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Manhattan's Maple Syrup Mystery Has Been Solved

What is that Sweet Smell in Manhattan?
It's Blowing in the Wind - From New Jersey.

The Mayor’s office has determined for the first time the source of mysterious, sweet-smelling odors that have periodically been present in New York City since October 2005.

Ongoing chemical analyses had shown that the unknown substance was not harmful, but it was not until a week ago, when the City fully launched a new strategy and response protocol that included mapping the time and location of 311 odor complaints, overlaying wind and atmospheric conditions, and expediting field air sampling while New Yorkers were smelling the odor, that the smell could be identified and traced conclusively.

Crunching the numbers, found that the highest concentration of complaints was from the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan. They also discovered that incidents tended to occur on days when wind speed was moderate - fast enough to move odors across the region, but slow enough that they were not quickly dispersed. And the wind on these days generally moved from west to east, so that the wind in northern Manhattan tended to blow from Hudson and Bergen counties in New Jersey.

The review of wind and atmospheric conditions identified industrial facilities in the Bergen and Hudson counties of New Jersey as the probable source. Those facilities are involved in the production of food additives and fragrances. These companies routinely process odor-producing products such as foenugreek seeds, but the odor is only present in New York City when certain wind and humidity conditions are present.

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