NYC's Deadly Cold Spell Continues, And What Else Happened This Week in Housing

""With this weekend's wind chills expected to fall well below zero, the City must immediately bolster measures to prevent further loss of life," The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement Friday. This should include, "flooding the streets with additional outreach workers," the groups said, expanding capacity at warming centers and drop-in sites, and ensuring people can access shelter even if they don't have a government ID."

"They also called for "clear communication with all public and private hospitals" about allowing unhoused people to seek refuge in emergency and waiting rooms during what's known as a "Code Blue" emergency. "Hospitals must coordinate with the Department of Homeless Services to ensure that no one without a warm place to go is discharged or released to the streets, regardless of health status," the advocates said. "More lives are at stake.""

"Since Jan. 19, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday, the city's outreach teams have placed more than 1,100 people into shelters or Safe Havens-facilities with fewer restrictions to entry, often preferred by unhoused New Yorkers who've had bad experiences with traditional shelters and are reluctant to enter the system. The city opened one such facility early this week in response to the cold, adding 106 single-room occupancy beds in lower Manhattan. Emergency responders removed 20 people to hospitals involuntarily, the mayor said."

Seventeen people have died outdoors in New York City over the last two weeks amid an extended stretch of unusually cold weather, with wind chills forecast to fall well below zero. Homeless advocates are urging immediate measures including flooding streets with additional outreach workers, expanding capacity at warming centers and drop-in sites, and ensuring shelter access without a government ID. Advocates call for clear hospital communication and coordination with the Department of Homeless Services to prevent discharging people to the streets during Code Blue emergencies. Since Jan. 19, outreach teams placed over 1,100 people into shelters or Safe Havens; the city added 106 single-room beds and emergency responders involuntarily removed 20 people to hospitals.

Read at City Limits