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New York City's brutal arctic cold snap has claimed 14 lives, approaching the city's typical annual cold-weather death toll in just two weeks, officials confirmed Sunday.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the grim milestone Saturday while addressing reporters in the Bronx. "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.
The victims were found in various locations across the five boroughs, including on a park bench in Queens, under elevated train tracks in the Bronx, and just steps from a Manhattan hospital. According to city officials, preliminary findings indicate hypothermia played a role in at least eight of the deaths during this prolonged cold front.
The death toll is particularly alarming as New York City typically records about 15 cold-weather deaths in an entire year. Saturday's frigid conditions saw temperatures plummet to just 2 degrees, according to PIX11.
The city remains under a Code Blue alert, which was first issued on January 19. This emergency measure allows shelters to accept anyone seeking warmth, bypassing normal intake procedures. Mayor Mamdani's administration has intensified outreach efforts during what he described as potentially "the longest period of consecutive sub-32 degree weather in our city's history."
"We have been taking every possible measure to get New Yorkers inside. This has been a full all-hands-on-deck approach," Mamdani explained. The city has mobilized Department of Social Services staff, homeless outreach workers, and NYPD officers to help vulnerable residents.
Since the emergency period began, officials have successfully placed more than 860 people into shelters and safe havens. Additionally, the city has involuntarily transported 16 individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
"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 mayor added.
The city's medical examiner is working to determine the exact cause of death for all 14 victims, a process that could take up to a week to complete for each person.
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