Maple Syrup Smell Moves Around

The mysterious maple syrup smell made its first 2009 appearance early in the month, with dozens of smellings spanning Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. And now, as if to say good bye to January, we've had two smelling clusters: One on Tuesday night, concentrated around Hell's Kitchen and the eastern part of NJ, and the other last night, mostly in upper Manhattan and even in the Bronx. So... Yonkers, watch your back, the Maple Syrup Smell is coming for you?! Click on the map below for what our readers told us:

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We've also had some individual maple syrup scenting in the past few weeks—one day, it's from someone in a Midtown skyscraper, another day it's in Brooklyn or it's at a downtown office building. Which leads us to suspect that it's a combination of chemical cleaning agents and/or a salt substitute used by the Department of Sanitation to melt snow, as a commenter mentioned. We're open to additional conspiracy theories (UFOs?), so let us know. And we'll also call the DEP again tomorrow.

Past smellings: October 2005, March 2006, November 2006, November 2007, May 2008 and January 5, 2009. Plus a November 2007 cameo on 30 Rock.

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

By Jen Chung in News on January 30, 2009 12:15 AM

Comments [rss]

augustojr

smelled it last night and smell it again tonight in washington heights. indoors and outdoors.

187 and broadway

Klio

I had no idea how nasty-sweet and strong(!) the Maple Syrup Smell was until I smelled it for myself for the first time tonight. I could smell it at around 6:30pm from West 231st and Broadway to at least West 238th Street. It faded a bit as I walked west, but I feel like I can still smell it now that I'm indoors. Yuck. It completely obliterates the Stella D'Oro cookie smell we're all used to being greeted with on Broadway. I might never eat pancakes again.

Gwinny

I smelled it last night in West Harlem and immediately texted the words "maple syrup" to my friend who lives 10 blocks south... he was getting it too.

RnFDoctorZ

This is proof that the maple syrup smell I noticed last night is in fact NOT part of the various signs that I am going insane.

winstonsmith

good god, please stop 'reporting' on this inane topic. maple syrup smell. great, we got it.

robingee

Oh stifle. Some people are interested in this. Don't read it if you don't like it. Sheesh.

KiljoyWasHere

Are people interested in this? I have assumed it is some sort of joke that I just do not get.

winstonsmith

thanks for that brilliant advice.

pudeljung

I realized that the Maple Syrup smell is a close relative of the smell of contact cleaner, aka Deoxit, what you DJs use on your electronic sockets and such. I have some, sprayed a little, and went "Oh yeahhH!!!!!"

dirty hipster

Thank god, I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and the only strange odor I smell on a regular basis is the sewage treatment plant.

blackcotton

The De-Icer that gives off the Maple Syrup Odor is called "Magic Salt". It is being used in place of regular Salt by homeowners because it does not harm the concrete or road surfaces.

"Magic Salt: Magic Salt is rock salt treated with magnesium chloride and a sugar byproduct. It has received the EPA Design for the Environment label, which recognizes that the product is considered to be safe for the environment. It's the only de-icer to get the approval."

KiljoyWasHere

Hasn't it been snowing whenever one of these maple syrup maps appear?

Rocknrope

It's Armageddon. Delicious, maple-y Armageddon.

asianjenna

Someone told me the other day that it's just the city's way of testing how far a "bad gas" or somethign of that nature would move around the city. They said it's some non-toxic just "smell" that happens to be Maple Syrup.

Not sure if that's true though.

dantekgeek

I'm smelling it now at 135th and 8th

robingee

I was in Fort Lee last night and the smell was really strong! It comes from different places at different times though.

w0wzers

Yeah I'm guessing there is a syrup factory or it's one of the many "Food Science" companies in jersey. It's where most artifical flavoring is made."NAFFS - National Association of Flavors and Food-Ingredient Systems, Inc." is based in jersey. I think it's one of them.

rbob

Ok guys, this isn't so hard... Prevailing wind on the 30th in the region was WestSouthWest (WSW). For the 27th it was NorthNorthWest (NNW).

This means that it is (a) coming from NJ

(b) Most likely coming from somewhere in Fort Lee or the Palisades Park area on the map.

I mean, this has been going on for years... There can't be that many emitters in that 3 square mile radius.

Reverend Ted

Y'know, we're two years on from this comment, but I just wanted to give you a "bravo". Frutarom was processing Fenugreek in NJ, just south of Fort Lee and Palisades. That was the eventual explanation.