Editor's note: The video above aired on June 3, 2024.
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Friday marks one year since the record-high Air Quality Alert that plunged New York City and the surrounding area into a smoky haze.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Big Apple and the tri-state area on June 7, 2023. New Yorkers were encouraged to stay home and wear masks if they went outside – a sentiment parallel to the COVID pandemic in 2020.
The Air Quality Index reached 484 by 5 p.m. that day. The index tops out at 500, and anything over 301 is considered hazardous even for healthy people, according to AirNow.gov.
New York City ranked No. 1 in the world for worst air quality, over Delhi and Dubai.
Slideshow: NYC plunged into orange haze during Air Quality Alert
A person waiting for the subway wears a mask as smoky haze from wildfires in Canada blankets a neighborhood in the Bronx on June 7, 2023. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Pedestrians pass the One World Trade Center amid a smokey haze from wildfires in Canada on June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Smoky haze from wildfires in Canada blankets a neighborhood in the Bronx on June 7, 2023. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
In the middle of the afternoon, smoke from Canadian forest fires blankets the skyline of New York City, as seen from Brooklyn. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
A view of the hazy city during bad air quality as smoke of Canadian wildfires brought in by wind in New York. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
View of hazy New York city skylines during bad air quality because smoke of Canadian wildfires brought in by wind. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
View of hazy New York city skylines during bad air quality because smoke of Canadian wildfires brought in by wind. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
People wear facial masks because of bad air quality brought in by smoke of Canadian wildfires. (Photo by Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
People walk in Central Park as smoke from wildfires in Canada cause hazy conditions in New York City. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
People walk at Times Square, known as the World Capital of New York as smoke from wildfires in Canada spread badly in United States. (Photo by Eren Abdullahogullari/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Statue of Liberty is seen amid hazy conditions due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A view of the city as smoke from wildfires in Canada shrouds sky in New York City. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Hazy orange tinted skies as a result of bad air quality from smoke coming from Canadian forest fires, Queens, New York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Flights were grounded, beaches were closed and any city-run outdoor activities were canceled. The Food Bank For New York City was forced to cancel its annual meal distribution event, where volunteers planned to pack over 27,000 meals.
Officials with New York State distributed 400,000 masks to New Yorkers at subway stations, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, state parks and the Jacob Javits Center.
It probably won't be the last time the Big Apple experiences an unhealthy haze. More wildfires are possible this summer due to very dry areas in Canada, according to New York City Emergency Management Department Commissioner Zachary Iscol. In response, New York City has updated its Air Quality Alert guidelines.
Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.
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