New York City’s own monthly census finds nearly 3,200 supposedly supportive apartments empty, even as 87,000 people crowd public shelters and temperatures plunge; most vacancies are managed by state agencies, with neither officials nor providers rushing to fill them. Mayor Zohran Mamdani now promises action, though history suggests city bureaucracy yields results somewhere between glacial and hypothetical—especially when faced with actual winter.
New York City in brief
Top five stories in the five boroughs today
As an Arctic blast sends New York City’s mercury diving toward 5°F and wind chills below minus 15, officials have declared a “Code Blue” and advised staying indoors lest frostbite bite back. With at least 13 recent hypothermia deaths and housing complaints breaking records, the city scrambles to keep residents warm—while even the ferries, true to form, have opted to wait this one out.
A teeth-chattering arctic blast sent temperatures in the American Northeast plummeting below -25°C with wind chill, causing at least 17 outdoor deaths in New York City since January 24th—13 likely from hypothermia. While Mayor Zohran Mamdani touted new shelters and warming centers, many homeless residents seemed unaware or unwilling, citing safety fears; apparently, not even frigid weather breaks the city’s never-ending communication freeze.
As New York City braces for a Siberian reprise, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has thrown open ten schools as warming centers, drafted school nurses for street outreach, and begun pairing outreach workers with former homeless New Yorkers—all to shepherd people indoors amid deadly temperatures falling to minus 20 Celsius. Sixty-two centers and more will operate, though some still find the city's warmth as elusive as its accountability.
New York City braces for an arctic blast, as the National Weather Service issues a cold warning through Sunday, with wind chills plunging to -26°C—a temperature where frostbite can strike in fifteen minutes. Governor Kathy Hochul urges residents to hunker down and check on neighbours and pets; 17 deaths outdoors these past two weeks have set an unhappy baseline, though at least central heating remains decidedly above freezing.