NYC Mayor Addresses 16 Deaths Amidst Severe Cold Snap and City Response

Severe Winter Weather in NYC

• ❄️ New York City is experiencing its 11th consecutive day of below-freezing weather, with snow hardening into ice.
• ⚠️ The sustained cold poses the greatest danger to vulnerable New Yorkers exposed to the elements.

Tragic Loss of Life

• 💔 As of this morning, 16 New Yorkers have died outdoors during the brutal cold snap.
• 🩺 Preliminary findings indicate hypothermia played a role in 13 deaths, with three appearing to be overdose deaths.
• 🏛️ Final results are pending from the medical examiner's office, and each life lost is considered a tragedy.

City's Response and Outreach Efforts

• 🛠️ City workers have worked tirelessly, clearing millions of pounds of snow and applying salt to streets.
• 🏠 Efforts are underway to get every New Yorker into a shelter to escape the cold.
• 🚨 New York remains in Code Blue, with outreach workers, NYPD, and FDNY responding to those in need by calling 311.
• 🚐 Mobile warming units have been expanded to a fleet of 20, equipped with clinical staff.
• 🤝 Shelter capacity has been expanded, intake rules relaxed, and 930 placements made to shelters and safe havens.
• 🛌 50 new single room shelter units have been added for those uncomfortable in other shelter types, with a commitment that no one will be turned away.