$106M program to bring heat relief to Central Brooklyn and other hot spots
‘Cool Neighborhoods NYC’
New York City is becoming steadily hotter, and officials have identified three areas in particular — Central Brooklyn, the south Bronx and Northern Manhattan — as being especially vulnerable to the negative health effects brought on by the crippling heat.
These sections of the city will be the focus of a new $106 million program designed to bring some summer relief, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.
According to the city, extreme heat leads to an average of 450 heat-related emergency department visits, 150 hospital admissions and 13 heatstroke deaths annually. Residents of Central Brooklyn, the Bronx and Northern Manhattan tend to suffer from higher poverty, be in poorer health and have less access to air conditioning than residents of other sections of NYC, rendering them more vulnerable to the heat.