174 this morning But those who don't know you tell us what the trigger number is Where you all start to have these meetings that we're hearing about that number that you said, okay now we need to Do what? Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for your question. So uh Once you hit 100 in the aqi that generally results in a Excuse me a notification From new york state de c This time of year It's very normal to have a rating over 100 right you have pollen in the air. You have different weather events The heat Pollution so it's it's sort of normal to hit 100. What's not normal is to go above 150 So when that happened that is something that I mean has rarely occurred I think you have to go pretty far back to find a time when We were ever above 200 it may never have actually happened in new york city in city We're sort of looking at historical data to see what the precedent is for this But in terms of triggers, I think it's an interesting question One of the things that we now have to start doing to deal with these sort of new types of climate events Is develop triggers like we have for other types of weather events So we knew we had a problem once we went above 150 and that's when we convened But this is not something that is normal You know The other types of weather events where we sort of an off-the-shelf plan that leads to certain specific actions So that's something that we are now developing Yep, thank you Hi, I I have a couple questions. This is for dr. Vasan. How do you know if you've been impacted by the smoke? Are there short-term? Symptoms in healthy people In healthy people, I think all of us healthy people who were exposed Last night to the highest levels of this air quality could feel something was different The air quality is bad. Maybe our eyes were stinging It was just a little bit harder to breathe or you started to get a little more fatigue walking up a flight of stairs or walking a couple of blocks Um, so that's the kind of thing we're looking for respiratory Compromise difficulty breathing Increasing fatigue potentially symptoms around the eyes and the nose nasal irritation throat irritation eye irritation Those are the things that healthy people are likely to expect From being exposed to this extremely poor air quality. We're most concerned about people who walk into this situation with underlying respiratory compromise meaning their lung function for whatever reason is Less able to manage oxygen in the air requires more oxygen To actually sustain life and to go about their business and when we see lower percentages of oxygen due to pollutants they struggle to breathe And those folks may experience extreme shortness of breath could be associated with chest pain sharp chest pains Lightheadedness dizziness all as a function of the inability to get oxygen out from the air and deliver it to the vital organs Of the body, you know, it's summer. There are several outdoor events Um There's a women's race in central park this weekend. Have you been in consultation with their directors to ask them to cancel or postpone the race Yeah, the mayor's office and city hall is in close consultation with a whole host of private entities That are holding events and planning to hold events this this uh weekend and in the coming days Our guidance as we said is that all new yorkers should limit their outdoor exposure Stay indoors if you can unless it's necessary if you do need to go out or you choose to go out wearing a mask is recommended Thank you, uh for the chancellor or the mayor a colleague Spoke to parents at at least two public schools that were getting messages that Lunch was still planned for outdoors another school had a field trip planned. I'm just wondering what the discrepancy is there Um, you and the other officials are saying that all outdoor activities are canceled That's apparently not happening and Kind of as a follow-up to that might that be a result of the fact that the advisory was issued so late last night That it might not have reached everyone Not sure if that was enough, but but the word has gone out Um, if there are specific schools that you've heard that about I'd love to know uh, who they are what schools those are Uh, but but the entire system has been fully notified There are no trips that should be planned. There is no outdoor activity today We are in the midst of Of a serious situation and we don't want to put the health of any of our kids In jeopardy So I don't know if there's a specific Principal or a teacher that wasn't aware when you spoke to them. I'm not sure But the system at large has been fully notified And what's the reason why the advisory was issued so late? It didn't come until 11 30 at night Even though air quality has deteriorated all day yesterday We started the first communications from the department of health and mental hygiene was Extremely Uh proactive as we saw The air quality continued to erode And this was an extremely fast moving issue We had several tweets throughout the day several communications several coordination This was an extremely fast moving and the team was on top of this At the beginning of the day of the beginning of the afternoon I should say and continue to move so so what we should Really try to prevent doing is to give any indication of that this administration Did not proactively respond and did not move in the right direction to let new yorkers know Chris let's not create a controversy where there is none The team did his job He's did his job Is it his job and communications were taking place throughout the day Of this is an issue of the cloud you see over new york city Was a fire Thousands of miles away. This is the challenge we're doing and what they're going to be more issues like this And there's no blueprint or playbook For these type of issues is the most important thing we can do as we've done table tops In this administration you want to be as prepared as possible But there is no planning for an incident like this Proper preparation allows us to convene ourselves so we can make the right decision and the right calls And that's what the deputy mayor and the chief of staff Did by bringing the team together To respond to this unprecedented event. There were no late notifications We started