New York is yellow because of the pollen from the rapeseed flowers.
In October 2021, New York City was covered in yellow. It wasn’t because of a crime scene, but rather because of the city’s famous yellow taxis. These taxis are actually blue and are simply painted yellow to help with visibility and to reduce accidents. However, in 2021 the city experienced a high pollen count due to an unusually warm fall season. This led to an overabundance of rapeseed flowers that were pollinating at once, which caused a heavy concentration of yellow throughout the city.
