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Ten people have died in New York City after being exposed to frigid temperatures that have gripped the region since last weekend, prompting increased emergency measures and questions about the city's preparedness.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed Tuesday that at least ten people had died after being found outdoors during the bitter cold. The victims were discovered in various locations across the city, including a man found under snow on a park bench in Queens, another just steps from a Manhattan hospital, and one beneath an elevated train line in the Bronx.
"Extreme weather is not a personal failure, but it is a public responsibility," Mamdani said at a Tuesday briefing. "We are mobilizing every resource at our disposal to ensure that New Yorkers are brought indoors during this potentially lethal weather event," according to U.S. News & World Report.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner is still investigating the deaths, and no final determinations have been made regarding their causes, though some victims showed signs of hypothermia. City officials noted that it doesn't appear any of the ten deaths were people on the city's known homeless list, though several victims were believed to have been living on the streets.
The extreme cold snap, which has brought temperatures down to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius) with wind chills as low as 15 below zero, represents the most severe cold in New York City in eight years. The weekend storm dumped up to 16 inches of snow in parts of the region.
In response to the crisis, the city has expanded its emergency measures beyond the standard "Code Blue" protocols that activate when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. According to FOX 5 NY, the city has opened ten new warming shelters since Friday and added seven Health + Hospitals centers as overnight warming sites across all five boroughs.
"Code Blue alone is not enough in a cold this severe, this rare," Mamdani said. "When people are still losing their lives, we have to do more."
The rising death toll has prompted questions about whether Mamdani's administration could have done more to protect vulnerable residents ahead of the Arctic blast. One victim, a 52-year-old man living in Queens, was found Sunday morning with discharge papers showing he had been released from Elmhurst Hospital, a city-run facility, on Friday, despite Code Blue protocols that include precautions to prevent homeless patients from being released back onto the street.
State Senator Jessica Ramos said the man discovered on the park bench was wearing only a thin jacket when found by police under a layer of snow on Sunday morning. "It's devastating to know the government could have done more and didn't," she said. "There are real questions here that demand answers."
According to THE CITY, the Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park said at least 200 people have voluntarily accepted shelter since the storm began. The city has also moved to involuntarily hospitalize a handful of people who were at immediate risk, including those who were wet, inappropriately dressed or "unable to acknowledge that there are real dangers."
Since January 19, the city has placed nearly 500 homeless New Yorkers into transitional housing, including shelters, safe havens and stabilized beds. Mamdani has urged New Yorkers to remain alert and check on neighbors during the extreme cold, noting that 311 calls related to exposure concerns are being rerouted to 911 to speed emergency responses.
With the frigid weather expected to continue throughout the week and another storm system possible this weekend, city officials say they will continue ramping up outreach efforts to prevent further tragedies.
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