Because people have been peeing in the streets for 500 years? Really NYC smells year round, there are just some times of the year it’s cold enough that the smell is subdued.
Where do you see people peeing in the streets?
Lot of stereotypes about NYC that just aren't true. I moved there recently and spend most of my workday in Manhattan and the boroughs. I worked in Boston a number of years and held the same opinions of NYC that most people here seem to have.
I've now been here about two years. When I work out of my mid-town office, I spend a good hour at lunchtime walking around. Sometimes I take the subway and walk back to my office from Battery Park or I'll go to 110th St and walk back to my office from there through Central Park.
So I spend a lot of time outdoors in NYC.
I have never seen anybody urinating. There are bums but no more (on a proportional basis) than you see in any major city.
Infrastructure runs pretty well. I've only been late to work once in two years due to train delays. You can get a taxi ride 24/7. Subways run very efficiently and if you mind your own business, you don't get bothered, even at night. The few times I drive there, I find the street grids and parkways pretty easy to navigate and it's easy to get around (parking does present a challenge in some areas). I'm pretty amazed on how sophisticated the water and sewage system is. I read a book on it once and was quite impressed. I can be on the 45th floor of my building and get clean water from the tap that is better than those $5 bottled waters they sell on the ground floor at the Duane Reade!
I find the people there, not the tourists but the natives, much friendlier than the people in Boston.
The food is better than anywhere I have been in the world.
I can go and on.
With regard to the article, there is no doubt that you can run across some pretty rancid smells in NYC. Especially in the hot weather. I don't see how that is different in any other major city. It's not due to people peeing in the streets however. Probably rotting food waste in a restaurant trash bin or a smelly bum who hasn't taken a bath in about a year. The upside is that within seconds, you get a chance to walk by a food truck or duck into one of the many shops that have very nice smells.