Okay, so, not everything is totally copacetic about the design of Nissan's Taxi of Tomorrow. But if you missed the chance to check out the prototype in person yesterday, you probably missed one feature that hasn't gotten nearly as much publicity as it should: the magical smell. Seriously. more ›

Now that the subways are up and running post-Irene, commuters are getting back into the swing of things, which for some, means a morning spent battling the suffocating smell of GIANT DEAD RATS. more ›

It's been a rough summer for our noses. First, a putrid puddle took over West 33rd Street. Then a collapsed manhole made Brooklyn smell like poop. And now, Queens is getting in on the nose-wrinkling action, with a nauseating chemical odor from railroad tracks stinking up Middle Village. more ›

Longtime Tribeca pie hawker Bubby's has apparently been pissing off some sensitive types in the neighborhood who find the smell outside of the restaurant nothing short of repulsive. And they're not going to take it anymore! more ›

If there's one thing that's inevitable about summer in the city, it's that things will smell bad. Hot trash smells bad. Hot people smell bad. Hot subways smell bad, But today, something smelled really, exceptionally bad all over Brooklyn. What's the deal? more ›

First they took Manhattan, then they crossed into the Bronx, and now the skunks have made their way into Queens. Residents say that skunk sightings have become more and more common in recent months. "I do not want to go through this ever again. I am absolutely scared to death," said victim Anne Burke, whose dog Jesse was sprayed by the beast with one stripe. more ›

We didn't need The Onion to remind us that the city is a bit of a "trash-ridden hellhole," but they were slightly off: the city is built on top of a trash-ridden hellhole. And a new, fascinating interview in this month's The Believer with Robin Nagle, the anthropologist-in-residence at New York City’s Department of Sanitation (DOS), reveals even more about the state of garbage in NYC. more ›

New York City is filled with unique little scents, like 'em or not, and each turn of the corner can bring a new top note to your olfactory collection. Some say smell is the most nostalgic of all senses, so maybe one day down the road you'll get a whiff of hot fishy garbage and it'll take you back to all those sweltering summer days you spent in Chinatown. But for now, these smells are just a nuisance to some—and according to the Wall Street Journal, 311 gets 1000 odor complaints per year, pertaining to restaurants alone. Each one is then investigated by the Department of Environment Protection, and only a small fraction get violations in the end. more ›

Residents of Hunts Point in the Bronx may at last be rid of a decades-old stench that on hot days makes the area smell “like a decaying body.” The city says it will end it $34 million-a-year contract with the organic fertilizer company, from whose premises the smell emanates. “This is a huge victory,” said Rep. José E. Serrano, a longtime opponent from the plant, which is in his district. “It was horrible—the smell, the stench. People living in the poorest Congressional district in the nation, in many cases with very little education, knew this was something they could not tolerate.” According to the Times opponents of the plant name the smell as “a symbol of the city’s disregard for Hunts Point.” more ›

Brooklyn’s newest invasive species carries with it a unique threat: unlike bedbugs Pentatomoidae don’t bite and don’t carry a health risk, but they do stink! Commonly referred to as stink bugs, they smell a bit like rotting or sweaty feet, if you will. In your tub-in-the-kitchen studio, maybe that’s worse. more ›

Ever since construction work began in a nearby park, skunks have brought a noxious odor and a pervasive sense of fear to a Bronx public housing complex. It's gotten so bad that residents of the Throggs Neck Houses are horrified to leave their apartments after dark. "If it was just rats and roaches, I could take care of it myself," said Maxine Breeden, 44. "But these are wild animals. Lots of 'em." more ›

As one man battles a ginkgo biloba tree in Brooklyn, another fights his own stinky tree situation in Queens. Barry Plonski's home on 210th Street and 43rd Avenue in Bayside is within smelling distance of multiple gingkos — and he places the smell they emit "at the olfactory intersection of animal feces and vomit." Female gingkos, the smelly fruit bearers, are the ones to blame — and there are about 15 in Plonski's neighborhood. more ›

Seeing as how it takes the Parks Dept. 3 to 5 years to deal with tree problems, it's unlikely that Bay Ridge resident Richard Mahany will get the gingko tree that's stinking up his neighborhood removed any time soon. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the man is angry that the tree "dumps its foul-smelling fruit on the sidewalk in front of his 78th Street home." more ›

Yesterday morning, the decomposing body of a Vietnam War veteran was found in his Brooklyn apartment—apparently after months of neighbors' complaints about a foul smell. However, WABC 7 reports, the body of 60-year-old James Gales was only discovered because "A man who just happens happens to work the for the medical examiners officer, according neighbors, saw the apartment window open. When he passed the opened window, he apparently knew immediately that there was a dead body inside." more ›

