It was a heated hearing at times, with the City Council and the public advocate grilling government officials about their response to the disastrous air quality from early last month.

“I hate that these conversations have to get tense,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said at the hearing. “The administration is the only one that believes that everything went the best way that it could.”

What You Need To Know

  • Smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed New York City in early June

  • City Council and the public advocate are questioning the mayor's response to the air quality event

  • The city only registered 100 emergency room visits above average during the days of poor air quality, according to Zach Iscol, the commissioner of NYC Emergency Management

A few days ago, Williams released a report criticizing Mayor Eric Adams and his administration for their actions during the air quality event. He also recommended that the city establish a robust notification system for times of crisis.

“I wish that you and your team had actually sat down with us before putting this report out. A lot of information in it is factually incorrect,” said Zach Iscol, the commissioner of NYC Emergency Management.

Things developed quickly on June 6, with the air quality index reaching very unhealthy levels in the evening hours and on the following day.

The city says it notified the public as soon as the information started coming in, and that very few New Yorkers were affected by the smoke.

“During this event, we had about a hundred additional emergency room visits with people with asthma. That is on par, in a city of 8 million, for what we generally see in April,” Iscol said.

Predicting air quality can be tricky. And there’s no unified system to notify all New Yorkers of the dangers of this kind of event.

But Adams didn’t hold a press conference until the morning of June 7. The evening before, the sky had already shocked New Yorkers, and outdoor events like a game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox took place despite the air quality index reaching a level of increased risk for all individuals.

“Think about it for a moment. What should we have done? Put out the fires? Come on!" Adams said during an interview on Fox 5. “They criticize us for everything. They criticize us to criticize us."

The public advocate says that he is just doing his job, and hopes the city will be better prepared next time.

“No. You were not supposed to put out the fires. That’s a response that’s basically dismissing what is legitimately what we could have done better,” Williams said.

Experts believe events of this nature will be more common in the near future due to climate change.