I was born and raised in New York City. At the time, no one ever thought about the pollution coming from car and truck emissions or airplanes.
When I married, lived near a major roadway that led into Manhattan. Day and night, there was always very heavy traffic. Also, every one and a half minutes, an airplane was either taking off or landing.
Every week when I cleaned, I started to notice "black soot" on the windowsills. Since the windows were closed, I didn't realize where it was coming from. Then I put two and two together and realized it was coming from all of the transportation pollution surrounding us.
My children were always getting sick, and I was coughing all the time. We finally decided to move out and live in a rural area. Here the air is clean, and I can breathe again! No black soot coming from vehicles or airplanes. I do miss New York City but not the pollution.