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When we announced that Burger King had entered the fragrance business with BK FLAME™ – the new men's body spray promising "the scent of seduction with the hint of flame-broiled meat" – your reactions ranged from "I prefer my men to smell like White Castle" to "I want!" But one blogger was bold enough to actually purchase the FLAME™ at Ricky's during his lunch hour and apply it directly to his bare flesh back at the office. The result was predictably revolting: "Everyone gathered around began coughing. And therein lies the horrible secret of Flame: it’s not burger-scented...Try as I might, I could not smell anything related to meat. If you want to know what a Burger King smells like when it’s burning down in a horrible grease fire, though, this is probably as close as you get to the real thing. The acrid, eye-watering scent will not attract anything to you. Even my dog would start choking if it licked this off my wrist...If this is what The King smells like then I don’t want him anywhere near me." more ›

The fourth New York City location of The Palm restaurant opened on Friday in Tribeca. This outpost is located in a luxury condo on 200 Chambers Street, and some residents there are none too thrilled about their proximity to the popular steakhouse. One gripes on the Wired New York board: "The Palm Restaurant is ruining my life...The entire lobby smells of the exhaust of the Palm Restaurant. Also certain hallways in the building and interiors of apts are also complaining about the smell." more ›

As part of a $300-million cleanup, for the next two years the city will shut down the flushing tunnel that pumps water from the Buttermilk Channel through a sewage-filled sluice into the Gowanus canal. The tunnel has to be deactivated so the underwater propeller, located at the head of the canal, can be replaced by three smaller pumps. Now there's concern the next couple years will be very noxious for Gowanus residents, as untreated waste that floods the canal during heavy storms lingers undiluted. The Brooklyn Paper, evoking that Reagen-era Massengill disposable douche commercial, worries "the dirty duct" won't have "that just flushed feeling." So in the meantime, locals may want to stick to mouth-breathing and focus on 2013, when the DEP promises a Gowanus utopia of kayaking, condos, and 34 percent less raw effluence poured into canal per year! more ›

Unfortunately, there are no clear answers, but a number of hypotheses were posed to the NY Post. They include rotting fish (ghosts of the Fulton Fish Market?), bodies from the Bodies Exhibit, illegal dumping, the NYC Waterfalls--and the smells reek like "dead rat," "stinky cheese" and "raw sewage." Mmm, and naturally that hurts some restaurants in the neighborhood. A smell scientist put his olfactory nerves to the test and told the Post, "Yes that is fish. But it's also yeasty, like bread." Like Subway's bread? more ›

While columnists, TV commentators and many others are falling over themselves to bid Yankee Stadium a respectful, sentimental good-bye, players were a little more honest when asked what they wouldn't miss about the house that Ruth built. more ›

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Could Apple be planting a seed on a location near Lincoln Center? The Meatpacking district Apple store still has that new-store smell as Apple fever extends north. According to the Post, Apple is looking to take over space at the northwest corner of Broadway and West 67th, where there's currently a two-story Victoria's Secret store. more ›

The gas main explosion that rocked a home on 48th Ave. and 41st. St. Wedneday––killing one woman and injuring six others––occurred despite what ConEd and FDNY say was them following proper procedures preceding the incident. Kunta Oza, who died at the age of 69, was burned over 90% of her body. In addition to the six others injured in the explosion, 200 people were evacuated from the block until it was deemed safe to return.... more ›

The 69-year-old woman who was burned over 90% of her body in a gas explosion in her Sunnyside home died yesterday. City Councilman Eric Gioia said, "It is with great regret and sadness that I announce the passing of Kunta Oza. My deepest condolences go out to her entire family, and I ask that all New Yorkers keep them in their Thanksgiving prayers." On Wednesday afternoon, calls were made to 911 about a gas smell... more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a gas explosion in a Sunnyside home burned a 67-year-old woman over 90% of her body. Six other people were also injured, as over 200 people needed to be evacuated and over a hundred firefighters responded. Kunta Oza, who lives in a three-story at 41st Street and 48th Avenue, is at New York Hospital Burn Center in critical condition. WNBC reports that she "sent her grandchildren outside as a precaution. The move might... more ›

While the maple syrup smell remains a two-year-old mystery to us, 30 Rock entered the fray with a hypothesis. On last night's episode, Liz Lemon, who smells waffles from her Upper West Side apartment, calls Tracy Jordan to remind him to practice his Re-Run dance for the What's Happening! sketch. But Tracy, in his NJ home, says that the smell of waffles is distracting him. Then Liz gets another call - it's Jack Donaghy,... more ›

A few readers let us know that they smelled the sickly sweet smell of a maple syrup-like substance last evening. Now, this brings back a flood of memories from 2005, when a maple syrup smell blanketed much of Manhattan. The smell, which has made return visits in early December 2005 aJanuary 2006, March 2006 and November 2006, leading us to believe this is a cold weather phenomena. One reader noted that it was detected around... more ›

Last week demolition was underway at the former CBGB. At the time Racked put their money on a Duane Reade taking over the space, but today The Post reports that John Varvados will be opening a chic boutique in the old punk rock palace. With his eye on a Spring opening, it's unclear how much of the 13,000 square feet will be taken over by the designer. more ›