UWS Ranks No. 2 For Most Air Quality Complaints In 2020: Study

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — There are plenty of perks that come with living in New York City, but air quality is not generally near the top of the list.

Upper West Siders have filed 151 air quality complaints since the start of 2020, according to a recent study from Amast, which used New York City data collected by 311.

The number of complaints is the second most out of any New York City neighborhood since the start of the year.

The Upper West Side trailed only the Greenpoint/Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn over the number of air quality complaints filed from Jan. 1, 2020, to July 15, 2020.

The majority of the air quality complaints on the Upper West Side had to do with idle vehicles and fumes, according to the study. However, our neighborhood actually ranked No. 1 in the same air quality complaint rankings from 2019.

Here's the breakdown for the Upper West Side air quality complaints in 2020:

Dust

• Dust, Construction/Demolition: 15 complaints
• Dust, Other: 3 complaints

Odor/Fumes

• Nail Salon: 4
• Restaurant: 15
• Vehicle Idling: 56

Smoke

• Chimney or vent: 56
• Vehicular: 2

After Greenpoint/Williamsburg and the Upper West Side, the top five New York City neighborhoods with the most air quality complaints are rounded out by Greenwich Village/SoHo, Midtown Manhattan, and the Fort Greene/Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

You can find read the full study on Amast's website.