New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to address cold-weather concerns once again at a news briefing on Tuesday, a day after he said the number of people found dead outside across the five boroughs during this frigid stretch had risen to 16.
This, as a potentially worse chill settles in for the weekend, with dangerous cold and biting wind chills on tap.
On Monday, Mamdani said preliminary data indicate hypothermia played a role in at least 13 of the deaths. Three others appear to be overdose-related. Final autopsy results are pending.
At a recent news conference, Mamdani re-emphasized the “Code Blue” his administration initiated on Jan. 19, about two weeks ago, and said the city has been taking “every possible measure to get New Yorkers inside.”
“This has been a full all-hands-on-deck approach,” he reiterated to New Yorkers.
The mayor has said the city had further intensified outreach, from the Department of Social Services staff to homeless outreach workers and NYPD officers. In some cases, individuals (16 of them) were involuntarily transported because they were perceived to be a danger to themselves or others, Mamdani said.
The mayor also pointed to warming shelters, expanded shelter capacity, relaxed intake rules, and faith-based community outreach as part of the city’s multi-pronged response.
“Since the start of this emergency period, we have successfully made more than 860 placements into shelters and safe havens during what could end up becoming the longest period of consecutive sub-32 degree weather in our city’s history,” the mayor said.
Another Arctic blast moves in this weekend, and it stays bitterly cold into early next week. Lows drop back into the single digits overnight Saturday into Sunday, with another frigid cold day on Monday.
The cold does appear to finally begin easing in a more meaningful way around Valentine’s Day weekend.