City Council members pressed the Mamdani administration for answers on the deaths of 25 New Yorkers during the current cold snap in an oversight committee hearing on the city's Code Blue operations on Tuesday.
New York City has been under a Code Blue weather emergency notice since Jan. 19, which is enacted when temperatures are below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. City agencies, including the Department of Homeless Services, the New York Police Department, and Emergency Management, have been working to keep New Yorkers–primarily those unhoused– safe from the cold.
City Council Council Speaker Julie Menin, who led the hearing, noted her displeasure over the city's outreach efforts. “Is it humane to leave them outside?” she asked.
NYC Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said 15 of the 18 deaths that occurred outdoors were hypothermia-related. DHS Commissioner Molly Wasow Park stated that the average hypothermia-related deaths fall between 10 to 20 individuals per year.
“It is certainly safe to say this is going to be a year that is outside the norm, which is tragic, and I feel that every day,” Park said.
Park, who handed her resignation on Monday, stated that the city's outreach to homeless New Yorkers is based on trust between the DHS and the individual, and each New Yorker is assessed on a case-by-case basis, including a check on mental status, physical status, and exposure to the cold.
“These are adults with agency and civil rights,” the commissioner said.
Graham said there were an additional seven deaths in private residences. He did not provide any additional details about these deaths, except that hypothermia played a role.
Park told council members that 33 involuntary removals were made since Code Blue started, and 2% of the total placements were made by DHS. All 311 calls regarding homeless outreach were rerouted to 911 in order to speed up emergency responses, she said.
When a Code Blue notice is in effect, city officials are legally allowed to take homeless New Yorkers off the street. Alex Crohn, Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives for the NYPD, said that 52 removals were made in this manner.
Menin brought up the death of Nolberto Jimbo-Niola, a man who died outside on a bench after being discharged from a hospital in Elmhurst, Queens.
In response, NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President Dr. Ted Long said doctors cannot force patients to stay at the hospital.
"Patients don’t have to take us up on those resources if they again have the capacity to make their own decisions," he said. "It’s their choice how they want to interact with us.”
