CAPITAL REGION – Of all the things his current group of seniors has gone through during their high school careers — one season canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and another shortened and shoehorned in after a rescheduled season for fall sports — Niskayuna boys’ lacrosse head coach Mike Vorgang didn’t have a state semifinal postponed because of fires in an entirely different country on his bingo card.
“But,” Vorgang said, “this seems to be par for the course for this group.”
Air quality issues caused by smoke from hundreds of wildfires currently burning in eastern Canada continued to plague the Capital Region and much of New York on Wednesday.
As officials urged caution, and the state issued a continuing air quality health advisory for the region heading into Thursday, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association opted to postpone the boys’ lacrosse state semifinals that were scheduled for Wednesday.
That included Niskayuna’s Class B contest against Garden City, which was scheduled for Wednesday night at UAlbany’s Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. The game was originally rescheduled for Thursday, but late Wednesday afternoon NYSPHSAA announced that, based upon the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Air Quality Index (AQI) forecast for Thursday, the semifinals have been pushed to Friday.
Niskayuna will face Garden City at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Casey Stadium. The championship games, originally scheduled for Saturday at Hofstra University, have been pushed back to Sunday.
“Unfortunately, the air quality does not appear to be improving in the next 24 hours to a level that will provide a safe environment for student-athletes to participate at the highest level,” NYSPHSAA executive director Robert Zayas said in the release announcing the postponement to Friday. “NYSPHSAA is dedicated to hosting all state championship events this Spring for the student-athletes who have earned the right to compete for the title of state champion.”
In an email, Zayas cited an April 2019 position statement on air quality and wildfires from the National Federation of State High School Associations’ (NFHS) Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
The NFHS statement reads that, “Under the Clean Air Act, the National Ambient Air Quality Standard is 100. An AQI level greater than 100 indicates that a pollutant is in the unhealthful range. As specific public health department recommendations may vary, it is critical that state associations and schools consult local or state health departments for guidelines on when outdoor activities should be modified or cancelled.”
According to NYSPHSAA’s release on Wednesday, “a championship held at a location with an AQI of 101 or more will be postponed.” The release went on to state that the association will abide by that air quality protocol for all spring state championships taking place this weekend. The state championships for girls’ lacrosse, baseball, softball, track and field and boys’ team tennis are all scheduled to begin Friday.
According to DEC’s Air Quality Index forecast, Wednesday’s predicted maximum AQI for the upper Hudson Valley region — which includes Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie and Washington counties — was 110. Thursday’s predicted maximum AQI is 105. Both fall in a range that DEC labels as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.”
In a tweet just before noon Wednesday, CBS6 meterologist Steve LaPointe called the conditions the, “Worst air quality I’ve ever seen locally now in the western Catskills, Mohawk valley, and Capital Region, CODE PURPLE, Very Unhealthy. Limit time outdoors, keep windows closed.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday issued a recommendation that school districts cancel outdoor activities in response to the air quality situation.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Albany, the Democratic governor said the state’s AQI had significantly deteriorated in the past 48 hours.
“New York City and Syracuse were among the worst places [for air quality] on the entire planet yesterday,” Hochul said. “Normally, our air quality index is around 50 in New York state. In the last 24 hours — we just got these numbers this morning — we have updated information that it is now a 400 index in parts of our state, that’s an 800% increase.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, also released a statement on the matter.
“I have asked the EPA to work with New York State to ensure air quality monitoring across Upstate NY in light of the Canadian wildfires,” Schumer said. “I will continue to carefully monitor this situation and make sure the EPA keeps in close contact with state and local officials, who might have concerns or questions about the smoke, its impacts and its trajectory. I encourage all New Yorkers, especially those most vulnerable to unhealthy air quality, to follow public safety alerts, take precautions and stay safe.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality website showed a 200 AQI in Schenectady County, as of Wednesday afternoon, and it recommended people reduce activity or consider going indoors.
The state issued a continuing air quality health advisory for the region Thursday, but other regions of the state were expected to be worse.
The New York City Metro area, Long Island, Eastern Lake Ontario and Central and Western regions were all expected to reach “unhealthy” levels Thursday, DEC said.
Only the New York City Metro area, Eastern Lake Ontario and the Central region reached that level Wednesday.
The Adirondacks had the state’s best air quality with air quality listed there as moderate.
“Bottom line is this: if you can stay indoors, stay indoors. This is detrimental to people’s health. This is expected to go for the next few days,” Hochul said. “So, people need to prepare for this over the long haul. We can all feel it. It is an effect of the collateral damages of climate change. It’s an environmental crisis and I want to make sure all New Yorkers are aware of this
The impact of the air quality issue hasn’t been limited to sports. The town of Halfmoon announced Wednesday that it moved its farmer’s market from its normal outside location to inside Halfmoon Town Hall.
“We made this decision to move the Halfmoon Farmer’s Market indoors today [Wednesday] to help protect our people and safeguard their health,” Town Supervisor Kevin Tollisen said in a release.
Schenectady’s Jazz on Jay event, scheduled to be held outdoors Thursday, has been moved indoors to Robb Alley at Proctors. The event will still run at its scheduled time of noon to 1:30 p.m.
The city of Albany postponed its planned Bike to Work Day on Thursday, with plans to hold the event at a date to be determined later this month.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Business & Professional Association’s Flag Day parade, slated for 7 p.m. on Thursday, was still on as scheduled.
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the New York Racing Association announced that Thursday morning training at Belmont Park in Nassau County and the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course had been canceled due to poor air quality conditions forecast to impact the state overnight and into the morning.
A decision regarding Thursday’s 3:05 p.m. live racing program at Belmont will be made in the morning following a review of the conditions and forecast. NYRA is preparing to host the 155th Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
A pair of longtime figures in Section 2 athletics — executive director Ed Dopp and girls’ track and field chairman Mark Therrien — both said they had no recollection of similar circumstances happening in the area before.
Vorgang hasn’t seen anything like it, either.
“Not in my lifetime, at least,” Vorgang said. “In the 30 years I’ve been coaching — 30 years of lacrosse, plus I coached 12 years of football — something like this has never happened.”
Vorgang and his team opted for an extra day of practice on Wednesday, taking extra precaution by moving things indoors to the dome at Afrim’s Sports Park in Latham.
For now, all Vorgang and his team can do is wait.
“I’m not an expert on it at all,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s going to get better or not … if it’s the same way tomorrow [Thursday], I don’t know how they could play it. It’s a very precarious situation, for sure.”
Reach Adam Shinder at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Adam_Shinder.
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