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Deaths in the cold climb to 16 in NYC as frigid temps persist

Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on

Published in Weather News

NEW YORK — At least 16 people have now been found dead outdoors in New York City amid a bitter run of freezing temperatures with the mercury at or below freezing for the 11th day in a row, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday.

Of those, preliminary findings show that in 13 of those deaths, hypothermia played a role, and three of those deaths appeared to be overdoses, the mayor said. Ten had past interactions with the homeless shelter system, officials said.

Five people died in Brooklyn, three died in the Bronx, three died in Queens and four died in Manhattan, including the two most recent victims, who were found on the Q train at the 92nd St. station on Monday and at Port Authority on Sunday, a City Hall spokesperson said. The location of one death was not immediately available.

“My heart is with the family of those mourning their loved ones. We are continuing to do everything in our power to get every New Yorker into a shelter where they will be warm,” Mamdani said from a press conference on the roof of the Dinkins building.

The city is under a Code Blue warning, meaning temperatures are below 32 degrees between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. and the city enacts extra emergency protocols and dispatches more outreach workers.

As of Monday morning, city workers have placed over 930 people in shelters and safe havens and involuntarily transported 18 people to hospitals. The mayor announced the opening on Saturday of an additional 50 single-room shelter units.

There are also now 20 heated buses moving throughout the city to help get New Yorkers off the streets, though there are reportedly issues with spreading the word about the buses as well as additional cold weather resources.

Mamdani said the city would be adding more signs around the buses on Monday and Tuesday to address that.

 

“We’re going to use every single resource at our disposal to continue to build on this work, to open up more shelters, open up more beds, and ensure that New Yorkers are staying warm,” Mamdani said.

The mayor has come under criticism for reversing an Adams-era initiative under which homeless encampments were forcibly removed from the streets, but said Monday that none of those found dead appeared to live in homeless encampments, which Mamdani has been criticized for ending the practice of sweeping.

The frigid conditions are expected to continue through the week.

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(With Roni Jacobson.)

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©2026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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