Gas Smelled Over Large Area Of Manhattan

WNBC ^ | 1-8-06 | WNBC

[dogbyte12]

YORK -- People all over a large part of New York City are smelling a gas, and it's not clear where it's coming from.

Numerous people have called 911 concerned about the odor. Con Edison, the Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.

PATH service has been suspended into the 33rd Street station. Service is still going into the World Trade Center station.

Macy's department store has been evacuated, according to reports.

There also are unconfirmed reports of a similar smell across the river in New Jersey.

People between Midtown and Battery Park are reported to be smelling it. At NBC headquarters in Rockefeller Plaza, the odor is very strong. One person who works on the sixth floor at 30 Rockefeller Center says it's so strong people are leaving the building.

At one major office building at 37th and 7th, employees have been told that Con Edison is looking into a smell, and they should remain inside until they hear otherwise.

Mayor Bloomberg is expected to be asked about it at a 9:30 briefing with the media.

[dogbyte12]

They are evacuating a lot of buildings now. The smell seems to be all over Manhattan. I am wondering if it is a gas leak, and how large it has to be to be effecting multiple buildings.

[ARE SOLE]

Hillary farted.

[TerP26]

i smell it....my building sure isnt getting evacuated yet... i should evacuate myself but i have a 10 am meeting !! dammit !

[coloradan]

A smell covering both New York and New Jersey? Corruption?

[Vaquero]

Wind blowing in from Jersey?

[Charles Henrickson]

Gas Smelled Over Large Area Of Manhattan

Old Crusty in town?

[eyespysomething]

Fox News just reported in NJ there is a strong gas smell also.

**insert fart joke here**

[Long Island Pete]

I had Mexican last night. Dont smell anything over here in Hell's Kitchen.

[andy58-in-nh]

That's an awfully large area for a gas leak (Macy's is on 34th and Rockefeller Center is in the 50's if I recall).

[TommyDale]

Merely a Giuliani Parnters staff meeting.

[Peach]

If it is gas, it's a good thing they added some kind of additive so the leak could be smelled.

[dogbyte12]

Seriously though, Macy's AND NBC AND a whole host of other buildings are catching this odor strongly. Whatever it is, there apparently is alot of it. If it's gas, this strong, the fire danger has to be huge.

[mewzilla]

It's nat gas folks are smelling, or rather the stink they add to it?

[spectre]

Fox news is saying that the GAS is being smelled in New Jersey as well..They say it might be coming from New Jersey? Who the heck knows..

sw

[Dick Bachert]

No, no.

With a butt THAT size, had she done so, Manhattan would be missing.

[dinoparty]

Would a single gas leak cause this much odor over such a wide area? Is it a natural gas smell, or something else?

[areafiftyone]

Still at work! I can smell it now. It really smells like gas!

[Red Badger]

Terrorist attack?...........Pat Robertson said it wouldn't be until later this year........

[mewzilla]

Fresh Kills stinks (stunk?) to high heaven. We've smelled that on visits.

[dogbyte12]

what is your location in town?

[alice_in_bubbaland]

We have a winner! :)

[Constitution Day]

Still at work! I can smell it now. It really smells like gas!

She who smelt it, dealt it.

[coloradan]

The odorant added to gas to make it smell "like gas" is extremely smelly. Maybe a few bottles of the pure odorant have been opened all over the place. I can see some terrorist scenario-setups here.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Does every thread have to instantly degenerate into some sort of open mic night at the local dive bar? Not every story is an opportunity to crack open the lame joke book you got for Christmas, folks.

[DBrow]

Natural gas is oderless, they add methyl mercaptan to it that stinks, and the sulfur in it gives the flame a blue tint.

If someone spilled a quart of methyl or ethyl mercaptan it'd smell up a large area.

[DouglasKC]

If it's a terrorist attack, it's pretty crafty. Access to gas lines is pretty much unimpeded. A maniac, or a group of maniacs, only have to cut a number of lines throughout the city, light a match and boom.

[Ramius]

That's really odd... seems like too big an area for a natural gas leak. Seems like even a pretty large release of natural gas would disperse quicker than that.

[spectre]

Reporter from a building on 6th avenue says people that are evacuating "sort of leaving on their own"...LOL..

sw

[meg88]

[mewzilla]

If someone spilled a quart of methyl or ethyl mercaptan it'd smell up a large area.

Where's/when's that added to the nat gas? Does the additive get trucked around?

[sodpoodle]

"cut a number of lines throughout the city, light a match and boom".

Anti-smoking bunch?

[Semper911]

Still at work! I can smell it now. It really smells like gas!

Will you confirm for us please that it is natural gas? Or some other gaseous smell?

It's amazing that the news report does not make that clear. As if all gasses are the same.

[dogbyte12]

Spilling a bottle of methyl mercaptan would be a good way to deliberately affect commerce though. If it smelled like natural gas to me, I wouldn't risk it being nothing. A ton of businesses are shutting down right now.

[LIConFem]

I work a few blocks north of $hitty Hall. No smell here as yet (Bloomie must be outta town).

[relee]

It started in NJ - no kidding.

[BenLurkin]

Stay safe, FRiends.

[isthisnickcool]

No big deal, Rosie is in New York today. And she didn't fart, the smell is coming from another hole.

[IamConservative]

Another Taco Bell food alert??

[higgmeister]

Denmark?

[mewzilla]

Reporter from a building on 6th avenue says people that are evacuating "sort of leaving on their own"...LOL..

I would, too, though I'd be wondering where it's safe to go if the stench is that widespread :)

[RetiredArmy]

My exact first thought!!!!

[areafiftyone]

Lots of Fire engines all over the place. I can hear them from my window. I hope they find the source of this. What a pain! It's more of an annoyance than anything else.

[SauronOfMordor]

i should evacuate myself but i have a 10 am meeting !! dammit !

If you have a bad feeling, maybe you should listen to your gut rather than your scheduler

[MarineMom613]

ABC Radio now reporting that there was a gas leak down in Bleeker Street.(lower manhattan)

[Uncle Ike]

" Seems like even a pretty large release of natural gas would disperse quicker than that. "

The scientists among us can correct me, but I believe natural gas is heavier than air, and in still air will collect at ground level...

If there's no wind to speak of, accumulations are possible...

FAE on a grand scale, maybe?? (Fuel-Air-Explosive)

[sodpoodle]

"Does the additive get trucked around?"



Excellent question Mewz, the Fox news guys have not asked.

[maquiladora]

Gas main break in West Village

per Drudge

[tioga]

FOX is covering it, if it turns out like yesterday's mega alert at the Miami port you have nothing to worry about.

[I_Publius]

And not only that, but what kind of effect can these chemicals have on their own, without being added to the natural gas? Are they harmful?

[DBrow]

Yes it does. Google "natural gas oderant" or Scentinel and you'll get hits about tankers and cylinders and distribution nets.

I'm not an expert, that's all I did was google.