Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that the United Nations headquarters in New York opted not to raise the flag on June 8 due to concerns over air quality, CCTV News reported. This marks the first time that such a decision has been made.Haze and smoke with dangerous fumes from hundreds of Canadian wildfires covered most of the US northeast for a second day Wednesday, with New York City experiencing the world's worst air quality over the last two days.New York City had an AQI of 484 at 5 pm on Wednesday, which is classified as “hazardous,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a news conference Wednesday. "It's sort of normal to hit 100. What's not normal is to go above 150," said Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol.

"This air quality event, gave us the worst air quality in New York City since the 1960s presents real health risks," Dr. Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

Schools across the US East Coast canceled outdoor activities, airline traffic slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in thick, yellow haze.

The US National Weather Service issued air quality alerts for virtually the entire Atlantic seaboard.

Hundreds of fires have been burning in eastern Canada for weeks. Canadian officials listed more than 240 as "out of control".US president Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada to offer additional support to respond to the devasting and historic wildfires burning in Canada. Biden has directed his team to deploy all available Federal firefighting assets that can rapidly assist in suppressing fires impacting Canadian and American communities.