Prior to last Wednesday, Lizzie Stoldt, a 27-year-old Manhattan publicist, had given little thought to Latest York City’s air quality.
“I had heart surgery once I was younger and even I had no concept that air quality was something I should worry about,” she said.
But as the sky turned smoky over the Big Apple last week, she began to fastidiously monitor the AQI – the air quality index – on her iPhone.
She was shocked when she passed 200 and eventually passed 400. (The EPA defines a healthy range as 0 to 50, and a moderate range as 51-100).
“It felt like I had smoked a complete pack of cigarettes, and seeing the numbers was confirmation,” she said. “I used to be like, ‘It is not just me. The air is just really bad.”
In recent days, the sky has been blue and the AQI has been in the good to moderate range. Nonetheless, experts have warned that smoke from the fires could return this weekend.
![New Yorkers were alarmed by the orange skies that hit the city last week as wildfires raged hundreds of miles away in Canada.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012320094.jpg?w=1024)
![A New Yorker covers his mouth while standing outside on June 7, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012346918.jpg?w=1024)
This time, Stoldt can’t be surprised. It fastidiously monitors air quality on a each day basis.
“Now it’s just change into routine. Open the weather app, check the temperature, check the air quality,” she said. “I can pull my mask off now if I want to… If it happens during the week, I’ll use that as an excuse to earn a living from home as an alternative of walking through smoke to get to work.”
Latest Yorkers are suddenly becoming aware of something Westerners have been aware of for years – air quality and the way it may suddenly and drastically be affected by distant fires.
Vigilant Gothamites now monitor the AQI as closely as they watch the rain on a summer Saturday.
AirNow, an app run by the US Environmental Protection Agency, gained 7.8 million recent users last week — 1.7 million of them from Latest York City, in line with the report.
![AirNow, an app run by the US Environmental Protection Agency, gained 7.8 million new users last week — 1.7 million of them from New York City, according to the report.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012794733.jpg?w=1024)
“I check air quality like a maniac,” tweeted social media user @stephginette of Brooklyn at 5 a.m.
“Now, each time I smell a barbecue outside, I check the air quality on my phone,” admitted one other, Mike Faraca, who lives in Latest Jersey.
Will Gregory, 33, who works in the tech industry and lives in the West Village, got a gadget from IKEA that monitors the temperature, humidity and air quality in his home.
He was fascinated to see the numbers change, he told The Post.
“The highest I got last week on Wednesday was 195, but that is nothing in comparison with what I cooked yesterday,” said Gregory, surprised. “I poured some oil into the pan and got distracted. It burned down and the number increased to 655.”
Watching the numbers approaching the weekend.
![Will Gregory checks the AQI at his West Village apartment.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012800160.jpg?w=1024)
“If it gets worse inside, I’ll should buy an air purifier,” he said.
On “normal” days, when smoky skies don’t make the news, he hesitates to inform people, especially strangers he meets at the bar, that he tracks air pollution in his apartment.
“It’s really not a subject that comes naturally,” he said.
But for anyone who asks – he has the information ready.
“Having data is cool,” he said.