Gothamist⁠77%

NYC libraries giving out masks as wildfire smoke sinks air quality ⁠24%

By Brittany Kriegstein⁠66%

7/15/2026, 12:24:19 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Post Hoc (False Cause), Negativity Bias, and Pessimism Bias, with Ambiguity (Equivocation) as the most egregious example at 20.8% saturation with 66 hits. Analysis detected 650 faulty-reasoning hits from 317 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 36.6% and a BS Rank of ⁠24% (16,768 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 76.60% of the article peer group.

New York City libraries are giving out free KN95 masks for anyone struggling to breathe as wildfire smoke rolls in from Canada. 
The masks are available at all Brooklyn and Queens public library locations, along with the St. 
George Library Center on Staten Island, the Bronx Library Center, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said late Tuesday. 
Though the Air Quality Index was showing moderate conditions across the five boroughs early Wednesday, meteorologists from the National Weather Service said the air could potentially worsen if the smoke mixes closer to the surface. 
The smoky conditions on Wednesday are set to coincide with extreme heat and humidity across the five boroughs, with temperatures expected to reach close to 100 degrees. 
A heat advisory will be in effect until 9 p.m. 
A gray haze from the Ontario fires drifted across the New York City region on Tuesday, prompting officials from the state health department to issue an air quality health advisory that included Rockland and Westchester counties and Long Island. 
The advisory was in effect until 11 p.m., and it was not immediately clear whether they would be issuing another one for Wednesday. 
The city’s Office of Emergency Management said it would be monitoring conditions alongside the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the National Weather Service. 
“Any temporary spikes in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are currently expected to stay below air quality health advisory triggers, but conditions can change,” the agency wrote in a post on X. 
“Know your risk. 
If you're sensitive to air quality, including older adults, children, pregnant individuals, and people with heart or lung conditions, plan to be in a cool indoor space with air conditioning or filtration.” 
New Yorkers looking to beat the heat and stay safe can find their nearest cooling centers here. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 3.5%Gothamist: 2.7%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 2.3%Gothamist: 1.5%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 8.5%Brittany Kriegstein: 4.4%Gothamist: 3.6%Availability Heuristic8.5%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.1%Gothamist: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.1%Gothamist: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 9.8%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.7%Gothamist: 1.2%Overconfidence Bias9.8%This article: 12.9%Brittany Kriegstein: 8.9%Gothamist: 8.4%Framing Effect12.9%This article: 5.4%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.2%Loss Aversion5.4%This article: 7.6%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.1%Status Quo Bias7.6%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 9.8%Brittany Kriegstein: 3.2%Gothamist: 3.6%Optimism Bias9.8%This article: 18.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.7%Gothamist: 1.7%Pessimism Bias18.0%This article: 18.6%Brittany Kriegstein: 9.1%Gothamist: 8.5%Negativity Bias18.6%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.0%Gothamist: 2.6%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.0%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 12.3%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.6%Gothamist: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias12.3%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.6%Gothamist: 2.1%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.4%Gothamist: 0.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 2.8%Gothamist: 2.1%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.6%Gothamist: 1.3%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.2%Gothamist: 1.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.2%Straw Man0.0%This article: 16.1%Brittany Kriegstein: 5.0%Gothamist: 4.4%Appeal to Authority16.1%This article: 8.5%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.6%Gothamist: 1.2%False Dilemma8.5%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.8%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 4.1%Gothamist: 3.8%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.4%Gothamist: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.4%Gothamist: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 6.9%Brittany Kriegstein: 6.4%Gothamist: 6.4%Appeal to Emotion6.9%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 19.2%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.8%Gothamist: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)19.2%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.4%Gothamist: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 3.2%Gothamist: 2.8%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 20.8%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.6%Gothamist: 1.3%Ambiguity (Equivocation)20.8%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 9.8%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.5%Gothamist: 1.2%Unattributed Quote9.8%This article: 0.9%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.9%Gothamist: 1.0%Quote-first Misdirection0.9%This article: 3.5%Brittany Kriegstein: 5.8%Gothamist: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice3.5%This article: 11.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.5%Gothamist: 1.5%Indoctrination11.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.4%Gothamist: 1.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Brittany Kriegstein: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 5.4%Brittany Kriegstein: 1.0%Gothamist: 1.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…5.4%

317 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers27%attributed speech231writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageOffice of Emergency Management • 27 words • 0.0% coverageNational Weather Service • 35 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageOffice of Emergency Management • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
35 attributed words41% of attributed speech83% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Indoctrination-15.2 ptsWriter: 15.2%National Weather Service: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-13.4 ptsWriter: 13.4%National Weather Service: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -7.4 ptsWriter: 7.4%National Weather Service: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-4.8 ptsWriter: 4.8%National Weather Service: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-1.3 ptsWriter: 1.3%National Weather Service: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.