Comments on: good smell perplexes new yorkers

good smell perplexes new yorkers

kingfisher, his musclebound cat — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 07:54:25 -0800

Good smell perplexes New Yorkers How odd the city smelled sweet, like maple syrup, and all over: up in Harlem, downtown, in Astoria, Park Slope, other parts of Brooklyn. And what was it? A breakout of MSUD and public urination? Or something more fortean or more sinister?

By: nixerman

nixerman — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:01:35 -0800

Oh, oops. Sorry about that. It won't happen again.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:01:56 -0800

Ahh that is bugged out. I smelled it in park slope last night and I thought it was some maple syrup I got on my hands when I was washing the dishes. The crazy thing was: WE HAD PASTA FOR DINNER. I demand to know what it was.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:06:11 -0800

Maybe the Fitzmas reindeers are passing some Fitzmas gas?

By: Oyéah

Oyéah — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:06:27 -0800

Listen, I love the conspiracy theories rife on the web, so I am going to add one. I can't help myself. But first of all, isn't it strange that a good smell makes the news? Manhattan does have a certain big city fragrance, while not unpleasant, is remarkable only to canyons full of cars and sea air. But the conspiracy... What if rather than an odor, that was a mind control experiment, in which a scalar weapon was tested, using a known olfactory stimulating frequency? They chose vanilla cookies or some such thing, from a rapidly growing repertoire of neuro energetic signals?

By: nyterrant

nyterrant — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:06:56 -0800

I smelled the smell last night at Rockefeller Center. A distinct waft of maple, maybe, or vanilla. Wierd.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:06:59 -0800

I'm pretty sure it was that Avian Flu stuff I've been hearing all about. It's about time.

By: Acey

Acey — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:09:49 -0800

Great username, kingfisher, his musclebound cat!

By: Possum

Possum — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:12:36 -0800

Antifreeze/coolant smells a little like maple syrup to me. Maybe it's that -- a spill or something.

By: tristeza

tristeza — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:14:22 -0800

I notice the smell of maple when I walk past certain buildings' ventilation ducts and have also noticed it in a car or two - I've been told by others that it's some by-product of heating 'chemicals"? Sorry so dumb, but whatever they use to make huge heating systems work emits this weird mapley odor. Hm.

By: goneill

goneill — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:14:23 -0800

i had some great new york city moments last night talking to strangers about the smell. it was seriously bizarre.

By: GregW

GregW — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:14:23 -0800

That is probably the single oddest story I've ever seen in the New York Times. Wonder if we'll ever find out what is was..

By: amro

amro — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:14:32 -0800

Starbucks new viral marketing campaign?

By: amro

amro — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:16:09 -0800

(not viral, word-of-mouth)

By: kcm

kcm — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:17:16 -0800

I fully expect giant marshmallow men to appear at the peak of 55 CPW tonight.

By: scheptech

scheptech — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:17:28 -0800

Antifreeze is supposed to be sweet-tasting. Can kill pets if you leave any spilled on the driveway.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:19:31 -0800

It was a terrrorist attack. They had heard that old "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" thing and figured maple would work just as good. Consider yourself pwned, New York.

By: keswick

keswick — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:21:11 -0800

New Yorkers. You guys crack me up, man.

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:25:43 -0800

I blame the salons. My girlfriend had her hair color treated and pomaded yesterday, and the combo smelled like maple syrup. In a city of eight million, thousands of people would likely come into contact with the hundreds of women who got a similar treatment yesterday. Maybe Thursday is a big salon day. Second theory -- unscrupulous landlords are cutting the home heating oil with maple syrup in the face of rising petrol prices.

By: Reverend Robbie

Reverend Robbie — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:27:50 -0800

Didn't anyybody see the episode of Star Trek where the vampire cloud can be detected by the sickly-sweet smell in the air? Run, New Yorkers, run!

