NYC Activates Cold Blue as Wind Chill Reaches Freezing Temps
The New York City Department of Emergency Management (NYCEM) announced today that Code Blue is in effect from 4 p.m. Friday, November 13 through 8 a.m. Saturday, November 14, as temperatures and wind chills are expected to approach freezing overnight, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Temperatures in Central Park are forecast to fall to approximately 36 degrees, with wind chills as low as 34 degrees. However, colder air moving in behind the storm could bring temperatures and wind chills closer to freezing. During Code Blue hours, drop-in and warming centers welcome anyone needing warmth, outreach teams distribute cold-weather supplies throughout the city, and hospital warming areas stay open overnight. Starting at 4 p.m. New Yorkers can visit on.nyc.gov/warm for the locations and hours of places to get warm.
“As we activate the City’s first Code Blue of the season, our priority is making sure every New Yorker has a warm, safe place to stay,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. “City workers and agencies are mobilizing across all five boroughs. Drop-in centers, warming centers and warming buses will remain open through the night. Outreach teams will be on our streets, connecting New Yorkers to shelter and support. And as we face this first night of bitter cold, we will do what New Yorkers have always done in moments of need: look out for one another. We will get through this winter together.”
During this Code Blue, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) will make eight drop-in centers, six buses, and three warming centers available to anyone who needs a warm place. DHS will operate warming buses at Bellevue, Elmhurst, Harlem, and Lincoln hospitals and at Penn Station from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. NYC Health + Hospitals opens Bellevue, Elmhurst, and Harlem hospitals as warming centers, with food, activities, and social workers and clinicians on site from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. Hospital emergency rooms across the city, public and private, are open around the clock to anyone who needs shelter from the cold. Starting at 4 p.m. New Yorkers can visit on.nyc.gov/warm for the locations and hours of places to get warm.
