New York authorities investigate gas-like odour

Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odour today that stretched across a large part of Manhattan, including the Rockefeller Centre.

The Fire Department began getting calls about the smell at around 9am, said spokesman Tim Hinchey.

No source had been identified.

There also were unconfirmed reports of a similar smell across the river in New Jersey.

Utility officials with Consolidated Edison had no immediate comment.

In August, a gaseous smell hit parts of Queens and Staten Island, sending seven people to the hospital.

Across the Hudson River, Jersey City, New Jersey, mayor’s spokeswoman Maria Pignataro said officials there were told the odour was due to a gas leak in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood, just north of Greenwich Village.