By: StarForce5

StarForce5 — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:28:15 -0800

This is a prelude to first wave of attack by a new super army of Candied Roasted Peanut Vendors (the CRPV). Unknown to almost all surface dwellers is that just below the NYC subway tunnels there is a subterranean complex containing a mile-long peanut farm and sidewalk vendor cart factory. Over the past few decades the CRPV have been quietly advancing their science and cloning their ranks. But the CRPV are not content with just selling to snacking tourists. Last night they quielty surfaced a new super peanut called "honey maple" so delicous a peanut that even jaded NYC dwellers will eat them and soon be addicted, like crack. This will turn the entire food chain on its head. We're doomed. Doomed, I say.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:28:17 -0800

Viral marketing, people. It’s the new Glade Plug-In scent.

By: hall of robots

hall of robots — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:36:52 -0800

Scalar Condiment Applications Repurposed for Energy Diffusion [SCARED]

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:37:10 -0800

Reminds me of the Kokomo hum. Took 'em years to figure it out.

By: sciurus

sciurus — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:42:29 -0800

Kokomo has way too many stoplights.

By: Mach5

Mach5 — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:45:00 -0800

Man, when I smelled it last night I thought I was just hallucinating. Good to know I'm not crazy!

By: toftflin

toftflin — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:46:25 -0800

I smelled 'the smell' around Columbia last night. I thought it smelled like French Vanilla coffee, someone else said it was Mocha... It was really suspicious since it was very pungent over a large area.

By: ToasT

ToasT — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:51:34 -0800

Viral marketing, people. It’s the new Glade Plug-In scent. Why would I want my apartment to smell like New York City?

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:53:18 -0800

Maybe it's SMELLWRITING; like skywriting, but for the nose.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:53:45 -0800

Hmm... Maybe it was some sort of viral marketing.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:55:45 -0800

it smelled like something burnt to me (but i'm all stuffed up). What was it?

By: clevershark

clevershark — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:58:35 -0800

hehe... so no one has figured out it's part of a sinister Canadian invasion plot. Good, good.

By: unknowncommand

unknowncommand — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:59:13 -0800

that smell was too weird. really really strong in washington square park (thought a nuts4nutz cart had caught fire?) and then still smelled it in park slope an hour later. i seriously thought i was having odor hallucinations because no one was commenting on it.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:59:25 -0800

ToasT writes "Why would I want my apartment to smell like New York City?" After a while getting used to it will prevent you from smelling any but the most intense of urine ponds.

By: splatta

splatta — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:00:40 -0800

I was walking my dog in west harlem last night and smelled it, but completely thought it was in my own nose... so weird. In 10 days we will all submit to our waffle overlords.

By: mkultra

mkultra — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:03:00 -0800

Wow, I'm certainly glad my g/f and I weren't crazy. That's so weird, even weirder due to us just having gotten home to Park Slope from an improv show (TJ and Dave- please go see it. They're phenominal.) where maple syrup was a punchline.

By: mkhall

mkhall — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:06:17 -0800

I fully expect giant marshmallow men to appear at the peak of 55 CPW tonight. Are you certain it wouldn't be a giant Aunt Jemima?

By: ToasT

ToasT — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:06:22 -0800

ToasT writes "Why would I want my apartment to smell like New York City?" clevershark: After a while getting used to it will prevent you from smelling any but the most intense of urine ponds. My apartment's a little untidy, but it ain't that bad!

By: Gamblor

Gamblor — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:08:05 -0800

It was really strong in Cobble Hill. I could even faintly smell it in my living room with the windows closed. There's a maple tree in fron to my building, so I thought that might be the source. I was suprised to see it all over the news this morning. And that's a great statement about NYC, when it's big news that the city doesn't smell like a bloated corpse. To quote Louis C.K., "The only city where you have to say things like, 'Hey that's mine. Don't pee on that.'"

