Gas Smelled All Over Manhattan --->>>

[Stephanie]

Watching live on TV now. Lots of sirens outside. Midtown buildings being evacuated. No known source for the smell, Con Ed says it has no leaks. 23rd St. subway platform evacuated. Smell noticeable in NJ as well. WTF? I haven't left for work yet, wondering what's going on. Bloomberg to speak shortly.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/10694568/detail.html?treets=ny&tml=ny_break&ts=T&tmi=ny_break_1_08420301082007

Strong Gas Odor Permeates Manhattan

POSTED: 9:13 am EST January 8, 2007
UPDATED: 10:26 am EST January 8, 2007

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NEW YORK -- People over a large part of New York City are smelling a gas odor, and authorities are scrambling to determine the source.

The Port Authority said it believes the gas leak is coming from Bleecker Street.

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

"The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school at Broadway and 34th Street, which was evacuated as a precaution.

The Fire Department began getting calls about the odor around 9 a.m., said spokesman Tim Hinchey.

PATH service has been suspended into the 33rd Street station, although the service was still running to the World Trade Center Station. F and V subway service has been suspended at 23rd Street.

Service is still going into the World Trade Center station.

People between Midtown and Battery Park are reported to be smelling the odor, which was also reported in New Jersey.

[babylonsister]

1. Don't worry, Stephanie. The DHS is on it.

:eyes:

[elehhhhna]

5. and Fema will get there by Thursday, maybe Friday.

[BurtWorm]

31. Are you sure? I thought there was a scare going on

at a flea market in Indiana.

:eyes:

[frazzledmom]

59. Well, they were, until the cuts to NY's anti-terrorism budget

after all, there are no "National Landmarks" to protect in NY. But never fear, the worlds largest ball of string is safe from terrorists... :eyes:

[King Coal]

2. Maybe it's just mercaptan.

[Stephanie]

3. what's that?

[King Coal]

4. The odorant added to methane, propane etc.

[Little Wing]

6. That's what you smell

natural gas is odorless, mercaptan is put in so you know when it's leaking

[Strelnikov_]

55. Happened In Des Moines Several Years Ago

A facility had a leak of the chemical that provides the natural gas 'smell' we know and love.

There was a STRONG odor of natural gas 30+ miles away where I was at the time.

[woodsprite]

7. Probably some well placed scent packets - you know, those

ones they actually add to the natural gas to make the smell? I remember getting a scratch/sniff in a National Geographic or from the gas company when I was a kid and I forget how little of that stuff they needed to make a stink, but it was miniscule.

[Stephanie]

9. the smell is from 82nd Street down to the Battery

That's like 8-7 miles. And also in Jersey City.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Wasn't there some problems

with weird odors cropping up downtown a year of so ago?

[Stephanie]

29. yeah people all over town were smelling a sugar smell

I don't think they ever figured out why.

[kestrel91316]

46. Sugar has a smell???

[smirkymonkey]

50. It was a Maple Syrup smell.

I was wondering all day why I was craving pancakes.

[havocmom]

8. Bunch of dead birds prompted closing part of downtown Austin

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070108/D8MH5FBO0.html

Shaping up to be an interesting week. Lots of powerful people in trouble, now this shit. Do I need more tin foil?

[cwydro]

10. Can you smell it in your house?

[Stephanie]

14. No but I've had a cold

I'm in Chelsea and one report says it's coming from Chelsea. Fox reporter saying now the smell woke him up. Friend in midtown Conde Naste building says smell is making people there woozy.

[soleft]

11. I heard from a friend they've narrowed it to Bleecker and 4th St.

[Stephanie]

12. The Fox reporter is at Bleecker & 10th right now and says no

He says Con Ed is telling him it's not coming from there.

[ccpup]

34. Lucky me!

I live a block North of Bleecker and a block South of West 4th. Heading out to the gym now. Maybe I'll spend my whole work out with a goofy smile on my face and a bad case of the munchies?

[Beetwasher]

13. I'm In Midtown, 37th and 7th-PATH Shutdown, Macy's Evacuated

I didn't smeall anything when I got in at 9:30pm though.

[Stephanie]

15. I don't know whether to head out for work (city hall area) or stay home

i'm so late already

[seabeyond]

19. call in and ask. i wouldnt be big on going into work, away from news

not knowing what you are going into

[seabeyond]

20. bloomberg is on

[NightOwwl]

17. Here we go again...

Hours of breathless reporting on CNN/MSNBC/etc ...

Do we know what it is? No

Do we know how it started? No

Do we know if it is dangerous? No

Do we know anything at all about what we are reporting? No

Shall we continue to report even though we know nothing? Yes

:eyes:

[Ian David]

33. Now Fox News is showing footage of a plane with broken landing gear and speculating...

"This plane with broken landing gear may or may not have anything to do with the smell of gas... but we had this file footage available, and thought we would show it, just to keep you all transfixed for hours."

