NYC cold weather deaths at 25 — both at homes and outdoors, official says

Seven people have died at private residences in New York City because of the cold, the medical examiner's office said Tuesday, increasing the death toll to 25 during the subfreezing weather.

Previously, the city had disclosed only that 18 people had died outdoors, most dying of hypothermia and having a history of homelessness. The outdoor deaths are likely to be "outside the norm" this year compared with the average, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s outgoing social services commissioner said Tuesday before the City Council. 

Over a typical year, 10 to 20 homeless people die outdoors of hypothermia, Molly Wasow Park told the council; so far this year, at least 15 people have died of hypothermia, with most having had histories of homelessness. 

"I think it is certainly safe to say that this is gonna be a year that is outside the norm, which is tragic, and I feel that every day," the commissioner said, speaking at a council oversight hearing at City Hall examining the city’s response to the cold.

At least 18 people have died outdoors or in the subway system; three of the deaths were drug overdoses. Eight of the deaths are confirmed to have been caused by hypothermia, with seven suspected of hypothermia pending a final determination, Dr. Jason Graham, the city's chief medical examiner, told the council.

The 18 deaths were between Jan. 24 and Saturday, in every borough but Staten Island, according to a list provided by Graham’s spokeswoman Julie Bolcer. Among the eight who died of hypothermia, contributing factors in five of those cases included alcohol or methamphetamine. 

In addition, Bolcer said, seven people died at private residences because of the cold. She declined to say where or when.

Mamdani has implemented Code Blue protocols under which authorities are legally allowed to force a person off the street and into a hospital if the person is a danger to others or oneself, which covers failing to be appropriately dressed for inclement weather, Park said. Hundreds of outreach workers have been canvassing the city urging street homeless people to come indoors, she said.

Since Jan. 19, police officers and outreach workers have forcibly removed 85 people from the outdoors, testified Park and Alex Crohn, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of strategic initiatives: 52 by NYPD officers; 33 by outreach workers. 

Several of the council members — including the speaker, Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), and Joann Ariola (R-Queens) — assailed the Mamdani administration over the deaths. 

"What is not humane is allowing New Yorkers to linger on the streets knowing that they will die in these freezing, extreme weather conditions," Menin said, reading a list of several of the dead. "These New Yorkers should be alive today."

From the dais in the council chamber, Ariola held up a letter she said she had sent to Mamdani: "GET THE HOMELESS PEOPLE OFF THE STREET AND OUT OF THE COLD."  

Park said throughout the hourslong hearing that no one can be forced to come in from the elements if the person is of sound mind and isn’t a danger to self or others.

"These are adults," Park said, "with agency and civil rights." 

None of the 18 who died had been approached recently by outreach workers, Mamdani has said.

The first dangerously cold snap occurred on a Friday night, Park said, when some homeless people tend to avoid shelters, because some homeless people choose to be outside rather than adhere to shelter rules such as curfew.

"The temperature dropped really sharply really fast, right?" she said, adding: "We had this very dangerous situation happening very quickly on a weekend, and I think it caught people by surprise."

Park, a holdover from Mamdani's predecessor Eric Adams, said this week she was resigning from her post, after it became clear Mamdani wouldn't keep her on. On Tuesday, she told the council her departure was not due to her performance in the storm response. Her agency, the Department of Social Services, oversees both public benefits and homeless services.

On Long Island, at least six people may have died because of the cold. Most were men over 60 who had medical episodes connected to shoveling snow, authorities said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.