By: Sk4n

Sk4n — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:09:29 -0800

The New York Office of Emergency Management has got in on the act, though I notice the status is "closed"... THU 10/27/2005 21:42:37 STATUS: CLOSED PROGNOSIS: MONITORING OTHER - SWEET ODOR MN LOWER MANHATTAN AREA FD REPORTS RECEIVED NUMEROUS CALLS FOR A SWEET ODOR IN THE AREA. OEM W/C NOTIFIED COAST GUARD, COAST GUARD REPORTS NOTHING UNUSUAL TO REPORT AT THIS TIME.FD HAS NOT FOUND A SOURCE A/T/T. RESPONDING UNITS: OEM MONITORING INCIDENT ID: 2005:10:27:21:29:10:361

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:12:06 -0800

I smelled it while rampaging along Avenue B last night - thought there must be an IHOP around or that there was something in the evil drinks I was imbibing. It was definitely maple syrupy. (It soon got masked by another sweet scent common to the East Village.)

By: lovejones

lovejones — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:21:10 -0800

Maybe it has something to do with the heating oil being used in the city. This is the time of year when all the buildings are turning it on. I don't know what else it could be...

By: emjaybee

emjaybee — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:22:49 -0800

I can report it did not make it to my part of Boro Park, at least. And I was in Park Slope part of the day and smelled nada. But....I did consider having pancakes while eating in Park Slope. Coincidence??

By: shoepal

shoepal — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:33:32 -0800

Maybe they are going to open a Waffle House in NYC!

By: skryche

skryche — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:35:37 -0800

Best quotation ever: “I was at the computer and I felt like, I don't even know. Maybe someone had some maple syrup and they were typing away and I was typing and it got on me somehow and I was laying in bed last night and I felt like I had maple syrup in my nostrils.” I swear: if it were a little longer, I'd use it as an audition monologue.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:36:09 -0800

Man, I miss New York... Wait a minute, why isn't jonmc in this thread? What have they done with jonmc?? *curses evil maple-smelling terrorists*

By: beagle

beagle — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:36:28 -0800

That NYTimes headline is worthy of the Onion.

By: gfrobe

gfrobe — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:38:07 -0800

Here in London there is a botanical garden my wife and I frequent and over the past few days, we've both noticed a very strong but sweet maple syrupy smell in certain areas of the gardens. We've been walking around trying to determine which plant is responsible but haven't tracked it down yet. Maybe a whole load of these things blossomed in Central Park yesterday.

By: swerdloff

swerdloff — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:39:27 -0800

He who smelt it dealt it.

By: swerdloff

swerdloff — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:40:57 -0800

OH - and - smelled it in midtown last night.

By: doublehelix

doublehelix — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:41:50 -0800

Smelled it in Astoria last night while walking home. I was and am very curious to know what it was.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:43:57 -0800

Probably the CIA testing exotic new viruses on the unsuspecting public yet again.

By: 4easypayments

4easypayments — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:44:58 -0800

I have almost no sense of smell, but my friend mentioned that it smelled like "someone was making giant pancakes" around 1am last night.

By: djlerman

djlerman — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:51:11 -0800

I think the first few times they sprayed for Medflys here in Los Angeles it smelled like maple syrup. It might have been something to help attract the bugs to the poison. Since they dropped the stuff from helicopters there were little brown spots on everything, we were told to cover our cars cause it could hurt the paint. If they are using somthing similar put placed rather then dropped you wouldn't see it but definatly smell it.

By: Aknaton

Aknaton — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:53:23 -0800

That is probably the single oddest story I've ever seen in the New York Times. You must have missed the week where every day had a new wrinkle about Ming the tiger in the Bronx apartment. Good times.

By: Billistics

Billistics — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:56:45 -0800

I hope it's not viral marketing, I mean at least leave my one sense that isn't being shot to death with marketing crap.

By: dame

dame — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:06:55 -0800

I didn't smell it. Bushwick never gets any love. Williamsburg smelt like fall, though. That is probably the single oddest story I've ever seen in the New York Times. You must have missed the week where every day had a new wrinkle about Ming the tiger in the Bronx apartment. Good times. I also enjoyed the "People Are Happy Sun Finally Reappears" stoory from earlier this month.

