New York City’s cold-weather death toll has now risen to 17, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday, most from hypothermia in the extreme cold and a massive winter storm.
All of the deaths were outside or on a subway train, 13 of the people died of hypothermia and three of the 17 had drug overdoses, Mamdani said. An undisclosed number of the 17 people had histories of homelessness.
“Each of these lives lost is a tragedy, and my heart is with the families who mourn their loved ones,” Mamdani said Wednesday at an unrelated event.
To get homeless people out of the cold, Mamdani has increased street outreach — and 1,100 people have been placed into shelters, with 20 forced to the hospital against their will after a clinician decided they were a danger to themselves, he said.
On Long Island, at least six people have died weather-related deaths, most men over 60 having had medical episodes connected to shoveling snow, according to the authorities.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.