By Mark Tausig
“Climate change is wreaking havoc on our weather patterns and on our wellbeing. The causes are global, but the impacts are local.”
-New York League of Conservation Voters, New York City Policy Agenda, 2025.
In New York City, on average, there are 580 heat-related deaths each summer, according to a 2024 report published by the City of New York. These heat-related deaths account for approximately 3% of all deaths over the warmer months. Due to global climate change, the proportion of the number of days that fall into the higher temperature range, defined as “extreme heat days,” has been increasing. The number of heat-related deaths in New York City has been increasing in tandem. NYLCV’s priorities aim to address this climate-related vulnerability at both a policy and individual level, centering focus on the wellbeing of vulnerable New Yorkers.
Impacts of Extreme Heat
Most heat-related deaths are “heat-exacerbated” deaths, occurring when heat worsens existing chronic conditions. Common chronic conditions include: cardiovascular disease, substance or alcohol use, mental health or cognitive conditions, and a history of diabetes. Older New Yorkers are at high risk, as are those without access to air conditioning. As the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice expressed: “while temperatures are rising citywide, heat risk varies by neighborhood. As a result of systemic racism, lack of green space, limited access to air-conditioning, and poor housing quality, heat-exacerbated deaths are more common in neighborhoods that are home to a greater proportion of low-income and Black New Yorkers.” But heat deaths are preventable!
Due to the complicated nature of heat vulnerability, it is key to create a dynamic approach, from cooling center to municipal heat action plans, increasing access to cooling technology, and increasing cooling infrastructure like cool pavements and green roofs, among others. Creating a city optimized for heat reduction strategies and other climate-related risk reduction, through a variety of multi-hazard solutions, is the best way to protect all New Yorkers in a changing climate.
Home-based access to air-conditioning has the largest impact in limiting heat-related deaths. However, citywide, 11% of New Yorkers do not have air conditioners at home. Data show that about 58% of heat-related deaths occur in homes without air conditioning or where air conditioners are not in use because of the costs associated with running air conditioning units.
Cooling access remains a persistent challenge for communities of color and in low-income communities that face higher rates of heat vulnerability. According to a report issued by New York City Comptroller, Brad Lander, over 20% of households in Morrisania/East Tremont and University Heights in the Bronx do not have air conditioners. Further, citywide, 21% of renters have an air conditioner but do not use it because of costs and 42% of people who died at home from heat-related causes had air-conditioners that were not working or not in use. Energy insecurity is higher for low-income New Yorkers of color and, although only partially related to climate change, this economic vulnerability is clearly related to heat vulnerability.
Cooling centers can partially substitute for home-based cooling. Additionally, heat vulnerability can be mitigated by improving green infrastructure, tree canopies, park placement and expansion and cool pavement programs. These efforts should be implemented citywide, but the city must prioritize neighborhoods with high heat vulnerability index scores.
One way to strengthen the City’s Cooling Center Program is for the City Council to approve Intro 998-A of 2024, sponsored by Council Member Keith Powers. This bill would codify New York City’s Cooling Center Program and would require the Commissioner of the NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to designate the locations of cooling centers when there is a heat-related emergency, and requires, where practicable, the designation of no fewer than 7 cooling centers per 100,000 residents. This bill was included in NYLCV’s 2024 City Council Environmental Scorecard and has the support of 44 Council Members. Take action in support of this measure.
Here are the best mitigation and support programs promoted by NYLCV and their current status:
- Codify and fund the City’s Cooling Center Program.
- Pass legislation mandating cooling requirements for new construction.
- Develop an equitable maximum temperature policy.
- Prioritize the CoolRoofs program.
- Invest in Cool It! NYC.
- Identify funding to restart the City’s Get Cool Program.
- Expand the City’s Cool Streets program during heat waves.
- Pass legislation that would require DOT to conduct a pilot project on the use of cool pavement on City streets.
- Invest in public pool-related initiatives.
These priorities are consistent with the notion that heat vulnerability requires a multi-dimensional approach for heat mitigation that addresses both short- and long-term planning and policy approaches to both social and physical infrastructure. Heat-related deaths are defined as the intersection between climate-related warming and chronic illness. Due to the effects of climate-related warming and the prevalence of chronic health conditions being unequally experienced based on minority and low-income status, attempts to reduce heat-related deaths are a matter of environmental and social justice. Exposure to heat stress is perhaps the principal, directly experienced consequence of climate change for many people. As such, the broad Policy Agenda of NYLCV is fundamentally about addressing the effects of climate change on the wellbeing of New Yorkers.
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The New York League of Conservation Voters’ policy objectives address protecting our environment, tackling the climate crisis, and safeguarding public health. NYLCV develops policy agendas that lay out specific legislative and budgetary remedies tailored to different levels of government and regions of the state. They serve as practical blueprints to help guide elected officials, policymakers, political candidates, voters, and the general public toward a more sustainable future. Although policy agendas are developed and promoted to improve people’s wellbeing and health, the ins and outs of the policy advocacy process can obscure this ultimate objective.
In this series, Policy Means People, the New York League of Conservation Voters’ policy agenda will be described in terms of the human outcomes that will follow the successful implementation of policy recommendations. We aim to trace the links between policy objectives and the lived experiences of people affected by that policy. These policies will all propose actions that will result in beneficial outcomes, however, the mechanism(s) whereby this can occur are often left unspecified.
Mark Tausig, Ph.D., is a volunteer writer for the New York League of Conservation Voters. He is a retired Professor of Sociology, where he studied health disparities, social networks, work and mental health, international health, and population aging in low—and middle-income countries. His latest book, Population Aging in Societal Context: Evidence from Nepal, will be published by Routledge later this year (2025).