By: dame

dame — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:11:25 -0800

The middle two lines should be in itals. I have problems.

By: bshort

bshort — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:16:47 -0800

I smelled it in Lower Manhattan (2 blocks north of Wall) last night. My wife and I were convinced it was butterscotch. Our doorman was perplexed as well.

By: setanor

setanor — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:22:58 -0800

I vote for Starbucks, actually. The Maple line of beverages have been in test mode in most of New England and selling well, so it's likely they'll expand.. See? "Here comes the Maple!!!"

By: cleverusername

cleverusername — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:23:23 -0800

I think that kind of viral marketing would work for something other than mapel syrup though. A spring fresh smell or a flowery something would be better. If anything, it slowed the sale of syrup in the city.

By: setanor

setanor — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:28:16 -0800

"Many describe it as smelling like maple syrup. Other say it smells like flavored coffee or roasted nuts." It's definitely Starbucks.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:28:17 -0800

my guess would be that new york was downwind from a cereal or candy factory ... my hometown's battle creek and this isn't that unusual for us

By: maryh

maryh — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:50:03 -0800

Didn't you know? The sewers are overrun with them.

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:59:11 -0800

best new york times headline ever!

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:06:51 -0800

I'm with pyramid termite. Sounds like the winds from a industrial bakery, food factory, Ding-Dong plant, etc caught Manhattan just right. My next guess would be the heater thing, though since I can't experience the smell, that's a big guess. Only cuz it's gotten cold in the city quite recently, so people are turning heaters on for the first time. My last guess would be the Starbuck's thing. I wouldn't be surprised, but then again I would.

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:10:51 -0800

It had already saturated the 2/3 subway car that stopped in brooklyn heights when i got on around 8:00 pm. i looked around the car before i sat down to make sure there wasn't a homeless eating pancakes because that's the first thing i thought of. it was gross. i hate that smell. it's such a dirty, cloying scent...

By: huzzahhuzzah

huzzahhuzzah — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:17:31 -0800

I smelled it over by the Hudson river, in the west 50s, as well as uptown in central Harlem. The best part of all of this might be the first paragraph in the Times' story: An unseen, sweet-smelling cloud drifted through parts of Manhattan last night. Arturo Padilla walked through it and declared that it was awesome. Love it.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:17:42 -0800

Hah--I see several comments about the headline, but it's the Google ads on the page that kill me.

By: pez_LPhiE

pez_LPhiE — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:43:34 -0800

"Based on the formula, we recommend cyanide levels be no higher than 90 ppb. Most people can’t smell cyanide until levels reach 600 ppb. Cyanide compounds smell like bitter almonds to some people, while others cannot smell them at all. If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe." source Also: "Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) is responsible for much of the scent of almonds and peach pits, and is widely used for flavoring and in perfumes. While it is safe to consume in small amounts, 50-60 mL is estimated to be a fatal dose in humans." source

By: rodney stewart

rodney stewart — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:47:57 -0800

a slightly steamier explanation. "The steam coursing under Manhattan is not to be confused with what is popularly called steam rising from many city manholes. The steam in the pipes is invisible, while the so-called steam wafting up from the streets is often vapor produced when underground water hits hot equipment and escapes from beneath the streets. It can also be condensed steam leaking from the Con Ed system. United 310 Boiler Treatment For Steam Boilers Dark brown liquid with slight vanilla-like odor. 12.5 - 14

By: loquax

loquax — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:59:34 -0800

I think Rodney has it. I smell the same sort of thing (I think) all the time in Toronto, near a manhole/steam thing. I always think the "sweet roasted peanut" smell is odd, and it drifts quite a bit.

By: rodney stewart

rodney stewart — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:03:37 -0800

weather underground recorded city temp slipped below 50 degrees for first time this fall. apparently happened right on the 27th:

By: paperpete

paperpete — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:10:33 -0800

So... any infiltrators checked the sewers yet? Animals acting more hungry? I'm all intrigued, and I live in Belfast, ffs. Maybe it's because, of late, my city has smelled like burning martyr a little too often.

