Mysterious Onion Smell Baffles Williamsburg

EAST WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A mysterious and sporadic onion smell has been lurking over a Brooklyn street corner for years and no one knows exactly where it comes from.

“Not everyday but sometimes the neighborhood smells like sautéed onions,” wrote Michael Cucinotta on the social media group NextDoor.

“It’s not even unpleasant - but it’s definitely onions.”

Cucinotta has been smelling onions on the blocks near Montrose and Graham avenues since he first moved to the neighborhood about three years ago, he said.

There is not a scheduled onion smell day, but when it comes, it comes in the mornings, according to Cucinotta.

The perturbed Williamsburg resident took to NextDoor in hopes of discovering the root of the oniony smell. Several residents had hypotheses, others disputed the source.

“There are a bunch of commercial kitchens in East Willy east of Bushwick Ave.,” one user responded. “Maybe that’s what you’re smelling?”

Another resident, who lives near Graham Avenue, confirmed the existence of “a very strong onion smell,” that she said was “worse in the warmer months and always in the morning.”

“I thought it was the smell of unwashed man buns seeping in from bedford,” responded another man.

The mystery smell became a source of nostalgia for another Williamsburg resident who recalled the Giant Fart Cloud building, a cabbage packaging warehouse that once stood at 5 Roebling St.

“Nice folks, smelly product," she wrote. "When you live near an IBZ there's no telling what you might be smelling!"

Patch took the problem to Facebook where a few more interesting scenarios (and a song by Booker T. and the M.G.s) cropped up.

“Probably the large hipster influx causing that smell,” wrote Rebel Rome. "I don't ever wear deodorant, thats how I stick it to the man"

“[They're] boiling onions to use as a natural pesticides,” wrote Geo Gee. “Some one got a massive grow room."

Patch will continue its investigation in hopes of peeling away the layers of this complex story. If you have smelled onion, or believe your know the source of the smell, in East Williamsburg, please contact us immediately.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay