Sweltering NYC hit by Canadian wildfire smoke — and it may only get hazier

It’s going to get hazier before it gets better. The Big Apple is under an Air Quality Health Advisory as the Canadian and Great Lake wildfire smoke slowly takes over our skies. The air pollution reached “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” levels of air quality around 11 a.m., and is expected to remain so until around 11 p.m., according to the city’s Office of Emergency Management. A hazy sunrise over Manhattan on July 15, 2026 as Canadian wildfire smoke engulfs New York City. Getty Images The visible smoke from the fires has been traveling through the Empire State, turning the bright blue skies into a pale haze. That means the Air Quality Index (API) will hover between 101 and 150 on Wednesday — a far cry away from the harrowing 465 “Hazardous” peak that turned the metro skies orange during t