A 14th person has been found dead as New York City prepares to enter a new week of bitter cold temperatures, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed Saturday.
“Every life lost in this city is a tragedy, and my heart is with the families of the loved ones of those who have died,” Mamdani said Saturday at an event in The Bronx.
“I want to be very clear that this city entered into a “Code Blue” on Jan. 19. We have been taking every possible measure to get New Yorkers inside. This has been a full all-hands-on-deck approach,” he told reporters.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the death of a 14th person Saturday, as more than a week of extreme cold continues to grip the city.
The mayor says the city intensified outreach, from Dept. of Social Services staff to homeless outreach workers and NYPD officers. “Since the start of this emergency period, we have successfully made more than 860 placements into shelters and safe havens during what could end up becoming the longest period of consecutive sub-32 degree weather in our city’s history.”
Mamdani said preliminary findings show hypothermia played a role in eight of the deaths.
“We have involuntarily transported 16 New Yorkers who were determined to be a danger to themselves or to others,” Mamdani added. “We have also opened warming shelters across the five boroughs. We have expanded shelter capacity, relaxed intake rules, and worked with faith-based and community organizations to scale up outreach.”
The city’s medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death for all 14 people. The process could take up to a week to get results for each person.