[NightOwwl]

37. That is so pathetic...

so why am I laughing?

:rofl:

[NYCGirl]

18. Updates from a local website:

Update: ABC and Fox are reporting that the smell may have originated with a large gas leak at Bleecker and West 4th. But Fox is now saying the location may be at 7th and 13th, near St. Vincents. So things are still confused.

Update: ConEd is reporting no leaks anywhere in the system-- so it's a real mystery!

Update: a tipster called to say St. Vincents is being evacuated, and PATH trains are shut down into the city. So the smell is definitely strongest right now in the Village.

Update: Some areas in NJ can smell gas! Everyone is waiting to hear if Mayor Bloomberg has any new news at a press conference.

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/08/maple_syrup_was.php

[Stephanie]

25. 7th & 13th is two blks from my house

Maybe I'll stay in.

[cwydro]

36. Hell, I'd stay home

in a heartbeat...but then I'm always looking for a way out of work.:evilgrin:

They may have evacuated your workplace anyway...

Keep us posted; I'm at work with no TV

[lectrobyte]

21. Thank God, I thought that truck driver with no paperwork would never get off the news. nt

But seriously, hope it's just another false alarm.

[WinkyDink]

22. I'm betting it's no big deal whatsoever. More Terra! Terra!

[seabeyond]

26. shit does happen. i dont think i would yell terra terra, when so many

are smelling something. i am not into fear, but i am also not going to foolishly ignore something.

[Stephanie]

23. Bloomberg speaking now >

Says small leak at Bleecker and Sixth, but that does not account for smell over such a broad area. Says you can't smell natural gas, but can smell the mercaptan, so that's what you're smelling, but may or may not come from gas. At this point we don't know.

[Stephanie]

32. Bloomberg saying sensors don't show natural gas

but has no answers

[spanone]

24. Giuliani must be in town.

[unblock]

47. bah-dum-CHA!

:rofl:

[Archae]

27. What's the big deal?

I see stuff like this when someone has three of Taco Bell's bean burritos. :D

[Norquist Nemesis]

28. That's one way to enforce a smoking ban

(sorry...couldn't resist and now running away)

[leftofthedial]

30. Cheney hasn't visited New York has he?

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ian David]

38. Tinfoil Speculation

What if either Homeland Security or a terrorist organization is using harmless odor-causing chemicals as experiments to test what would happen in the event of a real chemical attack?

[crispini]

39. Very, very believable

Yep.

[soleft]

42. That's what i thought the pancake smell last year was

[tk2kewl]

40. The smell was a strong methane smell while I was on the 7th Ave subway.

By the time I got downtown I had a headache.

[rman]

41. Strong smell over large area - not your average gas leak,

whatever the case may be. Either a large gas leak or something else.
Are we supposed to think it's a terrorist attack?

[ecstatic]

43. Try not to smoke today!

:sarcasm:

No, seriously... I hope they find out what's wrong and I hope it's nothing major.

[markbark]

44. Sorry Folks, It was me....

had some really vicious chicken vindaloo last night :evilgrin:

--MAB

[T_i_B]

51. Not to mention the pickled eggs!

:hide:

[kestrel91316]

45. I know things have gotten bad when the first idea that enters my mind

here is that it's a fake Terra(TM) attack to scare America because we voted so many Repukes out in Nov and now the Dems are taking over..............it would be SOOOOOO easy to release the stinky stuff they put in gas (so you can tell there's a leak) without actually releasing gas. It would cause havoc, great trouble and expense looking for "the leak", and yet harm no one.

Where has KKKarl been the last few days? Does he have any buddies who are chemists or have access to the stuff in quantity???

[BrightKnight]

48. A small methanethiol tank could cause a large disruption. - n/t

[Strelnikov_]

54. That Would Be My Guess

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3067115&mesg_id=3067400

[eric513]

49. What if the whole city farted at once?

LMAO!!! Well...... it's a possibility.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

53. What if a million people spelled out "impeach"

in central park, and then had a group fart? Would that smell like today?

[soothsayer]

52. Just the Jets and Giants returning home!

[Nothing Without Hope]

56. Possibly from degassing of submarine methane deposits? Another thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x255463
title: The environmental "surge" you're not hearing anything about....

Offshore submarine methane degassing has been reported by oil tankers, which monitor levels routinely. The sulfurous stink could be from associated gasses. Global warming is exerting an escalating effect - and degassed methane will speed it up.

[EFerrari]

58. Thanks, Hope, I hadn't seen that thread. n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

57. Ann Coulter is in town!