MAYOR ADAMS URGES NEW YORKERS TO PREPARE FOR SUMMER’S FIRST HEAT WAVE

 

New York City Will Activate Heat Emergency Plan for First Time in 2025 Ahead of Expected Heat Wave

Cooling Centers Open Sunday; Hours Will Vary by Location, Check ‘Cool Options Map’ or call 311

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today urged New Yorkers to take precautions as high heat is expected to continue through Wednesday, June 25. New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) issued this Extreme Heat Warning, citing the National Weather Service forecast for the first heat wave of the season with heat indices reaching over 100°F over the coming days. New York City defines extreme heat events as periods when the heat index is 100°F or higher for one or more days, or 95°F or higher for two or more consecutive days.

 

“Summer in the city is here — and so is our first heat wave of the year. This extreme heat will not just be uncomfortable and oppressive, it will be brutal and it will be dangerous to those who spend extended periods outside,” said Mayor Adams. “This week’s heat wave could be deadly and life threatening if you are not prepared. That’s why New York City has a plan to beat the heat. Know your cool options, whether it’s your own home, the home of a friend or family member with an air conditioner, a mall, a library, a museum, or an official city cooling center, and consider taking care of tasks that require you to be outdoors today or during off-peak hours when the sun is not as intense. We are in constant communication with our utility partners and monitoring the electric system, and city government is leading by example by reducing energy usage. We have also activated all agencies to get the word out. We want all New Yorkers to enjoy summer in the greatest city in the world — and we want to make sure that everyone is safe and protected whether they are in the sun, on the beach, on the streets, at home, or at work. This administration has made public safety the center of everything we do — and that includes preparing for extreme weather emergencies and protecting people outdoors. So be prepared, be safe, and stay cool this week.”

 

“After a cooler, rainier start to June, this sudden heatwave may catch some New Yorkers off guard,” said NYCEM Commissioner Zach Iscol. “As temperatures soar to nearly 100 degrees this week, we urge all New Yorkers to take the heat seriously. Stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activities, and, most importantly, find places in your neighborhood to cool down, so you and your family avoid the dangerous consequences of heat illness.”

 

High heat is a silent killer, posing a disproportionate threat to our most vulnerable residents: adults aged 60 and older, young children, and those with pre-existing health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions, or cognitive impairment. Air conditioning is the best way to stay safe and healthy when it is hot outside, but some people at risk of heat illness do not have or do not turn on their air conditioner. Those without air conditioning should identify their ‘Cool Options,’ which range from private to public options, such as a friend, neighbor, or family member’s home, or indoor air-conditioned places open to the public like libraries, malls, and museums, including official NYC Cooling Centers.

 

During extreme heat, the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) issues a Code Red Alert. During Code Reds, shelter is available to anyone experiencing homelessness, where those experiencing heat-related discomfort are also able to access a designated cooling area. DSS staff and the agency’s not-for-profit contracted outreach teams who engage with individuals experiencing homelessness 24/7 redouble their efforts during extreme heat, with a focus on connecting vulnerable New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness to services and shelter.

 

NYCEM and DOHMH urge New Yorkers to take steps to protect themselves and help others who may be at increased risk from the heat. For more information, including heat-related health tips and warning signs of heat illness, visit DOHMH's website or NYCEM's Beat the Heat webpage.

 

The ‘Cool Options Map’ is available 24/7 to help New Yorkers find places to stay cool. It includes official Cooling Centers that open during heat emergencies, as well as a wide range of other air-conditioned spaces — such as libraries, malls, and museums — that remain accessible even when a heat emergency is not in effect. A separate citywide map of outdoor cooling features, including spray showers and drinking fountains, is available on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Cool It! NYC website.

 

Read more on the city’s summer heat plan that includes key resources to beat the heat, additional health and safety tips during extreme heat, warning signs of heat illness, how to work and prepare for outdoor activities during extreme heat, how to keep pets safe, and more. Follow NYCEM’s 2025 “Beat the Heat” for tips on how to keep cool and safe during this heatwave.

