Commuting - NYC, What's that smell?

For the last couple days on and off, I've been smelling an odor in Manhattan that smells kind of like caramel. Seems I'm not the only one since NY1 ran a story on it describing it variously as maple syrup to burning sugar. Anybody care to weigh in with their thoughts, comments and especially conspiracy theories about Republican plots to control the way we vote?

BTW, I'm posting in commuting cuz I've most often smelled it on my commutes.

It was pretty bad last night up where i am (harlem west side). i thought something was burning in the apt. at first, then i opened the window and it got worse. a definite maple syrup smell, almost like burning anti-freeze. this is the first i'm hearing of others noticing it though, i just assumed it was a localized phenom (our super has a grill in the alley, plus car parts and stuff, it could have been anything).

Do you have a link to the article you saw?

Here's a link to the story reported by NY1.

http://ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=54578

Apparently, people have been smelling it from lower Manhattan to Harlem. And I thought it was my techwick t-shirt doing it's odor defeating job and turning my sweat into sweet, sweet caramel!

Weird, I have not noticed, I ride like half the length of Manhattan straight up and down each way, plus I have a very sensitive nose for smells.

It's New Jersey ;)

Maybe it is just tons of people making caramel apples for Halloween all at once?

someone once told me that smell was poisonous and I believed him. it was a long time ago when I went to NY for college.

I know what you are talking about, I thought it was in my shirt too. I am below the seaport.

If you can smell it, there are little bits of it in your nose.

That's funny cause I was riding with wheezl last night in prospect park and I smelled it too. We asked a bunch of cops and they had no clue what it was either.

There's a scented candle factory or something near the pulaski bridge and it smells like that every day, maybe it spread..

If you can smell it, there are little bits of it in your nose.

Soooo, when someone farts..........................................

This is all interesting speculation, but I still haven't heard any conspiracy theories about Canadians lulling us to sleep w/ the smell of caramel so they can steal our cheese.

It must be the Canadians.


Slvoid, that candle factory smell is one of the worst, that is not what I smelled. Candle factory mixed with the poopstink from the greenpoint ave poop factory, gawd, that is a stink!

It's Canada related. The Canadian Maple Goose is beginning its annual migration south for the winter. The smell is from goose poop, as the geese fatten up on fallen maple leaves before beginning their long flight.

Hey I like the candle factory smell sometimes!

My favorite is the Nuts 4 Nuts smell.

mmm, mmmm :p

bk

It must be the Canadians.

reduced to burning maple sugar to heat our igloos, sure. actually it's a cabane a sucre that burned out of control, but we ain't sayin'.

and if anyone in seattle starts smelling salmon everywhere, just ignore it. nothing going on up here, honest.