By: kingfisher, his musclebound cat

kingfisher, his musclebound cat — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:29:41 -0800

Clever explanation, Rodney. My belief that it was a ship from Candy Land docked in the harbor is slightly less feasible. Though I do like the scalar explanation.

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:32:54 -0800

What if rather than an odor, that was a mind control experiment, in which a scalar weapon was tested, using a known olfactory stimulating frequency? They chose vanilla cookies or some such thing, from a rapidly growing repertoire of neuro energetic signals? Crazy, sure, but cool as hell. Personally, I'm running with the "factory-decides-to-pump-pollution-into-water-or-air-and-gets-bright-idea-to-add-chemicals-that-make-it-smell-like-food" theory.

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:34:50 -0800

Or Rodney's. That's decidedly more sane. But if that's the case, I think NYC needs to start intentionally flavoring the sewer steam.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:02:52 -0800

There's an image I didn't need. Folks standing over manholes, deeply inhaling the sewer steam because it smells good. That's like pine-scented insecticide - what in the heck is point?

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:03:26 -0800

"... the point?" Must use preview. Must use preview. Must use....

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:16:09 -0800

Sometimes, I really love Metafilter. This is one of those times.

By: Admiral Haddock

Admiral Haddock — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:50:12 -0800

It was definitely maple syrupy. I smelled it in Chelsea, and down by Centre Street. Mmm... Sweet syrupy CHUD.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:50:32 -0800

I got a better idea, all the population of New York City has begun to fall down a dark spiral into insanity.

By: kingfisher, his musclebound cat

kingfisher, his musclebound cat — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:54:11 -0800

We've been trying to get down that dark spiral of insanity for years, but the fucking tourists keep getting in the way. Do not stop, walk backwards, weave, have conferencese, check your messages, or wave your shopping bags on the way down the spiral, ok!!!

By: meehawl

meehawl — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 14:08:57 -0800

I walked from 20/1st to Wash Sq and back yesterday, four times, and smelt nothing. Maybe it's a genetic thing?

By: bshort

bshort — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 14:37:01 -0800

It didn't just sort of smell like maple syrup last night. It smelled so strongly that it kept me up last night.

By: AuntLisa

AuntLisa — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 14:50:17 -0800

Amazing the variety of excuses we all came up with for the smell, isn't it ? I experienced it at 1st & 52nd and assumed some restaurant had taken a bunch of maple cakes out of the oven.... While I am prepared to submit to our waffle overlords (great comment, splatta) , I'm going with the "IHOP guerilla marketing" theory myself.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:01:10 -0800

It didn't just sort of smell like maple syrup last night. It smelled so strongly that it kept me up last night. What's particularly interesting is the incredible geographic range and pervasity of the odor. This convinces me that it wasn't just a wafting cloud of scent from the coffee-roasting mill or anything. The areas of smell mentioned by MeFites alone exceeds a 6 x 6 mile square - something that might be escaping the notice of people in other regions.

By: Inkslinger

Inkslinger — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 16:39:09 -0800

Just to add another data point, I didn't smell a thing in Seattle.

By: Balisong

Balisong — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 16:56:39 -0800

So.... Nothing to worry about? Is there any explanation? Or is it a mass halucination?

By: bwg

bwg — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:32:23 -0800

MetaFilter: He who smelt it dealt it.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:58:28 -0800

I figured there was a giant Mefi pancake orgy going on that no one told me about.

By: NorthernLite

NorthernLite — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 18:09:42 -0800

I'm in Michigan, and there's been a bad smell in my kitchenette the past couple days. New York City: You can come and take your normal odor back and return the maple syrup to my cupboard. "People Are Happy Sun Finally Reappears" It's official - the NY Times is now being produced by the crap people who did features for my small hometown paper.

