New York City is under an Extreme Heat Watch through 9 p.m. Saturday, July 4, with the National Weather Service forecasting heat index values up to 112 degrees and actual high temperatures that could reach 100°F. This would be the first triple-digit day recorded in Central Park since 2012, according to the New York Post. Mayor Zohran Mamdani activated a full Heat Emergency Plan and a Code Red alert, deploying city resources across all five boroughs beginning Wednesday, July 1, according to the NYC Mayor’s Press Office.
Bushwick residents have several local resources. The Saratoga Library at 8 Thomas S. Boyland Street has been designated by the mayor as a cooling center open from noon to midnight July 3 through July 5, per the mayor’s press release and Brooklyn Paper. Bushwick Pool is among the city’s Olympic- and intermediate-sized outdoor pools with hours extended until 8:30 p.m. through Saturday. That’s a full hour and a half later than the normal 7 p.m. closing time. Saratoga Square Senior Center at 930 Halsey Avenue is also operating as a cooling center during the week; call ahead at (347) 425-0676 to confirm holiday weekend availability. State Sen. Julia Salazar’s district office at 212 Evergreen Avenue is open weekdays as a cooling center from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but is closed Friday through Sunday, according to Brooklyn Paper.
“Our city loses about 500 people a year to heat-related illness,” Mayor Mamdani said in a live interview on WFAN on Wednesday morning, according to a transcript released by the mayor’s press office. “We want everyone to take this very seriously.”
The city’s emergency response includes 21 Cooling Outreach On-Location vans, known as COOL vans, operated by NYC Health + Hospitals and staffed by medical providers. The vans offer wellness checks, medical care, electrolytes, sunscreen, meals including vegetarian, kosher and halal options, and transport to cooling centers or healthcare facilities, per the mayor’s press release. For the first time in city history, those vans are also conducting in-home wellness checks on older adults, Mamdani said in the WFAN transcript. More than 600 outreach workers, including city staff and volunteers, are canvassing under Code Red from noon to 8 p.m. each heat advisory day to connect homeless New Yorkers to shelter and cooling supplies, per the press release.
“The best protection against extreme heat is air conditioning,” Mamdani said in a statement issued by the mayor’s press office. “If you don’t have it at home, know now where you’ll go to stay cool. Check in on your neighbors, especially seniors, and if you see someone outside who appears to be in distress, call 311 so we can get help to them.”
Hundreds of cooling centers are open citywide, with locations (including accessible and pet-friendly options) available at finder.nyc.gov/coolingcenters/ or by calling 311. More than 2,200 LinkNYC kiosks across the city display real-time walking directions to the nearest cooling center within a 10-minute walk, according to the mayor’s press release.
DOHMH Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said in a statement from the mayor’s office that extreme heat is “not just uncomfortable but can be deadly” and urged anyone without air conditioning to use a cooling center. Temperatures are forecast near 96°F Wednesday, climbing to highs of up to 101°F through Friday, with heat index values expected to top 100 degrees across most of the city. The Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement alert also flagged a concurrent Air Quality Warning, advising people with asthma or other lung conditions to limit strenuous outdoor activity through the weekend.
The warning covers the coastal beach areas, too: a high rip current risk was in effect for Brooklyn and southern Queens beaches Wednesday, according to the same alert. Public beaches remain open with lifeguards on duty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but swimming outside those hours or in restricted areas is prohibited, per the mayor’s press release.
Con Edison activated its Emergency Response Center and secured extra crews ahead of the weather, and is monitoring conditions around the clock, according to a statement from Con Edison corporate affairs manager Kate Mammolito. The city is asking all businesses to set thermostats to 78 degrees to reduce strain on the grid, and is urging residents to hold off on running major appliances until early morning or late at night, per the mayor’s press release.
Call 911 immediately for symptoms including hot, dry skin, confusion, rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, nausea or vomiting, according to the mayor’s office. Sign up for emergency alerts by texting NOTIFYNYC to 692-692 or at Notify NYC. Full heat safety guidance is at nyc.gov/beattheheat.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily image
