Air quality
New York City’s air contains particles, drops of liquid, gasses, and other pollution that can affect health. Bad air quality can be particularly dangerous for older adults, children, and people with heart or lung conditions.
Air quality varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, based on local levels of emissions and many other factors. We monitor air quality using the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS), NYC’s comprehensive air quality monitoring and modeling network. NYCCAS allows us to understand neighborhood differences in air quality - and what contributes to those differences.
The New York City Community Air Survey
NYCCAS Report: 2008-2021 In 2007, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Health Department) established the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS), …
Real-Time Air Quality: PM2.5 in NYC
Fine particles (PM2.5) are among the most harmful pollutants. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 contributes to an estimated 2,000 excess deaths from lung and heart disease each year …
Your Neighborhood's Air Quality
We combine data from our air quality monitoring network, NYCCAS, with other data to understand what makes air quality in one neighborhood different from air quality in …
Efforts to reduce air pollution should focus on neighborhoods with the worst health impacts. Every year in NYC between 2015 and 2017 (the most recent years for which this analysis is available), fine particulate matter …
ZAPPA: A tool to understand air quality policies How do we know what air quality policies will have the biggest effect? New York City’s air quality is generally good and has …
An update on air quality during COVID-19 Big improvements in outdoor air quality during COVID-19 reveal impacts of traffic and commercial cooking On March 20, 2020, …
Tracking changes in New York City's sources of air pollution As city life changes, so does its air quality, as sources of emissions that affect the city’s outdoor air quality, like …
The Public Health Impacts of PM2.5 from Traffic Air Pollution What is PM2.5 and why is it a health risk? PM2.5—or fine particulate matter—are tiny particles that pollute the air and …
Air quality during COVID-19 What happens when NYC stays home? The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of all New Yorkers. The outbreak has affected many …
Air quality snapshots: special findings from 10 years of NYCCAS Skip Nav Air quality snapshots: 10 years of NYC air quality monitoring A traffic health threat: air toxics Noise levels that …
Air quality in car-free areas Does the air improve in car-free zones? People often ask us this, and it’s a great question. To answer, we turn to the …
What our air quality monitors tell us about NYC's neighborhoods In Part 1, we looked at data from the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) - a network of about 100 air quality …
Breathe easy: NYC's air quality is improving The air we breathe can have a major effect on our health — air pollution can make asthma worse and can cause heart disease, …