Staten Island As Canary

In the battle against unwanted mysterious odors, Staten Island is on the front line:

Just two days after an odor of natural gas odor blanketed Manhattan and parts of Staten Island’s North Shore, the stench of gasoline wafted through St. George yesterday afternoon and invaded the halls of Curtis High School, right before dismissal.

The school was not evacuated and there was no danger to the approximately 2,700 students, said Department of Education spokeswoman Dina Paul Parks.

Even so, some students said the odor caused them to cough and gag.

“I was choking with it,” said 16-year-old Justina Negron, a junior. She described the smell as “gas and propane,” and said it made her cough.

Environmental officials could not pinpoint the source of the stench, which also enveloped much of Richmond Terrace between 2 and 3 p.m. yesterday.

Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection, said the odor was not a health hazard. “They believe it’s a petroleum-type base,” Sturcken said.

Sturcken wouldn’t link the stink to Monday’s Manhattan miasma, or to an event on the Island in August, when a noxious odor sickened people in many North Shore and Mid-Island neighborhoods. In both of the prior cases, the odor was that of natural gas, he said, as opposed to yesterday’s petroleum-like stench.

Earlier: “The Big Stink”, Whichever Of Youse Smelt It . . .