By Jane Standley BBC correspondent in New York

It is summer in New York City and, with record temperatures this year, everywhere seems to smell very bad.

It's an acquired smell, you get used to it. It's part of New York

New York businessman

Cleaner-city campaigner Susan Crain says it is no surprise the city reeks.

"That heat combined with the three million tonnes of garbage that New Yorkers produce, plus the lack of public toilets really contributes to the awful smell that seems to emerge in the month of August in New York City," she says.

"It's hot, it's smelly, it's sweaty, it's awful."

Chinatown is one of the most pungent and overcrowded parts of Manhattan. More than one million people live on this tiny island, and tens of thousands of commuters and tourists add to the crush and the stench every day.

This year it doesn't help that New York is suffering a drought, so the streets are not being washed down.

There is also a budget crisis, and rubbish collection has been cut back.

Kind of nasty

Most New Yorkers are less than happy.

"It turns my stomach, it's really bad," says one resident, who has taken to walking around with a tissue over her nose.

"If you're walking around in Central Park and it's open and it's airy, then the smell is okay," says a local businessman.

"But if you're in small confines, it smells kind of nasty."

Another businessman describes it as an acquired smell, one you eventually get used to.

"It's part of New York," he says.

New Yorkers might complain about the stink of the city but they have got to accept that they are part of the problem.

There has been no rain to wash the streets

Subway stations often get misused because there are so few public toilets in the city, and there are no plans to build any more.

But the smartest New Yorkers have, of course, found a way to overcome the odours.

They are increasingly turning to the art of aromatherapy.

Spritzing natural oils onto the body can stop the onslaught on your most sensitive sense - that of smell.

'Hydrating mist'

Bad smells can put you in a bad mood so, aromatherapy enthusiasts say, why not use good ones to keep you on balance?

"I carry around a hydrating mist," says Jennifer McCabe, a leading New York aromatherapist.

"Peppermint oil is effective but rosemary is more uplifting. For example, when I'm in the subway and surrounded by so many people, I simply take out my oil."

But, there is not enough spritz in the city to block out the ripe smells of midsummer smells in Manhattan.

And, for weeks to come, piles of rubbish bags baking in the heat will remain a feature of New York's streets.