New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday said 10 individuals were found dead over the weekend due to snow and extreme cold.
So far, the city has been able to convince about 500 individuals to take shelter from the weather over the past week.
"We don't know yet if every case will be ruled hypothermia, but we need every New Yorker to be on alert, looking out for their neighbors," Mamdani said. "We are intensifying outreach, we are conducting round-the-clock checks, and have loosened traditional shelter intake procedures to accommodate as many New Yorkers as possible."
The mayor said officials from the city, nonprofit groups and faith based partners are being sent out every few hours to let unhoused individuals know where they can go.
Hospitals are being asked to limit overnight discharges, while the city is partnering with the Street Homeless Advocacy Project to conduct extra shifts this week in high-need areas, the mayor added.
Molly Wasow Park, the commissioner of the Department of Social Services, said the city and its nonprofit outreach partners are targeting about 350 homeless individuals who are known to have underlying medical conditions, older adults and people who are at particular risk, to locate them every two hours.
The city is not conducting involuntary removals of unhoused individuals, unless someone is truly in danger and that action will save their life, she said.
A Code Blue Weather Emergency notice will continue through the week, a declaration when city officials think the temperature drops to 32 degrees Fahrenheit or less between 4:00pm and 8:00am, including National Weather Service calculations for wind chill values. The city’s forecast calls for temperatures ranging from about 5 to 24 degrees through Friday.
There are now additional warming spaces and buses in Brooklyn:
H+H Clinic - Gotham Cumberland
100 North Portland Ave.
Open 7:00pm-7:00am
H+H Clinic - Gotham East New York
2094 Pitkin Ave.
Open 7:00pm-7:00am
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
451 Clarkson Ave.
Open 24/7
H+H/ South Brooklyn Health
2601 Ocean Pkwy.
Open 24/7
Warming Buses
16 Bedford Pl.
Open 24/7
Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue Subway Station
Open 10:00pm-5:00am
Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College Subway Station
Open 10:00pm-5:00am
Woodhull Hospital
760 Broadway
Bus is directly outside Emergency Room on Flushing Avenue. Open 7:00pm-7:00am.
