NYC's Maple Syrup Smell Is Still A Mystery

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It's been almost 24 hours since the intoxicating and overwhelming scent of maple syrup assaulted New Yorkers' olfactory nerves again. And even though this is the sixth time the smell has struck, it's unclear where the smell is coming from.

The Office of Emergency Management told us that there were 37 calls to 311 between 9 p.m. and midnight last night about the smell. Department of Environmental Protection inspectors were dispatched to investigate, but the calls—and smell—seemed to taper off around midnight. So there are no answers yet again! Maybe it is Northrax for all we know.

Our own Joe Schumacher says, "With a light wind and stable air the weather conditions would have been ideal for the smell to travel a fair distance," which explains how the smell could be noticed all the way up in Harlem and down in Soho and even in parts of Queens and Brooklyn. One commenter suggested, "That smell is coming from the New Salt Substitute about to be used on the streets by the Sanitation Dept. Salt has become to expensive, so they are trying this stuff which is Salt mixed with a chemical that smells like Maple Syrup." Which could make sense—but would this explain the previous smellings in past years?

For now, we'll just have to examine the map—click on the icons for some details— and develop other hypotheses. But for every person who thought "I thought I was going crazy. We had pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, and I was looking for where I spilled the syrup!", know this: You are not alone.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 6, 2009 5:10 PM

Comments [rss]

Davina

I live in Calimesa California and it started smelling like Maple Syrup today after it snowed. I googled it and this site came up, wow all the way on the other side of America.. Weird

Camdogs

Smelled this morning from 23rd and 6th through the northeast corner of Madison Sq Park. I hadn't smelled in over a year but i recognized it right away

cucarachita

Hey, I'm glad someone noticed! I wrote in to Gothamist at about 10:55am this morning, to report a maple smell-siting! I was on 38th and 7th ave. It was very strong. I even smelled it in the building on the 14th floor now and then as it seeped through the slightly open window. It had faded by noon-ish.

lf73

I smelled it late last night and just started smelling it again at 5:30 today. I'm in Inwood.

faust

I smelled it from the 6 train in the bronx, going back home from work. As soon as the train stepped outside from Huntspoint, smelled it all the way to Throggsneck area by the whitestone bridge.

bronxkay

I smelled it on Nereid & White Plains Rd, in The Bronx at 11 pm. BTW, I'm a life-long native Bronxite, and I have never smelled anything like this, except when I've visited real Maple Sugar producers (which is a nicer smell.)

john

btw i live in the bronx around the corner of kingsbridge road and sedgwick ave.

john

Im smelling maple syrup right now as I type. I was wondering could the smell be coming from trees that are ready to be harvested for their maple maybe?

WaltzTangoFoxtrot

I heard a recent Bloomberg address where he (and some guy from the Sanitation Dept) specifically addressed questions on NYC's supply and cost of salt. He said that salt is a tiny fraction of a percent of the cities budget and it would cost more to calculate than they actually spend. The person who commented that "the smell is coming from the new salt substitute" is making shit up.

knowone

Ethylene glycol is a common ingredient of automobile antifreeze. Anyone that has overheated a car (I have many times), would recognize the smell of it as "Maple Syrup". Someone could check if the de-icer that is used on city streets has Ethylene glycol in it. I have smelled that same smell from the de-icing spray used on airplanes in the winter.

TriS

Only the US gov has the dispersal capability to spread areosols over a multi-state area. Think chemtrails. They have tested toxins on the NYC subway before and sarin on US troops etc. Some bio-test? Could this be it?

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE PERFECT "ORGANIC" POISON

Shane Ellison M. Sc. The People's Chemist December 9, 2007 NewsWithViews.com http://www.newswithviews.com/Ellison/shane32.htm

If it tastes sweet spit it out, it might be DEG – a deadly ingredient commonly found in cough syrup, toothpaste and even vaccines. So deadly, it single handedly gave rise to the FDA in 1938. But the self appointed watch-dog has failed miserably at protecting the public from this perfect “organic” poison. The New York Times recently showed that “Over the years, the poison has been loaded into all varieties of medicine.”

A perfect poison is hard to come by. Most taste so nasty that the victim spits it out upon tasting it. This isn’t the case with DEG. It tastes like maple syrup. Therefore, it is easily swallowed. Victims have no idea that their kidney’s are about to fail. That breathing will become exceedingly difficult. That paralysis will set in and life end rapidly – before the word “poison” even crosses their mind.

The CIA loves perfect poisons like DEG. And so do governments – so it seems. A Chinese health official allowed the drug industry to unleash it on the open market. He was eventually sentenced to death. The Panamanian government mixed DEG into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine. In the US, the FDA “warns” against it. But it is still found on the shelves of our grocery stores.

Avoiding DEG can is as simple as reading labels. It is a cheap replacement to glycerin, which is commonly used in toothpaste, over-the-counter meds, vaccines as well as hair and skin products. If used, it is listed in the ingredient list – the fine print ingredient list. In general, if you can’t pronounce the ingredients listed on the back, don’t use it. But you can look for it listed as: 3-Oxa-1,5-pentanediol, Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ether, 2,2'-Oxydiethanol, Diglycol, Dihydroxydiethyl ether; 2,2'-Dihydroxyethyl ether, Ethylene diglycol, 2,2'-Oxybisethanol, 2-(2-Hydroxyethoxy)ethanol.

pjrsullivan

Maybe you're all being sent a message?

Keep guessing somebody will get it right.

Clarice City

I must be insane. Really. I'm almost annoyed. I feel as if I was the last to know about a block party or something.

I live in Hell's Kitchen and, despite what my neighbors are describing, can't fucking smell pancakes.

Seriously. I'm sticking my nose out my window every night. I hate this stupid routine. I NEED PANCAKE!!!

g-squared

Think it's a company in NJ that makes an extract from the herb fenugreek. See http://www.bojensen.net/EssentialOilsEng/EssentialOils11/EssentialOils11.htm

JMH

I've never smelled this and I'm really feeling quite left-out.

west side Michael

Which New Yorker living here for more than 5 years

can still smell anything in our gas lined nostrils?

Novanglus

Actually, the sanitation department thing makes a LOT of sense....because the smell I grew up smelling is this very same smell, and I live close to a Sanitation Department.

There are also many factories in the same area that we all associated it with.

Either way, you're all still fools.

cucarachita

Yeah, it's not really a maple smell. It's similar, and maybe the closest smell a regular person can relate to. i remember a similar smell that used to come up from the basement of the house I lived in, in Flushing. It was a sort of sticky, resine-y, smell. We didn't really know where it came from, but sometimes it came from the basement closet, and there was a sticky material on the floor. I used to think it was rotting batteries for some reason. I grew up thinking of that smell as rotting batteries. If that helps. But I can see how it could be trash that's been fermenting for a long time.

valeriob

In other news, sales of delicious maples syrup are up 40%

Novanglus

Hey idiots! This smell has been around for years. It's just the smell of factories and industry.

I grew up smelling it in Queens every single morning of my childhood when it wasn't raining. Now all these dumbass transplants come here from elsewhere and start calling 911 because of it.

You people are the dumbest ever. This is incredible.