As firefighters in Canada battled hundreds of wildfires, the smoke spreading south engulfed New York City, Washington DC and beyond in a yellowish haze on Wednesday (Jun 7) as people, many wearing masks, passed by familiar landmarks obscured by the smoky fog.
The New York City skyline could barely be seen across the Hudson River from New Jersey, while the Washington Monument and National Mall were enveloped in a rainless grey haze, where at one point a single jogger ran.
The New York Yankees took on the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night in a Yankee Stadium blanketed under a heavy amber pall, but Wednesday's game was postponed because of the hazardous air quality.
In New York, commuters fished out pandemic-era face masks in the face of the hazardous conditions as masked street vendors did a brisk business selling them to those who had run out.
Haze from northern wildfires obscured the sun on Wednesday morning as horsemen rode their mounts towards the track ahead of the Belmont Stakes horse race, scheduled for Saturday.
