B-roll, Video, Audio, & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Dangerous Air Quality

B-roll, Video, Audio, & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Dangerous Air Quality

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on the dangerous air quality across New York, as haze and smoke from the Canadian wildfires continue to spread throughout the state.

B-ROLL of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon. I'm Governor Hochul. I'm joined by our commissioners. We have Commissioner of Emergency Services Jackie Bray has joined me. She's been at every crisis at my side from the very beginning. Thank you, Commissioner Bray. We have Basil Seggos, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. We also have [James] McDonald, our Commissioner of Health.

I did want to give some updates on the Canadian wildfire and what it is doing to the State of New York. And first of all, we want to talk about what I consider to be a health and environmental crisis. This is a very serious, dangerous situation. And I also want to thank our DEC and our commissioners for, literally for the last five days, sending out regular, consistent warnings to everyone about what was coming, how to prepare for it, and what we can expect going forward.

So, we have been talking about this, but yesterday the situation worsened considerably and certainly we're feeling those effects today. This is typically a west coast phenomenon. We're used to following the news of the fires out west as well as in Canada. And today we're talking about wildfires that are affecting the quality of life and the quality of the air here in our home state.

As we all know, the normal air quality index - safe, normal - is 50. Parts of our state have seen a level of over 400 in the last 24 hours, and that is a dangerous situation. I can give you updates. We have some of the high areas - Brooklyn, in the last hour was at 413. Again, safe level is 50. This is 415. Health warnings for everyone, the entire population is likely be affected.

Queens right behind Brooklyn. So, we're seeing these effects, that's 407 in the Queens area. That's an 800 percent increase over what is safe. And this is why we're very concerned. It has an immediate impact on people's health - irritation to the eyes, the nose, breathing, coughing, and even shortness of breath.

Our message right now is going to be reiterated multiple times because it is simply, stay indoors. Outdoors is dangerous in just about every part of our state, not just vulnerable communities, but literally everyone. We normally are accustomed to talking about children, babies, people with compromised immune systems, senior citizens, but this is something that's having an effect on everyone.

So, we're recommending that people cancel their outdoor activities. We know that some of the baseball games have been canceled. Outdoor activities from professional sports are canceled. And just plan your exercise even around this. You don't need to go out and run tonight. You don't need to go out and take a walk. You don't need to push the baby in the stroller. This is not a safe time to do that. I want to reiterate that.

I just got off a Zoom call with my grandbaby down in Washington. They're keeping her indoors because the air quality is being affected even that far away. So, this is a very serious matter.

Also, to protect people, we believe that the N95 mask is an important way that people can protect - stop the air particles from getting into their lungs. That is why I'm announcing we are making available 1,000,000 N95 masks. They will be made available at state facilities. We have over 400,000 distributed to members of the public at state parks, MTA stations, Javits Center, Port Authority Bus Terminal and anywhere else people need them. We're also having 600,000 masks available at Homeland Security stockpiles for local governments to pick up.

So we're doing a Zoom call tonight and my team will be speaking to the Association of Counties, the Conference of Mayors, all across the state to let them know that these resources will be available to them. And if there's anything else they need, we are here to help.

Speaking of helping, we're trying to help our neighbors in Canada. I just got off the phone minutes ago with the Canadian Consul General Tom Clark, and he told me what they're seeing is unprecedented. Compared to an average 10 year period, the number of fires they're experiencing right now is up 100 percent. I'm sorry - 14,000 percent. And so I offered our help.

We offered fire rangers to be deployed to assist them, and they said that they're looking at the request and they'll be certainly getting back to us. I think this is such a scale with over 285 fires right now in Canada, 175 that are considered out of control - and these are his words as of the last hour - that they're trying to assess where they need the most help.

So, we need to be prepared for more fires from Canada and also our own state. We are at a fire risk in our own state because it is incredibly dry, especially in Western New York and Central New York. So, we want to make sure that we are aware of that as well. We want to make sure that - Central and Western New York.

I'm going to ask everyone to be very careful about having their own fires at their homes, their barbecues, their backyards, open fires in every part of the State of New York, because the last thing we want to do is contribute to this problem of having wildfires. We had to deal with this in the Catskills last year, and they were out of control for a number of days. We do not want to have a repeat of that. So, we're asking everyone to be very smart about their own fires here in the State of New York.

And I would say basically we've seen some very extreme weather. My first week as Governor, almost two years ago, we had two hurricanes. We had record snow events in Western New York, my hometown. And now we're seeing something that is absolutely unprecedented. So, with climate change, we have to be prepared for all conditions, especially what we're experiencing now.

And one thing we can do is make sure that people do keep masks in their homes, stay at home. And again, no strenuous activities. I think that's all I wanted to report on right now. Is there anything I've missed, commissioners, as far as updates? Okay. Any commissioner? Okay.

And, as far as what we're expecting, I just spoke to our meteorologists, and we are in the home of the National Weather Service right here, as well as our Mesonet monitors, where we can identify all the conditions across the state, literally in real time. And that's what they've been doing. I want to thank everyone who's part of our team for being so on top of this and getting warnings out at such a regular interval so people take this seriously.

But again, just the last forecast, northerly winds throughout the atmosphere are bringing the smoke down from Canada. And right now, they're in the hazardous range, and we're expecting over the next couple days, they'll be heading West for Buffalo, and Western New York are going to be in trouble tomorrow. Right now, they're having a slight reprieve compared to what we're experiencing in New York City and in Albany. So, this plume, if you follow it, it is moving. Right now, it is shifting further west, and I want people in Western New York to be ready for that.

So, we are expecting this to abate possibly over the weekend, but that does not guarantee that this won't come back. And that is the message. So, continue watching all the alerts that are going out. Go to our website, track the information. But until the numbers get back down to at least half of what they are, you know, 50 is perfect, but in the 100, 200 range. Other than that, it is a very dangerous situation.

So, last message, please don't go out if you don't have to. I feel like I say this during snow storms as well, but this is about your health and your family's health, so please just stay indoors. Use the masks. I know there's - some people are saying it's even difficult to breathe in their own homes. And this is an unprecedented situation, but we've been focused on this helping our Canadian partners whenever they need us, as well as trying to make sure all New Yorkers know how serious this health threat is.

Contact the Governor's Press Office