By: hellbient

hellbient — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:24:13 -0800

Sweet Synchronicity! I smelled this inside the Quad movie theater at 13th and 6th, and then outside it. It smelled like flavored coffee. I assumed it was a factory too. Maybe it was something to do with Halloween? It seems like some odd mischievous act a Batman villian would attempt. But who? The confectious Candyman? Malicious Maple Syrup and her Gumdrop Gang? Vanilla Ice Coffee? If only I had an computer-filled underground lair. I hope us smellers aren't part of some class-action lawsuit a decade from now because of this.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:45:33 -0800

IHOP Denies. City Still Stumped. "The samples taken were indicative of a food processing source." They just don't know which. Also, another candidate for quote of the day: "I was watching TV in bed last night when I first smelled it," said Hanover, who lives at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. "I thought I must have been eating French toast in bed and spilled some syrup on the sheets."

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:45:55 -0800

I'm still trying to figure out how you'd get a smell so strong that it can be detected for 20+ square miles. I'm no chemist, but I can't think of any other smells -- normal or no -- that are that potent.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:48:07 -0800

While police and other government officials were at a loss to explain the origins of the syrup-like odor that first wafted over lower Manhattan Thursday night, they weren't waffling over a response. Oh! Ho! Ha-ha! Waffling -- I get it! Those hilarious reporters! Oh, my sides.

By: theora55

theora55 — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:53:39 -0800

ConspiracyFilter: If you wanted to test the distribution of a chemical, you could use scent.

By: Miko

Miko — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:18:56 -0800

Yeah, but you could also use Vaseline-covered pieces of cardboard, which is often how air is tested for environmental pollutants....I am up for a good conspiracy, but not sure what kind this is. I don't think it's a test.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:44:14 -0800

theora55 - Indeed. This thread collates a lot : a very cheap method of data collection. Bwahahha !........... I don't eat pancakes anymore.

By: ?!

?! — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:55:26 -0800

Is there a Ralston-Purina plant in the area? Did anyone notice any flying manhole covers? Just watch, you'll find someone dumped something in the sewer.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 21:42:31 -0800

Smelled it first on the Lower East Side, and assumed it was from the new Starbucks on Delancey. Then it got stronger and more maple-y toward Rivington & Clinton. I then took the subway home to Astoria, where I was perplexed to smell maple again on 30th Avenue. Actually, it's slightly alarming that particles can be dispersed in such concentrations over such a large area. Doesn't seem to bode well for chem/bio attack preparedness.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 23:40:45 -0800

Maybe god was having breakfast and was particularly messy?

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 00:24:57 -0800

The way I see it can only be one of a few things: 1. Some byproduct of industry or manufacturing. This includes bakeries, chemical factories and what have you. The release of which could be intentional or accidental. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of the smell originating from a ship. 2. Some sort of natural manifestation linked to one or more series of events. I'm reminded of the smell of leaves turning in the fall which is often triggered by temperature drops and other atmospheric factors. (Granted, there aren't many trees in NYC, but perhaps the small is originating from elsewhere.) 3. A malicious or intentional distribution of an airborne particulate substance by a person or people of unknown intent. 4. Unknown and currently unguessable cause. Of the four options above it should be relatively easy to rule out numbers 1 and 2. Obviously the authorities need to call around and investigate to see if there has been any sort of spill or release of substances from local industry. In the case of number 2 our egghead scientists should be able to throw out a few good hypotheses - after all, seasonal and weather related "smells" are pretty well known. The third option is most disturbing of all. Our imaginations can run wild speculating why anyone would want to do this. Perhaps it is a "dry run" by the terrorists to see how far and fast their airborne attacks can carry on a day with similar weather and wind patterns. Perhaps the government is testing the same scenario and also gauging public reaction to a funny smell. Perhaps it is some sort of elaborate but harmless prank. The fourth option may seem vague - that this is unknowable. We may never know the source of this for the simple reason that someone could be reluctant to report the cause. This could be a harmless accident and the person or people responsible are keeping tight lipped for fear of litigation from any of 8 million nervous New Yorkers. Knowing the little that I know about smell receptors (there's a sentence I never thought I'd type) and gases my concern and amazement is the same as some of the posters above: this seems to be affecting a very large area of the city meaning that the source is possibly large, mobile and releasing this substance over a long duration. Have the authorities noticed any suspicious vans driving endlessly around Manhattan?

