Stern interrupted, leaves the air mid-show

January 8, 2007 7:03 AM

Gas leak in Manhattan?

Anyone have more information on a gas leak in Manhattan?

posted by badger_flammable to Health & Fitness (35 answers total)

WQXR's hourly news just said that there was no source, PATH had been shut down, 'rotten egg' smell reported downtown, midtown, and jersey city, and then concluded the report with the statement that the smell was now reported to be "disapating".

The Bronx smells the same as ever.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 7:05 AM on January 8, 2007

i smelled it when the D stopped at w. 4th maybe half an hour ago, but not at 34th or around herald square, which is where the news says it's most concentrated. i preferred the mysterious maple syrup cloud.
posted by sonofslim at 7:08 AM on January 8, 2007

Another AP story on the leak, via NYT
posted by hazelshade at 7:12 AM on January 8, 2007

ABC news says the 23rd St station on the 6th Ave line has been evacuated. I smelled it around 9AM around W4 and even worse at Herald Square. I can still smell it in my office on the 12 floor here on 30th St.
posted by yeti at 7:21 AM on January 8, 2007

They are still on the air, but Howard left the building. Now, they are mostly arguing over who is the biggest pussy on the staff for leaving.
posted by Exchequer at 7:31 AM on January 8, 2007

Was very strong in midtown, now gone. More here.
posted by poxuppit at 7:37 AM on January 8, 2007

Homeland Security reporting there is no connection to terrorism with the gas odors.
posted by Exchequer at 7:44 AM on January 8, 2007

NYC Mayor Bloomberg press conference:

Small gas leak at Bleeker and 6th.

Public reports seem to be from a wider area than reasonable from that leak.

Investigation is ongoing.

MTA closed some stations, but they are now reopened.

Gas concentrations are not at a level that would be harmful.

No further definitive answers at present.
posted by Exchequer at 7:48 AM on January 8, 2007

Homeland Security reporting there is no connection to terrorism with the gas odors.

I like how they always seem to know right away.
posted by trevyn at 7:49 AM on January 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

...And apparently something similar happened in Austin, although no one smelled anything. A fair portion of the downtown area was shut down this morning after dozens of birds were found dead. They're testing for a gas or chlorine leak.

Pretty weird.
posted by DMan at 7:53 AM on January 8, 2007

I hesitate to be flippant during a serious situation, but: eponysterical!
posted by bcwinters at 7:59 AM on January 8, 2007

By the way, the BBC is on the story now...
posted by ob at 7:59 AM on January 8, 2007

I am totally on the story here. It smells like gas. My office closed the vents so the smell wouldn't get in. They better re-open the PATH by tonight or I'm sleeping at bingo's. I'll keep you updated.
posted by dame at 8:01 AM on January 8, 2007

Shouldn't this be posted as newsfilter in the blue, then scorned, taken to meta and derailed there?

just kidding. Hope you newyorkers are alright and that it is nothing serious.
posted by micayetoca at 8:01 AM on January 8, 2007

"Rotten egg smell"? If it was natural gas, those news people must never have met a skunk, or a rotten egg, either.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:06 AM on January 8, 2007

I can smell it in the hallway of the studio I'm working at in SOHO.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:08 AM on January 8, 2007

As Bloomberg pointed out in the press conference (which was not actually called to discuss the smell but about something unrelated), natural gas has no smell; sensors have not detected any natural gas; therefore he speculated that it might actually be a leak not of gas but of mercaptan, the chemical that's added to gas to make it detectable.
posted by staggernation at 8:09 AM on January 8, 2007

Kirth, huh? Are you saying gas doesn't smell like rotten eggs?
posted by dame at 8:17 AM on January 8, 2007

Mercaptan (gives natural gas it's smell) does not smell like rotten eggs.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:18 AM on January 8, 2007

"Rotten egg" is a smell that's added to odorless natural gas in order to make it easier for people to detect leaks, at least according to most natural gas companies I've gotten the stuff from.

It's also the smell of sulfur, which the planet periodically emits on its own without any help from its inhabitants. In some parts of the country, a rotten egg smell is a sign of possible earthquake.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 8:21 AM on January 8, 2007

Huh? The scent added to natural gas does not smell like rotten eggs.

Mercaptan
posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:26 AM on January 8, 2007

I think that must be a matter of opinion DHD. Because it smells to me like sulphur (for instance, the same smell as hot water in Iceland), which is the traditional rotten egg smell. (And yes, I know it isn't really the gas, but as far as most people are concerned, that is what gas smells like.)
posted by dame at 8:26 AM on January 8, 2007

Wow. I had no idea that some peoples noses interpreted the smell of Methanethiol as being the same as sulphur.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:29 AM on January 8, 2007

I see where some people say Methyl Mercaptan does smell like rotten eggs (that link doesn't - it says "rotten cabbage".) To me, it smells more like skunk.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:30 AM on January 8, 2007

Well, it does has sulphur in it. Maybe that's it? Or maybe I just don't smell real sulphuric things a lot so there is just a general sense of smell memory? But I notice in the wikipedia article that there is grapefruit mercaptan, and now I want my gas to smell like grapefruit.
posted by dame at 8:32 AM on January 8, 2007

Mayor Bloomberg: "We don't know what it is. It does not appear to be dangerous ...it may just be an unpleasant smell," he said. "The one thing we are very confident of is that it's not dangerous."

Fartman could not be reached for comment.
posted by Exchequer at 8:43 AM on January 8, 2007

Earth Fart. Most people are unaware that the northeastern US is on a major fault line. So who's to say that there wasn't a fart that was not accompanied by an earthquake?
posted by Gungho at 8:46 AM on January 8, 2007

Our building was exacutated (i work on 28th and 7th), but we went back upstairs 10-15 minutes later. We were given the option to go home, but nobody did, except for a pregnant girl.
posted by TwilightKid at 8:56 AM on January 8, 2007

Wow, so it really is all over the city? Sounds like a pretty big area is affected. Pretty damn weird.
posted by aacheson at 9:02 AM on January 8, 2007

The trains are running again.
posted by dame at 9:10 AM on January 8, 2007

Reports of same smell in Jersey City now.
posted by wfc123 at 9:17 AM on January 8, 2007

I saw the subway hero guy on David Letterman last week. That guy had some guts to jump down there and lay on top of him to save him. Amazing stuff. It really made me ask myself what I would have done-and I can't say that I probably would have done the same. Plus his daughters were there with him...Amazing.

I have to say it's a little freaky that the smell is so widespread.
posted by aacheson at 9:39 AM on January 8, 2007

Maybe this is the companion smell to the wacky maple syrup smell that was floating around the NYC area last summer?
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 12:20 PM on January 8, 2007

Except - nobody posted about that subway hero who saved the seizure guy... hmmmmm

Umm...wrong.

Also, if you've ever seen the gap in the tracks at that station, you'd see it as a slightly easier decision to make. Its a fairly deep gap - not saying I wouldn't hesitate to jump under a train with the dude, just that its feasible. Still a hero, though.
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:38 PM on January 8, 2007

Am I the only one that thinks the gas smell, and maybe the syrup smell, are tests to see how fast and far gases travel? And how the government/first responders/utilities/citizens react?

(twists the corners to get the foil a little bit tighter around my forehead)
posted by bink at 8:58 PM on January 8, 2007 [1 favorite]