 

Governor Hochul Signs New Legislation Allowing Voters to Receive Refreshments While Waiting in Line at Polling Locations

Legislation Is Signed Ahead of 2025 Primary Elections, Which Will Take Place During the Extreme Heat Period

Governor Kathy Hochul today signed legislation repealing an outdated section of New York’s election law — the new legislation now supports voters by allowing refreshments to be provided as they wait in line to exercise their civic duty. Across the State, voters will be heading to the polls to cast their ballots during a heat wave, with peak temperatures expected to reach upper 90s and “feels-like” temperatures ranging from 85-110 degrees statewide. The Governor updated New Yorkers on the severe weather alert and encouraged voters to cast their ballot during the early voting period ending June 22 — with extreme heat being the number one cause of weather-related deaths, New Yorkers need to take measures to keep cool.

“Our democracy works best when every eligible voter has a chance to cast their ballot,” Governor Hochul said. “Providing water to voters waiting in line is a common-sense way to ensure New Yorkers have an easy, safe and secure experience in the voting booth. I’m committing to protecting the right to vote for all eligible New Yorkers.”

The bill repeals New York State Election Law Section 17-140, which allowed for criminal penalties against individuals who provided items of small value to voters at polling sites, including food and water. The legislation removes limitations so that New York voters can be provided with the items such as water without infringing on their right to cast their vote or discouraging voters from participating in any given election.

In signing the bill today, Governor Hochul is building on her strong record of strengthening voting rights and expanding access to the ballot throughout her administration. In June 2022, the Governor enacted the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, the strongest state-level voting rights act in the nation, protecting New York voters against voter dilution, suppression, intimidation and other barriers to voter participation.

In December 2022, the Governor enacted legislation expanding the amount of time New Yorkers have to register to vote, moving the deadline for voter registration from 25 days ahead of an election to the constitutionally-allowed minimum of just 10 days ahead of an election. In September 2023, Governor Hochul signed legislation establishing a system for early voting by mail, creating a process allowing all eligible, registered New York voters the opportunity to vote early by mail in advance of an election. 

MAYOR ADAMS, DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING KICK OFF PUBLIC ENGAGMENT ON “MANHATTAN PLAN,” AMBITIOUS PROPOSAL TO ADD 100,000 NEW HOMES TO BOROUGH OVER NEXT DECADE

 

Announced in Mayor Adams’ State of the City Address Earlier This Year, Manhattan Plan Will Identify Opportunities to Build New Homes From Inwood to Financial District 

Adams Administration Will Conduct Extensive Digital and In-Person Public Engagement Process Over Coming Months

WATCH: New Yorkers Encouraged to Help Build More Housing 

Announcement Builds on Adams Administration’s Record as Most Pro-Housing Administration in New York City History

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick today launched the public engagement process — including a new website and survey — for the “Manhattan Plan,” an ambitious initiative to tackle Manhattan’s deep housing shortage by adding 100,000 new homes to the borough over the next decade. Through this engagement process, DCP will work with Manhattanites, New Yorkers at large, local elected officials, and partner agencies to generate ideas for building more homes across the borough, including prime locations for new housing, zoning updates, process improvements, policy tools, and other ideas. Following the public engagement process, DCP will create the Manhattan Plan report later this year and produce a concrete toolkit of strategies to boost housing production across the borough in the decade ahead. Since unveiling the Manhattan Plan in his State of the City address earlier this year, the Adams administration has already advanced several initiatives to create more housing in the borough, including neighborhood rezoning efforts like the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan to build nearly 10,000 more homes in the heart of Manhattan, the redevelopment of city-owned sites like at 100 Gold Street in Lower Manhattan, and individual applications for zoning changes like the creation of nearly 700 homes above a future Second Avenue Subway station in East Harlem. The public engagement process will broaden those efforts to identify even more opportunities to build housing throughout Manhattan.

“Over the past several decades, housing prices in Manhattan have gone up while working-class families have been pushed out. Our ‘Manhattan Plan’ will help change that by adding 100,000 new homes to the borough over the next decade,” said Mayor Adams. “Tackling our city’s housing crisis takes all of us, which is why we are kicking off the public engagement process for the ‘Manhattan Plan’ to hear directly from New Yorkers about where we can build more homes, how we can build more homes, and what we can do to help more families live in Manhattan. We’ll use new tools from our landmark ‘City of Yes’ initiative, city-owned sites, and input from New Yorkers to reach this ambitious goal, build more homes, and make our city the best place to raise a family.”