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 06:59:39 -0800

my concern and amazement is the same as some of the posters above: this seems to be affecting a very large area of the city meaning that the source is possibly large, mobile and releasing this substance over a long duration Yeah, that's why I think you can rule out #1 almost completely just by thinking about it. In my entire lifetime of living in that region, I never, not once, can recall any industrial smell with the strength and power to be not only detectable but so noticeable as to be remarked upon across such a broad swath of land. Even some sort of chemical spill or sewer contamination event would have had to feature a weirdly super-concentrated compound in order to spread this far. It speaks of a chemical that is either coming from multiple sources at once, or of one that is so preternaturally potent that we haven't got any good analogy for it.

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 07:05:18 -0800

The latest

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 07:38:14 -0800

Having considered the data, I have formed the following hypothesis: the smell was a test, a dry run of a PsyOps experiment, delivered by some branch of the U.S. government. I put this idea forward only half-facetiously. I think most conspiracy theories are BS, but since I come from a family of both military types and journalists, I also know that our government really does do this sort of thing from time to time. That, and I enjoy some good Encyclopedia Brown conjecturing. My guess would be that infusing the city with maple aroma was meant to test the ability of the scent to effect a mood change on a large population -- possibly to calm or subdue people. Certainly the aroma is one that immediately calls up all sorts of homey, warm associations -- waffles, pie, warm winter mornings at the breakfast table with a whole lazy day ahead. Its effect on the collective psychology of New York is pretty clear by all anecdotal accounts -- Viz., even our own MeFites have said: i had some great new york city moments last night talking to strangers about the smell i seriously thought i was having odor hallucinations when I smelled it last night I thought I was just hallucinating. Good to know I'm not crazy! It smelled so strongly that it kept me up last night. I'll provide some loony links that sort of support this idea. >>First, from the article just above in the NYT: "Experts say that no human sense is more directly connected to the emotions than the sense of smell. "Before we know we are even in contact with a smell we have already received it and reacted to it," a professional perfumer, Mandy Aftel, said. "Smells come in without language and go directly to the emotional center of the brain. That's why they are so connected to memory." >>From a lecture on Propaganda, PR, and PsOps at some public library somewhere: "[PsyOps} are things ranging from using low-frequency [electromagnetic] waves in battlefield situations to intimidate your enemy to using smells. There's a lot of scents now that chemo-reception scientists have figured out make people upset and make people intimidated...And those are real, and more than enough to talk about." And from someone with an unhealthy interest in this stuff who made a web page: "Psychological operations may be defined broadly as the planned use of communications to influence human attitudes and behavior ... to create in target groups behavior, emotions, and attitudes that support the attainment of national objectives. The form of communication can be as simple as spreading information covertly by word of mouth or through any means of multimedia....The giant strides made in the area of behavioral sciences, which can now enable us to know and understand why people behave as they do, combined with the development and perfection of mass media communications, have greatly multiplied the capability and value of PSYOP as a means of achieving our own national objectives without needless bloodshed." Despite the ridiculousness of my links, it is true that the military uses PsyOps and that smell is one of the means being most carefully explored right now. And if you want to see how it affects an anxious population, why not pick New York?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:44:01 -0800

Could it be a mobile smell-dispensing unit? By which I mean Starbucks or the Army (or CIA) could be driving around New York pumping this smell/chemical/bioagent into the air. Which would explain why it is being smelled all over the place.

By: dame

dame — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:56:48 -0800

Does this mean that they don't want to pacify Bushwick? That we are safe from terror? Does it have to do with being on top of a hill? I feel both swindled and safe.