in the early afternoon and we continued throughout the day Our role as an administration is to make sure that we give good information, but don't create panic That's what we're doing. That's what we did yesterday. And that's that is what we're doing now It's a waste of time for Anytime anyone calls the fdny or the new york city police department We're going to respond. There are no false alarms for us We have an obligation responsibility Of someone calls they smell smoke in their homes We're not going to try to analyze that we're going to immediately go there Because timing is everything and we know that an incident like this where it is smoke and not just a cloud It can sense a a force belief that you're having to fire at your home But we're going to respond to every call. We're not going to try to determine if it's accurate or not Uh, commissioner iskall, you said there's a possibility we could see air quality like this more over the next few months Do you know what that could look like? Would it be the same as what's happening now? I know this is unprecedented I was just curious. I don't there's too many factors predict So, you know, I think what we do know is that fire season has come early We know that generally fire season in canada's in july We know that we're seeing unprecedented number of fires And the difficulty they have putting it out You put that together it is likely that we will see further events like this Um, Mr. Mayor or Dr. Hassan has there been any conversation about giving out free N95 or other types of high quality masks to vulnerable communities, especially in places like nitja Yeah, thanks for that question and there has been conversation. I think we're working through that plan now there's obviously ppe that we've stockpiled throughout the pandemic and Deploying that appropriately is something we've definitely considered um and are considering I think the Important message is that community organizations that serve these vulnerable populations in vulnerable zip codes with medic underlying medical comorbidities Really need to take this official guidance and tailor it to their communities The city will do everything we can to make it easier For people to get the tools they need Um, Mayor Adams, I don't want to insist on the earlier point But it sounds to me that you said earlier that the alerts didn't come from the agencies But rather that it was your initiative to reach out to the agencies. Can you go into that a little bit more? I'm understanding the question The alert of noticing that there was something wrong You said you were indoors, but then you went outdoors and you realized something was wrong And then you reached out you reconvened the agencies. No, I did not say that. Let me do let me say this again Around noon the department of health and mental hygiene started sending out communications via social media as the Problem rapidly moved There was a convening by the deputy mayor and the chief of staff of all of our agencies They coordinated that from taking place My first visual Of what was happening is when I went outdoors in the late afternoon That's when the first time I saw it actually on myself. We were already kicked in gear We already started notifications. We already started bringing together the team My first visual was when I went outdoors. That was not when the first time the team kicked into gear That was my first visual Hi, I'm just wondering do we um, do we have any advice for people who stay in indoor? Like do we need like um air filters because some buildings might not have you know, like the best kind of air filter insisting in gear And what was the question was do we have advice? Um, do we have any like better advice for people who stay indoor like staying in their home? Do they need better air filter machines or something? The doctor was clear that if you're home leaving windows closed as much as possible particularly if you're dealing with uh help health pre existent health conditions Uh, it's about taking the necessary precaution You know every house does not have an air filter or any form of air conditioners that relieves Any improper air from the outdoors But if you are home one of the best things you can do is leave your windows closed your door closed and avoid going outside Sure on topic. Uh, you mentioned there was no blueprint for this I mean obviously cities at west have been dealing with this for a while You know in the bay area they have these spare the air days where people are encouraged to Take public transit or given sort of free passes. I think for buses and trains I wonder if you would support something like that here or talk to the mta about something like that well, I think that as as uh, Commissioner isko stated Getting over the 200 level something that's never happened in the city before and I think climate change Is going to force us to rethink the conditions that we're going to be facing And we're going to have to rethink how do we Encourage people to use not only alternate transportation Keeping stockpiles of n95s when when it's needed There's so this is a new universe that we're in And we are forward thinking Commissioner isko reached out to california and their communications They're reaching out if he has not already to california to have communications because they've dealt with air quality So many times before and so this is new ground We are the leader around these environmental issues and we're going to continue to do so And as they come up, we have to pivot and shift Based on the issue that's in front of us and that's something this administration has done time and time again Um, just one thing I want to add to to clarify that point about our planning process So just because we don't have a plan specifically for Fires in canada causing pollution here in new york city and what those triggers might be for us taking certain actions At the agency we do have what we call all hazard plans So there are still things that we can modify and use for these types of events But I think the point still stands that there is work that needs to be done to deal with these specific types of issues Going forward just like we would with winter weather With extreme rainfall with hurricanes and other types of weather events