A seasonally-occuring meat stench has plagued the NY Times staff for years. Needless to say, they are not on meat cloud 9.

It appears that the New York Times reporters are plagued by a persistent stench, dubbed the “meat cloud,” that was first detected more than two years ago.

The New York Observer reported on the “persistent smell of burning animal flesh” at the Times office back in January of 2012. Foster Kamer (now a Complex staffer and FWF contributor) wrote,

“If you didn’t know, there are three very meaty restaurants right under the New York Times: a Schnipper’s (burgers), a Wolfgang’s (steakhouse), and an Inakaya (Japanese skewered meat). The way these restaurants ventilate isn’t exactly charming.”

In an updated complaint published yesterday, The Newspaper Guild of NY reported,

“Several BizDay employees were suffering health effects, including burning eyes and breathing issues, from what had been dubbed a ‘meat cloud.'”

After the vents at the office were adjusted to no avail, Labor Relations agreed to The Times staff’s suggestion that the air be professionally tested, which was done on February 18. On Friday, The Times received the results: no carcinogens, carbon monoxide, or other harmful elements were detected in the meat cloud.

And so, the meat cloud was written off as a “quality of life” issue, and not a health concern. Although, Times managers have temporarily relocated the employees who felt the effects of the fumes.

“This odor is an issue, one that seems to occur seasonally at around this same time each year,” Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy tells NY Mag. “At present, we are working with the architects of the building on a solution more permanent than relocation.”

Twitter is in a bit of tizzy thinking about the meat cloud hovering over the Times office. See the best reactions to this bizarre phenomenon below.

Instead of a review this week I am readying a 10,000 word essay on the Meat Cloud at the office. — Pete Wells (@pete_wells) March 11, 2014

I’m old enough to remember when the “Meat Cloud” referred to Grindr http://t.co/LI3YwRfs2A — Daniel Foster (@DanFosterType) March 11, 2014

.@marianbull @Food52 @robicellis @pete_wells Not joking when I say “by the meat cloud” is a routine directional in the newsroom. — Dan Saltzstein (@dansaltzstein) March 11, 2014

meatcloud is my favorite music listening service — Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) March 11, 2014

on meat cloud 9 — Rachel Sanders (@rachelysanders) March 11, 2014

@radleybalko if “Meat Cloud” isn’t a band name already it should be. — Bossyhat (@Popehat) March 12, 2014

Still better than a Kung Pao shrimp cloud: New York Times Reporters Haunted by Unconquerable ‘Meat Cloud’ http://t.co/uS1ejU3RO9 — Rick Swagler (@RickSwagler) March 12, 2014

@pete_wells My hair has a tendency to frizz. How will the meat cloud affect it? — robicellis (@robicellis) March 11, 2014

[via New York Magazine]