By: hellbient

hellbient — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 11:42:53 -0800

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:22:23 -0800

My roommate just reminded me that there are plenty of flavor factories in North Jersey. Could be a Willy Wonka wannabe scientist doing an impromptu release of a new artificial almond scent. or something. Yeah, this is exactly what I'm saying it's not. Your roommate is thinking of IFF. I used to live near there. Sometimes you smell things, but not for 24 square miles. You just have to appreciate the scale involved, understand how many parts per million of the compound you need to have a detectable scent, and then multiply it over the large swath of land we're talking about. It couldn't possibly come from one factory. Think. New York is surrounded by thousands of factories and industrial seaports. This kind of thing would happen all the time if normal factory work produced any odor so powerful.

By: hellbient

hellbient — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 14:34:54 -0800

You're probably right Miko, but i wouldn't suggest that this would be from normal factory work.

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:43:43 -0800

Perhaps we will never know....*cue Rod Serling*

By: rodney stewart

rodney stewart — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 16:58:54 -0800

...not for 24 square miles. You just have to appreciate the scale involved... From the plants, the steam goes into Con Edison's underground pipes. On a cold winter day, nearly 10 million pounds of steam at 350 degrees Fahrenheit flow each hour through 105 miles of underground mains... The East River plant is one of seven Con Edison plants -- five in Manhattan and one each in Queens and Brooklyn... i agree it's definitely nowhere near as sexy a theory as PSYOPs but looking on the plus side, at least my brain isn't now hurting.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 17:39:51 -0800

So you're saying the Con Ed steamworks had a maple-vanilla fart? Wild.

By: amro

amro — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 17:52:02 -0800

Could it be a mobile smell-dispensing unit? By which I mean Starbucks or the Army (or CIA) could be driving around New York pumping this smell/chemical/bioagent into the air. There are enough Starbucks in NY that if each one had a mechanism to dispense the scent, all of Manhattan would probably smell... Then again, if tons of Starbucks employees at the retail level were responsible for pumping out the scent, there probably would have been a leak to the media about it by now.

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 19:43:35 -0800

The problem with the steam theory is that steam is a closed system. If it were able to spray itself into the atmosphere so that people could smell it, there would be a tremendous drop in the pressure required to force it through the turbines and along the 150 miles of line. So if it were maple-scented, and If there were simultaneous steam leaks all over the city, then yes, this might be an explanation -- except that such an event would have been a major, citywide emergency featuring failures of many systems, including power and heat, and the knowledge of it would be widespread.

By: Miko

Miko — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 20:00:45 -0800

MSNBC even did an inane slideshow. Meanwhile, maybe we should be looking harder at these guys -- Maple Weekend, indeed. I mean, they say it right on their site: Our purpose is to increase the production of New York State maple syrup and enhance its sale across the nation.

By: riffola

riffola — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 21:19:09 -0800

I'm in Elmhurst - Rego Park in Queens, and I couldn't smell it. :( I love this headline and city.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 09:33:02 -0800

What if there was an overpressure situation and steam valves blew off the excess, Miko? It really is the best non-scary explanation I've heard yet.

By: Miko

Miko — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:08:03 -0800

What if there was an overpressure situation and steam valves blew off the excess, Miko? There's no way this could happen without the utility knowing about it, and they'd tell the NY athorities so the investigation could be ended.

By: Miko

Miko — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:13:18 -0800

...anyway, why is the idea that it's PsyOps so scary? I mean, we know through estabished sources that the military is in a phase of actively researching and developing these tactics, and is using a lot of them in Iraq, Guantanamo, and who knows where else. We also know that not all of them are meant to cause panic or terror -- they're just meant to be psychologically active. They're already doing this stuff, so if it scares you in New York, it should also be scaring you in general. I'm not saying I definitely believe this, just to be clear. I couldn't possibly argue that it's a fact, because I have no evidence. And I heartily believe in expecting horses, not zebras. It's just that I think it's plausible, and that many of the more obvious explanations have to be ruled out. Until we have a concrete explanation associated with some evidence, there's no reason to dismiss the idea out of hand.