On December 15, 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the New York City Health Department issued its first comprehensive survey of street-level air quality at 150 neighborhood locations. The New York City Community Air Survey, conducted as part of the city’s PlaNYC long-term environmental sustainability plan, found wide variations in wintertime air quality across the city, with the highest levels of pollution occurring in areas with heavier traffic and areas with higher concentrations of oil-burning boilers in commercial and residential buildings.
The study found that Manhattan and the more built-up, high-traffic locations in the other boroughs have the city’s highest particulate levels, as well as higher concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and elemental carbon. According to the city, future reports will assess other patterns in air quality and relate them to seasonal changes in fuel use and atmospheric conditions. The Health Department collaborated in the survey with the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College and the City University of New York.