The Big Apple’s medical examiner has formally ruled that 15 of the people who lost their lives outdoors during the recent historic deep freeze died from the brutal cold.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York completed autopsies for 18 of the at least 19 people who died outside between Jan. 24 and Feb. 7, the agency said over the weekend.
It found that “hypothermia due to environmental exposure to cold” was the primary cause of death for 15 of the tragic New Yorkers.
The Mamdani administration has faced heat for not doing enough to get people off the streets during the cold. William Farrington for NY Post
Two others died from drug overdoses, while another was killed by “chronic alcohol use disorder with acute ethanol intoxication,” according to the OCME.
An autopsy for the 19th person was still pending.
The 19 people, most of them men, reportedly ranged in age from mid-20s to 90 and were found in public spaces across the city. Many of them had previous interactions with the homeless services system.
An additional seven people died from hypothermia inside their homes during the cold snap, the OCME said.
But the city has refused to release any information on those deaths, with a top spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani callously discounting the loss of life, writing it off as a common occurrence.
Mamdani has faced widespread blowback over his handling of the storm and the 15-day streak of below-freezing temperatures that followed — but has continued to stand by his position to use involuntary removals only as a “last resort.”
The Post even spotted a woman on the street during the cold who was left to fend for herself as city workers threw up their hands.
“We can’t force her to go inside. We can’t kidnap her,” a firefighter said.
Between 10 and 20 outdoor deaths from cold exposure are recorded in an average year, according to city officials. In the 2023 fiscal year, 11 homeless people died from hypothermia, according to the most recent annual city report.
Mamdani has stood by his choice to only remove people as a last resort.
Still, Hizzoner doubled down on his stance ahead of the blizzard that covered New York City in nearly two feet of snow Sunday into Monday.
“Our focus over the course of the storm is not going to be on physical infrastructure, it’s going to be on people getting homeless New Yorkers inside,” he said at a press conference Saturday.
“There will be no cleanups over the course of this storm. Our focus is going to be utilizing every tool that we have to, connecting homeless New Yorkers with a safe haven, with a shelter, with a warming bus, and we will be sure to be able to provide those homeless New Yorkers with a wide variety of options.”
The NYPD can take people off the streets against their will under changes to state law in 2022, which allows cops to make the call if they believe someone cannot properly take care of themselves.
Brian Stettin, who served as a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and helped amend the law, told The Post previously that during those freezing conditions, there was no logical reason to allow someone to remain on the streets.
“They should be doing everything they can to get them inside,” he said. “That is why we need cops out on the streets. We are talking about an imminent threat to life or safety; there shouldn’t be any debate with advocates over that.”