Driving through NY/NJ area down 287 I smelled burnt stuff. Was I smelling Manhattan from that far away or what?
I have no idea where to put this thread, because it isn’t really a GQ even though a simple yes or no answer will suffice.
Intuitively I wouldn’t think that was what I smelled, but having driven through that area before I had never smelled so much burnt stuff, and, well hell, the thought crossed my mind and I kinda wanted to know.
The smell from ground zero isn’t just strictly a “burnt” smell, as anyone who has been near there since 9/11 can tell you. It’s an almost metallic smell, on top of a vague burning smell. It’s actually like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. You can feel this stuff irritate your nose and lungs when you inhale.
Where on 287 were you? On most days, the smell is pretty well confined to lower Manhattan. You can smell it in the Broadway/Nassau subway station. On occasion, when I change trains and walk a block on Houston street, I can smell it there, though not every day. Houston is “downtown”, but not all that close to ground zero. Across the river in Brooklyn, you can smell it on some days, but most days you can’t.
So, if you were on the BQE running underneath the promenade and along the western edge of brooklyn, it is possible you smelled it, if the wind was just right.
Thats just sickening… the smell of death and destruction ever so present… truly how can we call ourselves sentient when we are capable of such horrors against each other? It’s one of the few things that makes me come to tears when I think about it… 
I’ve always thought the smell was fire-extinguisher chemicals, more than actual burning.
Were you driving today? Because it looks like the wind is blowing from the S - SW. It could have been a local fire you smelled.
OK, I didn’t smell it then as 287 (south) is pretty far away. I thought it might be something less, er, tragic but I smelled it twice days apart and was just struck with wonder.
I was driving down on Tuesday evening and back on Thursday evening.