Sweet Smell Not Budget Crisis, Confounds New Yorkers

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that tests had been conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection, the Health Department and other city agencies, but no toxic substance was found for the smell that seemed most prominent in Manhattan, what many called a sweet smell like maple syrup or pancakes.

It's believed to be some sort of food substance, but we can't substantiate that, said Kelly.

I smelled it as I was walking home from Tribeca to the upper West Side, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., said Michelle Collins. At first I didn't say anything, but when my roommate got home she said she heard people talking about it all over the city. By then it was like IHOP (International House of Pancakes) on a Sunday morning.