In the coffee shop where I’m writing this article customers are complaining about the heat. “It’s so hot, I can’t survive,” wails one.
For many vulnerable New Yorkers, there is a real threat of dying in the heat.
It’s been blistering in New York City, with temperatures registering in the high 90s on successive days, then climbing to 100 degrees Thursday and mercilessly extending into the Fourth of July. And it felt even hotter than that, according to the National Weather Service. The city was under an extreme heat warning for most of the past week.
“We wanna be clear with people: Our city loses about 500 people a year to heat-related illness,” Mayor Mamdani said on WFAN Wednesday morning. “We want everyone to take this very seriously.”
Mamdani encouraged New Yorkers to make a plan for how they would cope with the heat, including “planning to spend time in air-conditioned spaces whenever possible,” he tweeted.
The city extended pool hours and opened up “cooling centers” around town where people can take refuge. Around 600 outreach workers would also canvass the streets looking for those in need of help, Mamdani said.
Aly Coleman is one of those workers. “Any extreme weather conditions can be very dangerous” for people experiencing homelessness, says Coleman, director of street outreach at the Center for Urban Community Services.
“Air conditioning, fans, water, [homeless] people don’t have as much of access to these things,” she says. “They don’t have a place to take a break and get out of the heat.”
People dealing with homelessness also tend to have other issues that make them extra susceptible to heat-related illnesses, including potential substance use, heart disease and different medical issues, according to Coleman.
CUCS is one of several organizations that the city contracts with to handle homeless outreach, which is broken into “catchment zones.” CUCS is essentially responsible for the entire street-level homeless population in upper Manhattan. (The subway is handled by a different organization.) Everywhere north of 96th St. on the East Side and above 110th St. on the West Side of Central Park is their territory.
Normally, CUCS focuses on building ongoing relationships with homeless individuals, with the goal of getting people into stable housing. But during Code Red conditions, the mission is more immediate: Make sure no one is dying.
“This time of year, we’re out with water, we’re out with sunscreen, we’re out just checking in with people to make sure that they’re doing OK,” Coleman says.
“In three hours, my team has already had to call EMS for two people,” including a woman who fainted as outreach workers were talking to her, Coleman says.
The situation is pressing, but Coleman still manages to make a connection.
On a walk with Coleman around a hot spot at 116th St. last week, we pass by people sitting in the shade with water bottles, and stop by a man bent over a grate in the middle of the street in the direct sunlight.
“Hi, I’m Aly. Do you want some water?”
”Absolutely.”
In less than a minute, Coleman discovers the man is Edwin Rivera, 49. He has been living on the street since early June, when one of the five men he was sharing a room with in a shelter assaulted him while he was sleeping.
He has been homeless on and off since 2001, when his mom died.
Coleman buys him a cup of ice at a bodega to go with his water bottle and asks him if he has a plan where to go if it gets too hot. He says yes, sharing, “I’m thinking of buying some trunks and heading to the pool.”
“That sounds good,” Coleman replies evenly. Before we leave, she has given him another water bottle and a map of the cooling centers around the city, and a promise to meet him later that day at a spot nearby to talk about getting him into housing.
Next we meet Dina. When Coleman asks if she has somewhere to stay, Dina pats a comforter neatly folded in small trolley bag beside her: “This is my bed.”
She and her friends enthusiastically accept the water Coleman offers. As we’re talking, several more people come up and ask for water bottles.
Responding to 311 calls is also a big part of Coleman’s job. New Yorkers are typically urged to call 311 if they see an unhoused person in need of assistance.
“I think 311 is a really great resource,” Coleman says. “I always encourage people to use the app and to very clearly write what you’re seeing. The more that somebody can write about it, the more helpful it is.” Details such as what the person is wearing, if they have facial hair or any distinguishing features are very helpful for outreach workers responding to 311 calls, she says.
But certain situations always warrant a call instead to 911.
Before a 311 call makes it to an outreach team, “it goes through the whole dispatch process,” Coleman explains. “We respond as quickly as we can. That said, if you’re seeing someone, like, laying on the ground and don’t know if they’re breathing, by the time we get there, who knows how long it’s been?” That is a 911 situation, Coleman says.
During this recent Code Red, however, all 311 calls about homeless welfare were automatically being rerouted to 911, Coleman says. “That hasn’t happened before,” says Coleman, who has been doing homeless outreach in the city for eight years.
You can download the 311 app here. A map of cooling centers can be found here.
