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.

Data Features: Interactive infographics and reports

The New York City Community Air Survey

NYCCAS Report: 2008-2022 In 2007, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Health Department) established the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS), …

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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 …

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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 …

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Data Stories: Narratives and explainers

Efforts to reduce air pollution should focus on neighborhoods with the worst health impacts This story was recently updated with new data. Every year in NYC between 2017 and 2019 (The most recent data available. See …


ZAPPA: A tool to understand air quality policies New York City’s air quality is generally good and has been improving over time. Still, air pollution threatens health: two …


An update on air quality during COVID-19 On March 20, 2020, New York State announced the COVID-19 shutdown, officially known as NY Pause. In NYC, it lasted until June …


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 PM2.5—or fine particulate matter—are tiny particles that pollute the air and result from everyday urban activities like …


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 A traffic health threat: air toxics Noise levels that harm health The benefits of cleaner fuel Special monitoring …


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, …