“Our administration is laser focused on maximizing housing opportunities throughout the five boroughs. Manhattan in particular — with its rich access to transit, jobs, and world-class cultural institutions — is ripe for a boost in housing production,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión, Jr. “I look forward to hearing what New Yorkers have to say — not just about what they'd like to see from new housing in Manhattan, but also to help us uncover overlooked sites and novel strategies that the city should be looking at to meet our housing goals.”

“Manhattan has always been a place where people come to pursue opportunity, but for too many New Yorkers, the chance to live here has fallen out of reach. The Manhattan Plan is how we change that — by creating 100,000 new homes across the borough, we can ensure more New Yorkers of all income levels can live close to jobs, transit, and everything this borough has to offer,” said DCP Director Garodnick. “We’re excited to launch a public engagement process that will bring communities to the table to shape the ‘Manhattan Plan.’”

Manhattan has long served as an economic engine of opportunity — a leader in jobs, innovation, and commerce. However, as housing production in the borough has fallen and housing costs across the city have skyrocketed in recent decades, the possibility of living in the borough has slipped out of reach for more and more New Yorkers. Manhattan’s share of the city’s housing production has steadily declined​ since the 1970s, and from 2021-2024, Manhattan produced less housing than every borough except ​Staten Island​. Meanwhile, housing costs have rapidly escalated, with rents increasing 50 percent since 2010.

With the Manhattan Plan, the Adams administration is working to reverse this trend.​ Incorporating all tools in the city’s housing toolbox — including new high-density residential districts created through “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” that require Mandatory Inclusionary Housing — the plan will provide a toolkit to unlock housing across income levels and neighborhoods so that more New Yorkers can live close to everything the borough has to provide. The public engagement phase will continue into the early fall and include both on-the-ground engagement in Manhattan neighborhoods as well as digital engagement through a mobile-friendly, multilingual survey. The survey seeks feedback on where new housing should be added in Manhattan, policies and ideas for spurring housing growth, and more qualitative feedback about why people live — or might want to live — in the borough. A regularly updated list of upcoming Manhattan Plan neighborhood events can be found online.

Since entering office, Mayor Adams has made historic investments to create more affordable housing and ensure more New Yorkers have a place to call home. The Adams administration is advancing several robust neighborhood plans that, if adopted, would deliver close to 50,000 units across New York neighborhoods. In addition to the Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan and the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, both of which have been passed by the New York City Council, the Adams administration is advancing plans in Midtown South in Manhattan, as well as Jamaica and Long Island City in Queens.

Moreover, last December, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the most pro-housing proposal in city history that will build 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. Last June, City Hall and the City Council agreed to an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invested $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Housing Authority’s capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed $24.7 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a generational housing crisis. Mayor Adams celebrated back-to-back record breaking fiscal years, as well as back-to-back calendar years, in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. Last spring, the city celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point transformation.

Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city’s housing crisis. Mayor Adams announced multiple new tools, including a $4 million state grant, to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units that will not only help older adults afford to remain in the communities they call home but also help build generational wealth. In addition to creating more housing opportunities, the Adams administration is actively working to strengthen tenant protections and support homeowners. The Partners in Preservation program was expanded citywide in 2024 through a $24 million investment in local organizations to support tenant organizing and combat harassment in rent-regulated housing. The Homeowner Help Desk, a trusted one-stop shop for low-income homeowners to receive financial and legal counseling from local organizations, was also expanded citywide in 2024 with a $13 million funding commitment.

Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments. 

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance - Where do you go for family fun? Van Cortlandt Park on June 28

 

Music, dance, science fun, games and more!

With a Special Ceremony to induct Van Cortlandt Park’s woodlands into the prestigious Old-Growth Forest Network!

 

RSVP here to let us know you're coming to this free event. 

Our Contact Information Van Cortlandt Park Alliance 80 Van Cortlandt Park South, Ste. E1 Bronx, NY 10463 718-601-1460 http://vancortlandt.org