Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Air Quality Ahead of July 4th Weekend

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on air quality in New York City. Ahead of the July 4th weekend, State Agencies and Authorities continue to coordinate ongoing air quality monitoring, public awareness and education, mask distribution, and other efforts to prevent or limit exposure to elevated levels of smoke-driven air pollution across New York. The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Health are closely monitoring air quality for impacts from Canadian wildfires. In addition, the Governor announced that a third crew of Forest Rangers is deploying to Quebec to assist in the Canadian fire response.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. I wanted to take a moment to update New Yorkers and alert them to the fact that the entire State of New York is under hazardous conditions with respect to our air quality. As we head into the weekend, the long weekend, when people are looking forward to gathering with their families and celebrating outdoors, having picnics and fireworks, there are precautions I want every New Yorker to know about.

And to convey these messages, I'm joined by our Commissioner of Emergency Services, Jackie Bray. Our Director of State Operations, Kathryn Garcia and our Health Commissioner, Dr. James McDonald. As I repeat, air quality is unhealthy in every corner of the State of New York. Wildfires, some more than 500 miles away continue to burn and we're feeling the impact right here in real time in our City and our State.

Just to help with the fires, we deployed our third crew yesterday to be part of a Northeastern unit comprised of other individuals from Maine and New Hampshire. But the truth is there is no end in sight. And we need to remind everyone of the current conditions, what they need to do, what the numbers mean. And let me be clear, we went through this three weeks ago. The numbers at this moment do not seem to be trending to be as high as they were three weeks ago when the skies were literally orange, but there are still significant public health risks. So, let's go through what we're seeing. Let's talk about how we can keep New Yorkers protected.

First of all, this is not a child scribbles of colors sitting in a nursery school. This is our new reality and air quality, as I said, is unhealthy for everyone because the numbers are over 150. Western New York, we hit 125 already, Central New York, we hit 189 and also the Adirondack region is affected as well as Eastern Lake Ontario. Those are the unhealthy for everyone category.

There are also categories, the yellow categories, where it's unhealthy for sensitive groups. That's when the numbers hit 101 to 150. That would be the Capital Region, the Hudson Valley, New York City, Long Island, and you can see the difference right here.

So, the red is very bad. The orange is bad, but also, we're not in that hazardous range of the purple - the maroon, which can get up from 300 to 500 again, where we saw ourselves a few weeks ago. But this is the new normal for New Yorkers. We need to make sure that people know these numbers. And tomorrow we're expecting to see smoke linger across the State. It's going to be important for people to stay vigilant.

So, what you can do, check your zip code at airnow.gov. Very easy to have the opportunity to see the exact number in your circumstances in real time. And again, this should be part of our normal existence now. We're so used to checking the weather in the wintertime. What's the air temperature? What's the windchill? Do I need to wear a hat, a coat? We're also going to have to condition New Yorkers into understanding that being outdoors when the air quality is compromised and at dangerous levels, it will have an effect on your health.

So, here's what we need to know. If your numbers are over higher than 200, it's very unhealthy or even hazardous. And everyone in those scenarios should stay inside or be masked. We also are talking about the air quality between 151 and 200, that is the red zone on our map, and everyone will be impacted. So, in those categories, when it is red, as much of our State is right now, we really need to limit our time outdoors, and as I mentioned, be wearing a high-quality mask. Now if it's 100, it's good, not great. And we're really hoping in that scenario when it hits those levels, that the smoke is starting to dissipate.

So, our state agencies are constantly monitoring the numbers. We've been working to protect New Yorkers and hear how we can get the word out. We are having those variable message boards, you see them above the bridges on toll roads and on our state highways. We're going to be telling people to watch their air quality and limit their outdoor activities.

Next, we're going to be sending out phone alerts. We've not done this before. This is reserved for severe emergencies. Maybe a tornado come here, a hurricane, a blizzard, but what the messages will say is there's going to be air that's considered very unhealthy, reminding people that they should be wearing a mask through outdoors and how to keep updates on the data.

So, we're making sure that these alerts go out if the air quality hits 200 or higher for a sustained time of one hour or longer than people in those regions of those affected counties will be receiving these cell phone alerts. All of our public transit agencies across the State of New York, MTA, all the way up to Buffalo, they'll be making public service announcements on subway platforms and on our buses. And we're also handing out hundreds of thousands of masks. Again, dig them out of the drawers. The N95 is better. I know this is frustrating for New Yorkers because we thought that era was over. But I will tell you, you'll feel the difference.

You're going to start feeling the effects of what we're talking about right now, if not already. And again, much of this weather is going to be lingering across the State all the way through tomorrow. So, we'll be expecting to have another air quality alert tomorrow. Hazardous conditions across the State of New York, and I want to talk about what we're heading into for the weekend.

A lot of outdoor activities are planned. You need to keep track of these numbers. And number one, you have to know your own body's signs because people will be experiencing runny noses, watery eyes, coughing. This is your body trying to reject the matter that is now absorbed into their lungs. And this creates a dangerous situation the longer it goes on.

So, we need to make sure that you're protecting your kids. Little children should not be out playing when the conditions are in these dangerous, hazardous numbers. Senior citizens, people with asthma, and we have 400,000 children with asthma in our State today. They need to be told this is not the time to be outside riding their bicycles or even at summer camps.

You know, we're making sure all the camp counselors and the leaders of the camps know that kids should not be outside for prolonged periods of time without a mask, especially those with heart disease or respiratory illnesses, you have to avoid strenuous activities, avoid the outdoors, stay hydrated, and take frequent breaks.

So that is the message we wanted to get out. Again, we don't know what's going to happen beyond the next couple of days. Today will be very bad. Tomorrow will be very bad. We expect to see the wind start to dissipate over the next couple of days. It is impossible for us at this point to predict what'll happen for the holiday celebrations on Monday and Tuesday, the Fourth.

Again, we're watching, asking people to be very, very vigilant before you plan your outdoor activities. Know what the numbers are, know what precautions you can take, because otherwise it could really seriously have an effect on you. We've not seen an increase in emergency room visits. We did see that at the end of the last experience we had three weeks ago. But there is a lag time, so we will not have the numbers until after four o'clock each day. And right now, we're not seeing an increase. But again, the air was not bad in most of our State yesterday.

So, this is a recent phenomenon. We're experiencing it in real time. It is, again, I want to repeat that every corner of New York State has unhealthy air conditions right now throughout the rest of the day and through tomorrow. And that is what I want to make sure all New Yorkers are aware of.