Immediately after moving to 25-87 45th street in astoria 1 year ago, I began to smell an acrid, burning-tire-and-oil smell pouring in my bedroom windows
at night every few hours and during the mornings and afternoons on hot and humid days. Along with this regular stench I developed intense post-nasal drip and uncontrollable mucus buildup in my vocal area. It has been a solid year of hacking, gagging, and struggling to clear my throat ever since. I have never in my life had this problem until I moved here. Frustrated, I did a little research and discovered that post-nasal drip can be caused by vasomotor rhinitis which can be triggered by irritants in the air such as particulate matter and sulfuric acid aerosols — both of which pour out of the striped red and white chimneys less than a mile from my living room window (astoria energy). I have read their emissions documents sent to the DEP a few years back and know that these — among possibly other pollutants — are what are coming out of those chimneys. Disgusted, I called 311 on several occasions complaining about the smell. They acted as if this has never been reported before. One night they took it upon themselves to even send over DEP agents dressed like ghostbusters, holding little detectors, who also didn’t seem to have a clue. These agents could not detect anything and went home (they showed up 2 hours after I made the call — by which time the wind had blown the stench to another direction).

I want to rip my hair out because it doesn’t seem like anyone in this neighborhood has a clue — like complacent, pollution-inhaling zombies. No one ever seems to know the “smell” I am talking about. The only support I find is the statement you made above about the “old Poletti Plant and the Ravenswood Plant with its 400-foot high smoke stack that roars alive with hot greasy film every couple hours”. If you have any further information I would love to hear it! I am writing this because I now have a severe respiratory infection which is compounded by the cement-like plaque of mucus which has formed in my vocal folds as a result of living here for 1 year and I am angry and I want to do something about it, but I am not sure how to go about it. I am taking all sorts of drugs and antibiotics — trying to fight off this infection turning into pneumonia. Anything else you have on this would be awesome (like other people affected, documentation, etc…).