In a slice of park alongside the Van Wyck Expressway in Jamaica, Queens, Christina Charlie and her 6-year-old daughter sat in the only shade available \u2014 a patch of shadow underneath a jungle gym. Ms. Charlie was holding a water gun, and every so often she would spray at her daughter\u2019s forehead, then her own.<\/p>\n
As a heat wave began to throttle New York City this week, with temperatures expected to reach about 100 degrees on Thursday, the discomfort was not felt evenly across the city. New Yorkers all over are suffering, but some must endure the extreme weather in neighborhoods where the heat not only feels more oppressive but is also more difficult to escape.<\/p>\n
More than nearly any place in New York, the heat was most acutely felt in this part of Queens; Jamaica is one of the roughly three dozen neighborhoods that public health experts deem extremely vulnerable to heat. It is deficient in nearly all the amenities that provide relief from a heat wave, like leafy parks, tree-lined sidewalks and easy access to air-conditioned spaces. And it is poor, like many other heat-vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
As Ms. Charlie and her daughter sweated in their little patch of shade in the park, she said it was still preferable to being at home: The central air in her apartment was shut off on the hottest day of the summer so far. She hadn\u2019t paid the bill.<\/p>\n
Christina Charlie and Shatira Monique live in the same apartment building in Jamaica with their daughters. Both have had their air-conditioning shut off.Credit…Ryan Murphy for The New York Times<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need some trees or something in this park,\u201d Ms. Charlie, 30, said, between spritzing them both with the squirt gun. \u201cIt is hot as hell out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since 2015, the city has rated neighborhoods according to its Heat Vulnerability Index<\/a>, a metric developed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Columbia University\u2019s Mailman School of Public Health. The index examines factors that drive heat death, including surface temperatures; lack of access to green space and home air-conditioning; and income. Jamaica scores the worst: a five out of five.<\/p>\n To combat the disparity \u2014 which contributes to the approximately 500 heat-related deaths in New York City each year \u2014 the city rolled out emergency measures this week, including hundreds of pop-up cooling centers, using the vulnerability rubric to direct its response. Heat-vulnerable neighborhoods in all five boroughs will see a larger share of cooling resources, according to the city.<\/p>\n In Jamaica on Thursday, the afternoon heat index \u2014 what the heat actually feels like \u2014 will pass 110 degrees. And unlike leafy, more affluent places like Riverdale, in the Bronx, where air-conditioners protrude from high-rises and trees shade nearly 70 percent of the area, there is little escape.<\/p>\n In AA Bedding Warehouse in Jamaica, Queens, a game of one-on-one on a makeshift court that has at least some shade.Credit…Ryan Murphy for The New York Times<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in New York City,\u201d Jeremy Edwards, a spokesman for Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cAnd we will continue using every tool available to help ensure all communities are prepared and we keep all New Yorkers safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHeat risk is not just about the temperature,\u201d said Carolyn Olson, the assistant commissioner for environmental surveillance and policy with the health department \u201cEven more important is the access to relief.\u201d<\/p>\n As the temperature climbed toward triple digits this week, the only thing on Chris Rousseau\u2019s mind was how to cool off his 2-year-old daughter. Mr. Rousseau, 35, a New York City Police Department officer, trudged along a treeless Archer Avenue on Wednesday, pushing his daughter\u2019s tricycle. The only breeze was from a whirring fan attached to her handlebars and pointed toward her face.<\/p>\n Just 20 percent of Jamaica has tree cover, lower than the citywide average of about 24 percent. Earlier this year, the Mayor\u2019s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice released a plan that called for expanding the city\u2019s canopy to 30 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sprinklers were broken at the park nearest to Officer Rousseau\u2019s house, so he was making the trek to Gateway Park beside the expressway in search of a working spritz. \u201cShe\u2019s the only one I\u2019m worried about,\u201d he said, gesturing to his perspiring child.<\/p>\n